Many of the public meetings we cover are dull or a cover up or worst of all, leadership without much in the way of involvement, interest, or care. Upbeat meetings are few and far between.  When we stumble across an upbeat gathering, for us, it's harder to cover.
  Friday afternoon, 4pm, Feb 28th, we attended one of those upbeat meetings. Up above, we said stumbled across. We said that because the county's only locally owned and operated newspaper received nothing in the way of a invite, public notice, of the offering. Had it not been an email from someone in the know, poof! we would have not been there. With all that being said, here goes.
  Over at the Hub restaurant on Main Street, upwards of 25 participants arrived on time. It was our understanding, the meeting was to gather local business owners and potential start ups in one spot to brain storm ideas, suggestions, and solutions. Mayor Josh Shamblin served as the guy up front, the moderator.
  Equipped with one of those large post it note board situated on a three legged easel, Shamblin grabbed a large Sharpie and opened the meeting seeking positives for this hamlet. From the audience, stuff like: no B&O tax, a small town atmosphere,  a new state park coming, and a growing tourism attitude were our main assets.
  On the other end of the spectrum were the negatives. From that list on the white sheet: druggies, thieves, no grocery store, businesses are closed on  weekends, homeless on the street, trash / litter and and and landowners charging outrageous rent.
  Needs followed. Overnight accommodations, a bed and breakfast, airBnB, and Hipcamp were the top short comings for the area.
  Trying to keep everything on track, the Mayor, "We're not working together [in the past]... We need to be on the same page...."
  One suggestion surfaced, the Town needs to add "ATV FRIENDLY" to the new Welcome signs and the Entrance Sign coming South on Route 4.
   During discussions, the BDA Chair brought all up to date on the new ERTS hiking biking trail. Ribbon cutting should happen around the first part of May. Get this, first time we've heard it. The entire trail system could be opened in 2020.  We don't know what entire means but our guess, from Nottingham Store in Duck to Clendenin in Kanawha County. For that May 1st ish ribbon cutting ceremony, it seems doable from Duck down to the Hartland bridge.
  Also from the Chair, a non profit, ERTS foundation has been set up. Our local BDA has two members on the group in leadership capacity. If it's like other foundations supporting State Parks, it will be one of "advisory" capacity and one where volunteers do a bunch of trail maintenance. Interested in that sort of thing? The cost is $20 per year to be a volunteer. Chair DeBoard mentioned, Foundation members would receive a newsletter every so often to keep them informed.   It sounded like, that Foundation has made a request for parts of the ERTS trail to be paved.
  Before we go on, a couple notes.
  ERTS stands for Elk River Trail System. That's the name the Gov gave our new tourist draw during his announcement ceremony last May.
  There's going to be competition between Clay and Clendenin for a "ERTS" hub or welcome center. Wherever that state run facility is set up, that will be a big business booster. Months ago, word came on Clendenin seeking some acreage for the center, parking, and more.
  OK, back to the meeting.
  BDA Chair DeBoard told the assembled, Clendenin now wants to include a BMX bicycle course  as a draw to get visitors into that town.
   A plea was made for all those in attendance to send letters, emails, or make phone calls to the Governor seeking the Welcome Center to be situated in the Town of Clay. Wherever it finally goes, that will be a few  new jobs and maybe serve as the maintenance center to the 100+ mile long Park. Maintenance jobs would be a good thing too.
   Back and forth they talked with quite a bit of enthusiasm being felt, Mayor Shamblin, "It's NOT a pipe dream anymore!"
  Attendees felt, with a new owner, owners, of the local business buildings being auctioned off next week, that might be a plus for start up businesses.
  Let's talk about some start up businesses. Melody Cottrell  is in the process of opening a kayak rental (maybe livery too) business in the Two Run area of Clay. In attendance, Melody said the boats have been purchased. State paperwork and  insurance should be in hand in a few days.
  There was mention of a new meat  market opening this Spring in the old Seneca Grille building on the South side of Main Street.
   How about a bike shop? Yelp, word has it, plans are underway for one to be set up across from the Clay County Bank in that little white service station building.
  As has been reported in this digital newspaper of choice, the need for the Farm Store to be an "anchor" store is more important than ever. The guy said the place is already open a half day each Saturday and with a nice looking awning out front, a new sign, and some touristy merchandise inside, the place could be a real draw for  tourists. Don't laugh, we're not reinventing the wheel. Other "old"  farm stores are already serving as hubs in many tourist destinations.   Like this one. Or this other one. Or how about another example. With just a little face lift and some inventory changes, our anchor store could be ready for this tourist season.
  Quit laughing. It's all possible.
  After 90 minutes of problem solving and getting their heads together, the meeting was over. Next gathering will be held on March 21 at 4pm, at the Hub diner.
   Readers, one last note. This is all coming real quick. Six months ago people were saying, that new ERTS thang is a joke and it will never happen here. With an opening date in hand, we have to be ready. Whether it's an additional 10 or 20 people per weekend or 100 or more, we have to have our best foot forward. Some steps have already been made. The new restaurant is a good example. The kayak livery, bike shop and meat market , if they actually open, will give foreigners some place to spend their fresh, new, $$$.
  Want to make some loot but without a big investment? We certainly need a bike rental company, a place to purchase proper hiking gear like shoes, boots and socks, a hay ride business, and some kind of a craft store. How about you? If you live along ERTS, why not install a pop machine, vaseline dispenser, a bench to rest, sell bait, or ice cold beer.

Once again, sorry for the delay in getting this article published. It takes time to change from dumb bunny meetings to an upbeat message.
AW