County Commissioners Plan for Centennial Celebration

A handful of settlers and early homesteaders seceded from Hillsborough County, creating Pinellas County in 1912 and quickly set up a new county seat in Clearwater.

In the shadows of that old courthouse, the Board of County Commissioners talked about plans to recognize the area's 100 years of independence with a yearlong celebration throughout 2012.

The 10-point outline covered topics ranging from the development of a logo and other promotional materials, to securing sponsors and tying the centennial celebration into pre-existing annual county events.

“We’re hoping that we can take the events that are already planned throughout 2012 and have them themed out for the 100thanniversary,” said DT Minich, executive director of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater. “And we’re also looking to see if there are any companies or individuals in the community that would want to sponsor an event specifically for the 100th anniversary.”

Some of the events with possible tie-ins to the centennial celebration include the Clearwater Jazz Festival at Coachman Park, theTransitions Golf Championship in Palm Harbor and the Beef 'O’ Brady’s Bowl in St. Petersburg.

Minich stressed that recruiting existing events for use in promoting the centennial would be the easy part. But in order to create original events to honor the anniversary, sponsors are needed.

“We can theme current events, but if we are going to have any signature events that are specifically one time for the 100th anniversary, we’re going to need sponsorship dollars for those,” Minich said.

Gina Thiemann of Florida Destinations has a $30,000 contract to help organize centennial events. To help drum up interest in the centennial project from potential sponsors, Minich and Theimann will host a breakfast in September.

Commissioner Nancy Bostock expressed enthusiasm over the general concept of the centennial but asked the group what the goal of the yearlong celebration is.

"I just want to know: Who is our intended audience, and what is our intended goal?" Bostock said. "Because this looks fabulous, but when I read through this … I don’t see the meat” of the project.

Commission chair Susan Latvala was quick to respond to Bostock’s concerns.

“We’re just in the beginning stages of this. We’re getting the word out that it’s our 10th year, so let’s celebrate,” Latvala said.

Other items covered in the meeting included:

• Conducting a centennial-themed “100 Days of Summer” campaign similar to the one being promoted by Visit St. Pete/Clearwater this year, with prizes, giveaways and special events
• Getting other communities to participate. Because many towns in the county recently have celebrated their 50th or 100thanniversaries, Minich said getting countywide participation in the centennial could be a hurdle.
• Conducting an aggressive media and public relations campaign, including utilizing social media outlets, securing street pole advertisements and creating a specific website to help promote the celebration

Minich said he and Thiemann will have another meeting with the commissioners after the sponsor breakfast with a progress report of the plans for the centennial.

Whatever ends up being decided, Latvala thinks all the residents of Pinellas County deserve a chance to celebrate.

“We’re celebrating Pinellas County’s 100th year of existence as an independent county," Latvala said. "With what’s going on in the economy and everybody’s lives, we need something to celebrate.”