Site Navigation

Kinston IS an All-America City

All-America City Finalist TAMPA, FL—It was like an electric surge had shot through a crowd of 35 new and old friends Friday night (June 19, 2009) when Kinston’s name was called out as a 2009 All-America City. Fists flew into the air, a huge YES! overwhelmed the ballroom and tears began to flow as people cried and hugged each other with abandon…and massive relief. The enthusiastic joy was shared by a large crowd of Kinston boosters from other places, delegations also hoping their name would be called too, people from Statesville, another Tar Heel winner, Benson and Clinton.

See more photos from the Tampa Trip...

Kinstonians hustled through the aisle to gain the stage to acknowledge the honor and to listen to Kinston’s Mayor Buddy Ritch deliver a graceful thank you to the National Civic League panel of judges which heard and heeded Kinston’s bid for the All-America award….the second in 21 years.

At the strong urging of Mayor Ritch, Kinston’s All-America committee had worked since mid-2008 to determine the topics to highlight in the bid and to craft a creative way to relate the message. Leading the development of a regional water supply system; creation of the Gate, a faith-based program to tackle issue of youth development as an alternative to gangs; and the Little by Little Program to give elementary school kids a chance at college were the three main themes offered as evidence that Kinston deserved to be an All-America City.

The National Civic League agreed, despite months of loud and negative assaults on the city by a few.

Show your PRIDE!

Order your Kinston license tag to display on the front of your automobiles. Click a plate to download a printable order form for the plate you want...

Pride Leaders Honored By Chamber of Commerce

Key Pride of Kinston leaders were honored May 21, 2009 by the Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce at its annual distribution of awards hosted by the Kinston Rotary Club.

Honored were:

Alison Merritt wins the 2009 Small Business Award for her business Alison & Company Salon and Day Spa.

Alison Merrit, chair of Pride’s Board of Directors, won the 2009 Small Business Award for her company Alison & Company Salon and Day Spa. Long active in Kinston civic affairs, Ms. Merritt was praised for being among the first new businesses to locate on Herritage Street, and for recently sponsoring a hair cut day in her parking lot at 408 N. Herritage, donating the proceeds to the American Red Cross. She is also actively involved in Mitchelltown preservation activities.

Agnes Ho wins the 2009 Pinnacle of Achievement Award for a female leader

Agnes Ho, director of the Kinston-Lenoir Public Library, long-time member of the Pride Board of Directors, chairing the organization’s Marketing and Promotions Committee. Ms. Ho, presented with the 2009 Pinnacle of Achievement Award for a female leader, was cited for her leadership in promoting and securing a $2.6 million bond issue to expand the library, located at 510 N. Queen Street. When the architect’s plans came in $300,000 over budget, Ms. Ho helped raise an additional $750,000. She has serve on State-wide library boards and is involved in the annual Lenoir County READ program.

Cathy and Herbert Lewis win the 2009 Minority Business Award for their Sweets Coffee Shop

Herbert and Cathy Lewis, owners of Sweet’s Coffee Shop at 311 N. Queen Street, won the 2009 Minority Business Award. Ms. Lewis has 18 years of cooking/catering experience. The shop offers a wide variety of food items and gourmet coffee. The Lewis’ moved from Maryland in October 2006 and immediately began work to open the coffee shop. Ms. Lewis is a member of the Pride Board of Directors.

New Faces

Two new faces have joined the Pride team:

Pride of Kinston summer intern Brooke Jones looks over a drawing as she begins to prepare a streetscape plan in connection with Pride's South Queen
Street initiative.

Brooke Jones, student in North Carolina State University's Environmental Design in Architecture curriculum with an economics minor, is a summer intern for Pride. Ms. Jones, a 2004 graduate of Arendell Parrott Academy, is working to develop a streetscape plan in connection with Pride’s South Queen Street initiative.

In that connection, she will help craft a design for the proposed new entrance off Queen Street into historic Maplewood, Cedar Grove and Hebrew cemeteries. The ultimate objective is a complete make-over for the South Queen Street entrance into downtown Kinston.

Cheerful Danny Parker is this summer's water guy, a Pride project to keep downtown's plants and flowers from withering in Kinston's famed summer heat.

Danny Parker: When summer strikes, flowers and plants in downtown landscapes and floral containers beg for mercy and the soothing balm of cool water.

For the second consecutive summer, Pride has found a remedy: thanks to Mills International, a bright yellow cub cadet equipped with a 150-gallon water tank plies the streets three days a week to quench the flowers and plants thirst.

This year the watering guy is Danny Parker, a man with a sunny personality and a passion to save our flowers.

What Is Pride of Kinston?

The mission of Pride of Kinston, Inc., established in 1984, is to lead downtown revitalization in Kinston using the Main Street approach developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which promotes economic development within the context of historic preservation.

Pride of Kinston is one of 57 Main Street communities in North Carolina in a program coordinated by the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Division of Community Assistance. (www.nccommerce.com). For more information about Pride of Kinston, see About Pride.

Pride of Kinston
25th Anniversary of Pride of Kinston