Alicia Helm, second from right, with the Town Center Saturdays committee at the inaugural event on April 16.
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By SUSAN LEATHERS
BrentWord columnist
 I love to write this column. No, not just BrentWord. But BrentWord’s Brentwoodian of the Year column. The first, in 2009, came just months after we launched Brentwood Home Page. We didn’t have time to create an official “Person of the Year” program, so I decided to be judge and jury all by myself.
Then-Library Director Chuck Sherrill and then-City Commissioner Alex Noble got the first nods.
Last year I surveyed various movers and shakers around town to see who they would nominate if given the chance, but still the decision fell to me, though Police Chief Ricky Watson was an obvious choice.
This year was much harder. There were, and are, numerous deserving people for very divergent reasons, including Chief Watson, who could easily have taken home the title for a second year.
But in the end, and drum roll please ….
 BrentWord’s third annual Person of the Year honor goes to Alicia Helm, the founder and main force behind Town Center Saturdays. The four street fairs held between April and October in “downtown” Brentwood helped create a new sense of community for our city of 37,000 residents.
Since the dream of a true “town center” for Brentwood was hatched more than a decade ago as a Leadership Brentwood project, many have worked to create a central place where people can “live, work and play” (to borrow Mayor Paul Webb’s favorite line).
Alicia not only shared the dream, she did what most people never do. She took the bull by the horns and made the dream come true. All while co-owning and running a Town Center business, being a busy mom to three young boys, and serving on numerous boards and committees at her church and elsewhere in the community.
She didn’t do it alone, of course. I also want to recognize the core group of women who worked tirelessly alongside Alicia to pull Town Center Saturdays off. She has called Jane Patton a “rock star” and Sara Carmody the queen of follow through. Others who formed the initial steering committee included Katy Bell, Cara Finger, Diana Meade, Angie Miller, Julia Ozburn and Amy B. Wyatt. Coming on a bit later to help were Kimberly Ford, Renea Gustafson and Erika Page White. If I've missed someone, my apologies.
Town Center Saturdays is the epitome of a grass-roots operation. It didn’t have a big budget, a big bureaucracy or a big head. It just, well, was.
“It was time for Brentwood to have something a bit more organic," shared Miller, who was involved from the start and served as TCS’s official photographer. "… Before, we always had to outsource our excursions to Nashville or Franklin.”
Angie described Alicia as “a dynamic, driven, focused visionary with a good heart” who surrounded herself with “like-minded people” – Brentwood moms who were compelled to do this for the community, not for financial gain.
With the blessing and help of the City of Brentwood, the street fairs drew new residents and old to Town Center Way and the roundabout. Local businesses, restaurants and artisans got a chance to market their wares, while an amazing line up of performers provided entertainment at each event.
Mother Nature attended each one too. She arrived in April with a cold drizzle. In June she brought along a mid-morning downpour; in August, searing sunshine. But Oct. 22, she awoke feeling great . The bright and beautiful day went off without a hitch.
It all started in the fall of 2008, when Alicia and her Spruce Inspired Living business partner Ashley Meir began work to form a Downtown Brentwood Association.
“It’s about trying to create an identity. If we can come together with marketing ideas and be creative, it will help establish that there is a ‘downtown’ Brentwood,” Helm said at the time. Though the association never formally got going, it did serve as the precursor to what eventually became “ Town Center Saturdays: uniquely Brentwood.”
Early in 2010, volunteers led by Helm quietly began working with Linda Lynch, the city's community relations director, and other city officials to develop a public event. In a BHP story posted at the end of 2010, she announced the first "city market" would likely be held the following April.
“We really want to focus on making it local – Brentwood artists, Brentwood musicians, Brentwood vendors,” she said then. “It just seems like Brentwood is ready for an event it can call its own.”
She was right.
And that’s why this Brentwood “visionary” is BrentWord’s Person of the Year.
Hail to the chief….
Many others were considered for BrentWord’s Person of the Year. Among them, of course, was last year’s honoree, Brentwood Police Chief Ricky Watson. He almost outdid his good deeds of 2010 with his continued dedication and work on the behalf of Brentwood and Middle Tennessee residents who serve in the armed forces.
The chief is retiring at the end of January and we promise he’ll get a hero’s goodbye in BHP before then.
Searching for New Year 'new yous'
Brentwood Home Page is searching for Brentwood residents who have weight loss success stories they are willing to share with our readers in our new Be Healthy section that launches soon. We also are searching for readers who have resolved to make changes in their lives that will benefit their health in the new year who are willing to let us follow them over the next year.
If you’re game to play, please email me at susan@brentwoodhomepage.com.
We’re also searching for interesting remodeling and renovation projects to showcase in our BHP Real Estate section in the new year. If you have a suggestion, please contact real estate writer Amy Stumpfl at amy@brentwoodhomepage.com.
Have an interesting story idea BHP should consider? A “What’s up with That” topic you want us to check out? Email news@brentwoodhomepage.com.
We appreciate our readers more than you know. And the best gift you can give us this holiday season is a referral to your friends, neighbors and co-workers who don’t know about us yet. And follow us on Facebook and Twitter too!
Susan Leathers is editor of Brentwood Home Page. Click here to read previous columns. Email her at susan@brentwoodhomepage.com |
