We're Moving Forward...

In an effort to keep the community up to date on the progress of Vision 2025, Greenville Forward and our world, we have updated our blog once again.

Now, it's easier to find. Simply go to www.greenvilleforwardthinking.com

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The blog is updated daily with stories, ideas, recaps, information and dreams. You can share too...just comment.

Proterra Vision Event and a Little Recognition

On Tuesday, Furman University hosted many of Greenville's leaders and visionaries to listen to a presentation on the vision for Proterra's highly anticipated arrival. Greenville Forward was part of this group and we were excited to learn more about what is in store for the automotive research industry. In case you are unfamiliar with Proterra, you can see for yourself here but I will give you the Reader's Digest version that I hope will offer a good summary of why this is so exciting and what it means for Greenville County to welcome this company to our community.

Proterra is a clean energy research and manufacturing company that has developed one of the first alternative fuel transit buses. They have created a prototype bus that has been traveling across the country to share its technology and capabilities with other researchers/scientists who needed to "see it to believe it." While this in itself is fantastic information, Greenville is particularly excited about this company because they have decided to locate themselves in Greenville, South Carolina to build more of these buses and potentially create a simulated light rail transit system in our community.

Proterra will join the CU-ICAR campus and create job opportunities and further establish Greenville as an important automotive research hub. On Tuesday, Greenville Forward got the chance to meet the people behind Proterra and to take a ride in the bus around Furman's campus.

Amid all of this exciting information and sharing a room with some of the Greenville's leaders, we were flattered and honored to receive acclamation from David Shi at the beginning of the presentation. Dr. Shi began his welcome of Proterra with a reminder of how Vision 2025 laid the groundwork for bringing this kind of development to fruition. He read portions of the Vision document that planned for something akin to the Swamp Rabbit Trail before it came into existence, sections that hinted towards a hope for Greenville to become an automotive research hub, and a final section that planned for vast improvements in our mass transit structure in Greenville. He showed the audience that two of these three goals were well on their way to attainment and recognized Greenville Forward and Russell Stall as being the keepers of this vision.

Dr. Shi even said, "Russell Stall is the hub of the wheel of Greenville" and thanked him publicly for his dedication to Greenville and Vision 2025. What great affirmation for Greenville Forward!

Proterra's arrival in Greenville marks another step toward achieving Vision 2025 goals and reminds us again of why our work is so important. Maybe soon we will be able to say that the third vision goal that Dr. Shi mentioned has also been achieved. Welcome, Proterra!

Greenville? ARE YOU READY FOR SOME....HOCKEY!?

I know. We all remember the Greenville Grrrowl. Wait. How many "r's" were there? Anyway, they were here. We sometimes went. We sometimes didn't. They actually won. Most times. But, regardless, they left. And, since that time, Greenville has been asking the question, "why do we not have another hockey team?"

Well, we do now. Get ready Greenville, because the Greenville (Name and Mascot to be Inserted Later) are here and alive and well at the Bi-Lo Center.

This morning, Kate and I wandered over to the Bi-Lo Center for a press conference to announce plans for a new hockey team. Now, this wasn't super surprising news. All the radio stations had mentioned it. All the hockey fans were talking about it. I even heard someone mention it as we ate lunch at Tsunami last week. But, no one knew anything else.

Well, they still won't. The team has yet to be named. The owners are a business man and a former GM for The Rangers (who has a Stanley Cup win on his resume). The deal is real. And, judging from the press conference, they mean business.

Hopefully, they will take a lesson from The Greenville Drive and realize that Greenville wants to be entertained. We love our sports, we really do. But, we also love to make our sports about a little bit more. At the end of the day it's about entertainment. The overall atmosphere. The ambiance. The wins and losses? They count too, and we hope there will more of the former than the latter. But, we want to be entertained and have fun doing it.

So we congratulate the Bi-Lo Center and the owners of the new Greenville hockey team. I think they could be called the Greenville Forwards, but that's just me.

Check out the new hockey website for more information about upcoming happenings and events. And, most of all, have fun!

Becoming a hero can happen instantly--if you let it.

Over Easter weekend, my family went to our beach condo in North Carolina as part of our usual holiday tradition. The warm temperatures were extremely welcome and we enjoyed walking on the beach, reading and soaking up the sun. However, a normal afternoon quickly turned into an emergency situation that proved to be a great opportunity for a life lesson.

Though the water was far too cold for any of my family to venture in, there were a couple of folks that took advantage of the warm temperatures outside and decided to brave it. The ocean seemed to be calm but my dad pointed out to me that he thought he was beginning to see a rip tide current form as the tide was going out and the sandbars were shifting. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with what a rip tide is, it is a strong current that often forms between sandbars that pulls the water rapidly straight out without undulating back to shore. (see diagram)

As a swimmer, it is incredibly frightening to be trapped in one and the helpless feeling often leads to panic and exhaustion/drowning. General protocol will tell you to swim parallel to shore instead of trying to swim against the current until you feel you have returned to normal waters.

