By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | Groundbreakings were once not what they are today.
One of my first groundbreakings we thought was quite an occurrence. At a weekly newspaper, we were growing and had run out of room, needing to add space to our building. The three male stockholders decided to make it a public occasion, and asked our wives to come and “break the ground.”
Yep, took a picture of them shoveling sand, etc., and promoted it in the newspaper, so everyone knew of our progress. Actually, in that small county of 20,000 people, it was a pretty big story, for groundbreakings were few and far between.
In the mid 70s, when I came to Gwinnett, this rapidly expanding county soon had a groundbreaking a week. However, groundbreakings were also something new to Gwinnett. After going to a couple of groundbreakings and finding no one had really planned for it, we chipped in with some help. We stored a shovel in the big trunk of my green wide-track Pontiac. On more than several occasions, we actually had to pull it out for use because though the “dignitaries” who planned the groundbreaking never thought of bringing a shovel. So, my proud shovel, I can say, was photographed in several groundbreakings.
For most groundbreakings then, only one shovel was used. One guy (or lady) turned the dirt, with several others grinning left and right for the photographer. Since the county commission chairman and I were usually regular in attendance at the groundbreakings, we got used to the steps involved. And as the photographer, I usually arranged people in the correct order for the photo.
By the early 80s, groundbreakings had become much more of a ceremony. That was about the time the public relations departments or firms got involved. They brought two new aspects to the ceremony. First, they had their own photographer, since they wanted to send the news of the event to various media. And that’s the time they started supplying not only one, but sometimes a shovel for every official in the picture. My shovel got lonely in the car trunk.
It was another step of progress when the PR whiz kids introduced another element that fancied up the groundbreakings: not only did they provide multiple shovels, but the shovels were gussied up, painted bright shiny silver! Boy, were we big-time!
How could you improve on that? Yep, someone recognized a minor hitch, and started providing a mound of sand for the people to shovel, instead of having to ram the spade into the hard ground. Another improvement!
These days, boy do they put on the show! I recently saw a photo of a governmental groundbreaking for a new building. How this has progressed! You may not believe this, but there were 13 people…yes 13…all with shovels in hands and tossing the dirt. There was even a tent with already prepared dirt for the officials to stand under in case of rain. All but one of the guys had on a dark blue suit, and the two ladies in the picture look dressed to go to a wedding reception! Yep, they considered it a big event.
America continues to be an amazing land of progress. And my, how the groundbreakings have taken off. Wonder what the next “improvement” will be?
Then, there are ribbon cuttings! That’s another story.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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