This story is from Friends of Portsmouth, a non-profit organization for the betterment of Portsmouth, Ohio and the Greater Scioto County areas.
Thousands Raised for Massive One-Day Downtown Transformation Event Set for Saturday
Portsmouth, OH., a small town with a rich history devastated by the effects of “pill mills”, may have the reputation of being the first town to fall victim of the opioid crisis. However, plans to take back its identity by “planting” hope, pride and energy in what organizers foresee as an epic one-day downtown transformation, takes place this Saturday, August 18th.
Friends of Portsmouth, a local nonprofit organization involved with community growth and prosperity, announced today that it has raised nearly $100,000 from local business owners and citizens to revitalize the main downtown areas of its injured Ohio town. It also announced that it has gathered over 300 volunteers and sold several hundred additional tickets in their GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title attempt for the Most people potting plants simultaneously, as part of its PLANT PORTSMOUTH event.
PLANT PORTSMOUTH will kick-off with a massive power washing of all the main street concrete sidewalks and brick pavers, which have been covered by weeds, dirt and soot for years. While downtown dries, the community will try to set the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title with a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS adjudicator on hand to verify the attempt. The “planting” attempt is symbolic of recent influx of new business and culture and PLANT PORTSMOUTH’s goal that this hope, pride and energy grows in an instant.
That afternoon, PLANT PORTSMOUTH volunteers will paint over 300 light poles, street signs, street curbs and replace 120 street light globes. Volunteers will cap the event by planting US flags from each downtown light pole to remind Portsmouth citizens that it was once considered an All-American City, and it will be again! Organizers plan to use profits from tickets sales to fund a town ambassador program to preserve the massive transformation that Portsmouth citizens set in motion.
“In one day, the image of our downtown will change immediately so we can start believing in ourselves again. Our downtown currently feels like it looks. Weeds, corrosion, and desolation,” says event chairperson and local attorney, Jeremy Burnside. “It looks like the despair that the national media has been reporting about us. We want those folks to return and report on our rebirth. It’s only fair that they give us that opportunity.”
Organizers hope that other journalists that have written about Portsmouth’s decline and role in the national opioid crisis over the past decade, will give their town an opportunity to reclaim its image and identity by reporting on the event. Sam Quinones, a journalist from Los Angeles, California, who gained national recognition with his book, Dreamland, chronicling Portsmouth’s decline and addiction, said yesterday that Portsmouth was “leading the way” with rebuilding its community. He noted the PLANT PORTSMOUTH event as evidence of that process.
“Our hope is that an epic one-day downtown transformation and setting a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title will encourage outsiders, including businesses, to plant Portsmouth as a destination for business relocation, tourism, and raising a family. For those of us who live and work here, we aim to plant Portsmouth pride back in our hearts so that it grows.”
The excitement already generated by PLANT PORTSMOUTH can be witnessed on Facebook at #joinyourcity and #plantportsmouth. Additional information can be found at plantportsmouth.com.