The two swimmers were sucked into the rip tide and their cries of delight and excitement quickly turned to fear and a call for help. While I watched in disbelief, my cousin took off his hat and glasses and sprinted towards the water without a moment's hesitation. He did not think about the risks, the fact that there were two swimmers and that they were both bigger than him. He just saw people in distress and felt a call to action. Once we realized he was going to help, I called 911, my brother gathered some lifesaving rings and the rescue was in full swing.

Both swimmers were brought to shore with minimal bodily harm and everyone involved with the rescue was also okay. But, I think the thing that I will carry with me from that experience was the way my cousin responded to a call for action. Rarely in life do we respond to situations with such enthusiasm and without hesitation. We have reservations, we have to weigh both sides. But, perhaps this week you can challenge yourself to answer a call to action without hesitation--whether it be supporting a local charity, trying a new experience, or helping someone who is clearly in need.

My cousin's response made him a hero and he helped save two lives. He says it is something he will carry with him forever and I noticed he walked just a little bit taller after it was all over.

Kate's a Farmer...

So, Kate wrote a blog a few weeks back about an excursion we took to The Happy Cow Creamery. We were so impressed that we decided to take a photo of the sign. But, Kate had to be in it. She's like the Vanna White of organic farming...

Sean Carasso is a Cool Guy...

About a year ago, Staci and I were talking about conflict in Sudan and other places, and I was asking all sorts of questions, because I didn't really know much about the issues over there. Staci started talking about watching a documentary that was done by some young folks about kids in Sudan who were being kidnapped by militant armies and made to fight. These kids were 5, 6, 7 years old. And, they were being trained to kill, maim, rape and plunder. The ones that hadn't been kidnapped yet were making a multiple mile trek into the city each night to sleep on concrete floors, packed in like sardines. All so they wouldn't run the risk of being kidnapped. This documentary, of course, is Invisible Children.

Staci brought over the DVD, two of them actually, and we watched it. I'm sure I looked like an idiot while I sat there, watching with a look of horror. I had no idea. How did I miss all this? What was I reading? And, when the show was over, I sat there, unable to really speak. I'm not sure if I was moved, shocked, angry or sad. I'm still not sure.

Staci and I talked a lot about it in the following months. I even took one of the DVD's and passed it along to my sister, who, in turn, passed it along to a friend, who passed it along to a friend. That was the point of Staci bringing two (she's a smart girl). Staci, meanwhile, showed some of her students the document

ary and they got organized, wanted to do something to help. It was hard not to watch it and not be motivated to do something. Anything.

I write all this because this past Monday, Staci, Kate and I were able to meet another such person as those who created Invisible Children. A guy who was actually involved with the original "protests". He grew up with the guys. He was there in the beginning. He was making a mark on the world, and he's only in his mid to late 20's.

His name is Sean Carasso.

The Warehouse Theatre folks, Shannon Robert and Paul Savas, contacted us about co-sponsoring an event where Sean could come in and tell his story. Sean is living a gipsy's life these day. Going from town to town to spread the word about his organization and the atrocities that are going on in The Congo. We agreed to help The Warehouse push this event. Why wouldn't we? They are some of our best friends and we love them!

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. I was unprepared to see what I saw. The first thing that happened was

that Kate and I met Sean in the lobby and had a great conversation about Greenville Forward and what we do here. He was psyched. Really psyched. We both thought it was strange that someone from so far away would get so jazzed about our organization that is so centrally focused on our world in Greenville County. But, we found out later why. And, it all made sense.

Sean's story begins in The Congo, where he discovered that the smallest of boys, ones who couldn't carry guns, were made to carry whistles. These whistles were to be blown as the enemy army approached, in hopes of scaring them away. But, there was more to this strategy. These boys also served as a human shield. If the army shot them? They fall. Then they serve as barracades. As places to hide behind. As tools to continue to fight. 8 year old boys. 5 year old boys. Falling because they were forced to fight an enemy they didn't know. Forced to fight for a reason they didn't understand. As Sean puts i

n in his blog, "WITH FALLING WHISTLES, THEIR ONLY CHOICE IS TO FEIGN DEATH OR FACE IT."

Out of this, Falling Whistles was born. And, on Monday night, we were witness to Sean's experience, his vision, his mission. He told his story. To a small crowd at The Warehouse, he told his story and didn't ask us to join him. He just told his story. He didn't ask for a handout. A donati

on. A helping hand. He just told his story. And we listened.

When it was done, we asked what we could do...

Tell Someone.

Plain and simple.

Take some time to look at

the website. Watch the video. Be a whistle blower for peace. Continue the conversation.

Here Comes the Sun, do do do do...

At long last, the sun has graced Greenville, SC with it's beautiful presence. There is no better time to enjoy Greenville than right now. Just ask the thousands of folks who were downtown this past weekend.

And, guess what???? The Drive's first pitch of the 2010 Season is Thursday...it's a cool time to be a Greenvillian...