Boosters of the Aiken Downtown Development Association are hoping that dozens of all-weather pillows will find a soft spot in local residents' hearts this spring.
Sales of the pillows will help the Character First program, with its assortment of downtown banners encouraging such traits as sincerity, responsibility, courage and patience.
Fifty pillows made from banners that have been on display throughout downtown Aiken over the past several years are for sale at the ADDA office for $100 each. Income is to help bankroll a fresh set of Seasons of Character flags, with themes in the spirit of the Fall in Love with Aiken and Joy of Aiken creations that were on display in 2014-15.
"We hung character banners in 1999 and again in 2006," said Judy Cross, chairwoman of the banner project, a cooperative effort of the association and the Joint Woman's Club of Aiken. "The ones from 1999, not all of them survived. From 2006, most of them were in pretty good shape. The ones from 1999 and from 2006 that were in good enough shape, we had made into pillows."
That transformation - a brainchild of local artist Linda Prior Hunley - was done on York Street, via the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department.
"She's a fantastic artist - very generous with her time and talent," Cross said.
The pillows are made of Sunbrella-brand fabric, and on side of each is written, "Character Comes First in Aiken." The other side shows 12 traits that have been highlighted in the local program: sincerity, respect, self-control, responsibility, attentiveness, loyalty, courage, citizenship, truthfulness, patience, compassion and forgiveness. Each is autographed by Mayor Fred Cavanaugh.
Hopes are to bring in $8,000 more during the next couple of months, Cross said, to provide a total of 68 flags for 11 downtown intersections. Some intersections (such as Laurens Street and Richland Avenue, and Laurens and Park Avenue) are home to eight banners, and others (such as Whiskey Road and South Boundary Avenue) have as few as two, depending on the number of utility poles available for support.
City parks and recreation facilities also have a flag, with municipal funding having provided half the cost of each such banner, and for the full cost of the various support material for holding the dozens of banners in place around downtown.
Cross noted that everyone who has donated $100 or more to the association's campaign can go to the office (208 The Alley, Unit A; 803-649-2221) and pick up a pillow.
Although spring has officially begun, winter banners are still in place, because the banners cannot be put into storage until dry, and the past few days' weather has left them moist. Bloom in Aiken will be the spring theme, and Chill in Aiken will be the summer message.
Funding options include having an organization or business sponsor flags for an entire intersection, as Women of Woodside does at Whiskey and South Boundary, and the Joint Women's Club does at Laurens and Park.
