PEOPLE & 



PLACES 



The event also includes a Christmas 

 bazaar and open house at the Partnership for 

 the Sound's Columbia Theatre. 



"This is a local-oriented festival with 

 local vendors," says Tessi Hollis, chairperson 

 of the 2002 River Town Christmas. "We want 

 to give natives a reason to come home." 



River Town Christmas is more than a 

 celebration. Across North Carolina, festivals 

 help boost local economies. 



TRAVEL STUDY 



A new study from the Travel Industry 

 Association of America (TIA) and 

 Smithsonian Magazine lists North Carolina as 

 one of the top 10 destinations for cultural, arts, 

 historic and heritage activities. 



The study also found that heritage 

 and cultural travelers spend more money 

 as compared to the average U.S. trip — 

 $623 vs. $457, excluding cost of transportation 

 — making historic/cultural travel a lucrative 

 market. 



"North Carolina is rich with cultural 

 and heritage assets that continue to lure 

 millions of visitors to our state," says 

 Lynn Minges, executive director of the 

 N.C. Division of Tourism, Film and Sports 

 Development. "We have focused on 

 development of this growing market segment, 

 and those efforts have paid off." 



The study also noted that 30 percent of 

 historic/cultural travelers choose a destination 

 based on a specific historic or cultural event or 

 activity. These travelers are more likely to 

 stay seven nights or longer, fly or rent cars 

 and book hotel rooms. In fact, four in 10 

 added extra time to their trip specifically 

 because of a historical/cultural activity. 



North Carolina's heritage tourism 

 program began in 1996 and was designed to 

 help preserve, protect and promote the state's 

 cultural and heritage assets. 



In recent North Carolina Sea Grant 

 birding surveys conducted in North Carolina, 

 researchers found that many of North 

 Carolina's visitors also were interested in 

 historical and cultural attractions, according to 



Sea Grant Extension Director Jack Thigpen. 



"This may create marketing 

 opportunities for nature-based businesses 

 and people involved with cultural places and 

 events," Thigpen adds. "For example, cross- 

 advertising in birding magazines and history 

 publications, partnering with local 

 complimentary businesses may have pay- 

 offs for everyone." 



SOMERSET OPEN HOUSE 



In North Carolina, many cultural 

 travelers stop at Somerset Place in 

 Washington County to kindle the holiday 

 spirit during an annual open house. 



In spite of damage from Hurricane 

 Isabel, the event is being held this year on 

 Dec. 7 from 1 to 4 p.m. 



At Somerset Place — once a thriving 

 antebellum plantation with more than 

 100,000 acres — visitors can glimpse 

 holiday traditions as they were before the 

 Civil War. 



"This is our 15th year to celebrate a 

 traditional Christmas at Somerset," says 

 Redford. "We create the past by decorating 

 buildings with natural materials — from 

 fruit to magnolia leaves." 



The present site includes 3 1 of the 

 original lakeside acres and seven original 

 19th century buildings, including the 

 kitchen, slave house and laundry. A large 

 labor force built these buildings. Over the 

 plantation's life from 1785 to 1865, there 

 were 50 white employees, two free black 

 employees and more than 850 enslaved 

 people. 



Since much of the plantation life 

 centered around the kitchen, visitors can see 

 how a 19th century kitchen operated and 

 sample homemade cornbread and black- 

 eyed peas cooked over an open fire. 



The 14-room antebellum mansion of 

 planter Josiah Collins III — with its 

 expansive porches, formal gardens and 

 expensive furnishings — also will be open. 



Community churches decorate each 

 room in honor of a past or present member, 



held in high esteem. Also, people in nearby 

 communities are invited to add arrangements 

 that honor volunteers who helped during the 

 aftermath of Hurricane Isabel. 



During the Somerset open house, 

 volunteers from the churches greet visitors, 

 talk about the honorees and display Christmas 

 decorations. Any honoree still living also 

 greets visitors. As a permanent tribute, a 

 biographical sketch is written about the 

 honoree. The write-ups are published each 

 year as Reflections: A Somerset Christmas. 

 Since 1990, 124 people have been honored. 



"Last year, we honored volunteer 

 firemen and health care professionals," says 

 Redford. "This year, the churches can choose 

 anyone for the program. Typically, these 

 individuals never sought public recognition 

 but lived honorable lives and had a lasting 

 and positive impact on others. We also will 

 be celebrating random acts of kindness in a 

 crisis. I am inspired by stories of people 

 extending themselves in a wonderful way." 



For example, after Hurricane Isabel, 

 some people came from Greenville with a 

 truck and cooker and gave out string beans 

 and potatoes to anybody who passed the 

 house, according to Redford. 



The tradition of honoring community 

 members was started to get the whole 

 community involved in Somerset Place. 



After the first homecoming of slave 

 descendants in 1986, some whites felt 

 alienated, says Redford, who is a seventh- 

 generation descendant of the first slaves to 

 toil the plantation. 



"This open house helps to build a 

 cohesive community," she says. "All the 

 church choirs come together and sing 

 together. It is truly an ecumenical event." □ 



To find out more about River Town 

 Christmas in Columbia, call 252/796-0723 or 

 e-mail, vifitrtc@beachlink.com. For details 

 on the Somerset Open House, call 252/797- 

 4560 or visit the Web: www.ncdcr.gov and 

 click on historic sites. 



22 HOLIDA Y 2003 



