By Mark Scott, director, Market MontGOmery Chamber & Tourism • Psychology Today says, “We tend to get attached to our initial impressions of people and find it very difficult to change our opinion of them, even when presented with lots of evidence to the contrary.”
According to the article, it takes only the duration of a blink of an eye to size up another person in terms of attractiveness and trustworthiness.
It also says physical beauty, dressing “smartly” and appearing smart/wealthy likely give a first impression of being healthy, better than me, successful and influential/important.
Would it not stand to reason that similar reactions would come from a person’s first impression of a place, a town, an area? That’s why many neighborhoods have grand entrances and well-manicured landscaping.
People are going to come to the lakes and forest here, so why not give the look and vibe that we are smart, successful and offer a life better than the one they have back home? Let’s leave them thinking they want to come here often and be associated with this great place.
Market MontGOmery Chamber & Tourism wants to help this by starting a process. We’re encouraging everyone, and especially businesses, to take a minute as you park your car to look for trash that may be around you. Pick up a piece of litter or two and place it in a garbage can. We want to use the month of February to get in the habit of doing this.
Then, next month, we’re going to set aside March 8-17 as the “10-Days of Clean Up!” During that time we’ll encourage businesses, civic groups, friends, individuals, etc., to set aside 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour or two – whatever they can spare – to make a concentrated effort to clean up Montgomery County.
Last year, 1.2 million visitors came to the Uwharrie National Forest and countless more came to other parts of the county like lakes, Town Creek Indian Mound, produce stands, etc. Let’s make sure this year that they see a beautiful area that makes them want to come back and spend more time and money!
More specific details of the “10-Days of Clean Up” will come out later, but please use February to get in the habit of cleaning before our spring guests arrive.