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Trying to define the heart and soul of Sussex County is like trying to get your arms around a wet, 50-pound watermelon at the Laurel Farmers’ Auction Market. It ain’t easy.
Bill McGowan, a University of Delaware county extension agent, and a group of volunteers are finding that out as they try to winnow a vision of Sussex County under the Heart & Soul of Sussex County program.
The goal of the program is to put down in writing and pictures why Sussex County is a special place. Although most agree the county is unique, because the county is so large and diverse, creating a vision and characterizing it in a few words is a daunting task.
It’s a county with multimillion-dollar mansions and backwoods homes not far removed from the days of outhouses and where newcomers from urban backgrounds live next door to old-timers who can trace their Sussex roots back generations.
Even so, McGowan and his working group are determined to capture its essence in words and pictures.
“This is about what you cherish and what you do not want to go away,” McGowan said.
At every meeting or conversation, as McGowan calls them, he has stressed one thing: “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
Over the past few months, McGowan has been collecting photographs and comments to illustrate the Heart & Soul of Sussex County under a University of Delaware’s Coastal Community Enhancement Initiative.
When he reached 1,000 comments from across the county, he convened the working group, and it has boiled down the information to what people value the most.
McGowan said it’s not an easy task when the comments range from, “That manure is pungent, but I love it,” to “a juxtaposition of cultures.”
A group of Sussex Countians gathered Wednesday, June 25, for a town hall conversation to offer ideas on where they live and to critique a rough draft of a Heart & Soul presentation developed by McGowan and his group.
After a barbecue chicken dinner in The Grove, the group of nearly 70 people convened in the Elbert N. and Ann Carvel Research and Education Center west of Georgetown.
Developing themes
The Heart & Soul working group came up with the following main theme: “Sussex County is agriculture and small towns, coastal resort and maritime, deeply and seamlessly connected by history, place and people.”
More than 60 percent of those gathered agreed.
They also agreed that agriculture was most at risk in the county followed by special places, such as natural areas, and small towns.
When asked what the most important feature of the county was – what they were least willing to give up – respondents answered: small towns, special places and agriculture.
The working group synthesized the 1,000 comments into seven major themes in an attempt to define Sussex. McGowan presented the themes, complete with photographs, during a computer-generated slide show. Those attending the town hall conversation agreed some of the themes captured the Heart & Soul of Sussex, but also found some didn’t.
Then after breakout sessions in small groups, with more time to discuss the themes, there were even more comments.
On the first go-around, about 60 percent of those attending said they felt the presentation was “getting there,” while 28 percent said it still needed some work.
After the breakout sessions, McGowan asked the question again. On the second go-around, the number of those who said the presentation was “getting there” dropped to 26 percent.
“This is good. This is part of the conversation – this is how we make decisions,” McGowan said.
Many comments centered on the vagueness of the central themes and the lack of references to diversity. Some said the presentation needed more editing, clearer definitions of words such as “quaint” and “hardscrabble” and more photographs of people and even some chickens.
When McGowan asked the group how the material should be used, they responded with land-use decisions, economic development initiatives, small-town revitalization and tourism.
He said he and the working group would take the comments and redefine the presentation. “It’s still a work in progress,” McGowan said.
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Heart & Soul THEMES
Nearly 70 Sussex Countians critiqued seven themes developed by a Heart & Soul working group. A third of those attending were born in the county, a third moved here and a third bought homes here and moved later. Thirty-six percent of the group has lived in the county for 30 or more years while 30 percent has lived in Sussex for 10 years or less.
Sussex County is:
• Agriculture and small towns, coastal resort and maritime, deeply and seamlessly connected by history, place and people.
63 percent agreed; 23 percent disagreed; 14 percent were neutral.
• An ever-changing landscape of working agriculture, planting, growing, harvesting. Poultry houses and horse pastures, a patchwork quilt from the air, sights, sounds and smells of a thriving industry back-dropped by a big sky and forest.
38 percent agreed; 35 percent disagreed; 26 percent were neutral.
• Small towns with rich history, architecture, character and characters, places and events that make community.
78 percent agreed; 12 percent were neutral; 10 percent disagreed.
• Quaint beach (not shore) communities where the architecture still speaks to the roots of church camps and family gatherings. Where you can be as busy as you want or as quiet as you’d like, fine dining, rich music countered with the quiet of a house in the “pines.”
45 percent disagreed; 30 percent were neutral; 24 percent agreed.
• A community caught in time between the deep, rich roots of a hardscrabble economy and local families to a destination for many who recognize the value of such a lifestyle.
40 percent disagreed; 37 percent agreed; 24 percent were neutral.
• Cypress Swamp and Atlantic Ocean, rivers, ponds and Inland Bays, marsh, pine and oak forests, horseshoe crabs, deer, fox, seagulls and shore birds and seasons that change.
65 percent agreed; 21 percent were neutral; 14 percent disagreed.
• A community of sincere, down-to-earth, resourceful, take-care-of-our-own people of different cultures, oldtimers and newcomers.
59 percent agreed; 23 percent disagreed; 8 percent were neutral.
The public is invited and encouraged to share in painting this evolving portrait of Sussex County. Specific memories or experiences, a favorite photo, a unique landmark or emblematic architecture, a simple story, a deeply- felt emotion or admired personality are examples of characteristics that can be shared. Across Sussex County, newspaper advertisements, posters, and response boxes will provide the opportunity for the public to participate. Responses may be emailed or submitted to www.ccei.udel.edu. The mailing address: Sussex County Heart & Soul, University of Delaware, 16483 County Seat Highway, Georgetown, Del. 19947.
For more information visit www.ccei.udel.edu, or contact Bill McGowan directly at billmcg@udel.edu (302) 856-2585 ext 592.
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