Former Senator Jim Whitehead presents a state tourism award to Clarks Hill Partnership of Georgia ChairmanWalker Norman at last week's partnership meeting in Washington. Jim Whitehead was like a proud papa at the meeting in Washington last week. In just three years, he had watched his brainchild organization, the Clarks Hill Partnership of Georgia, go from its first toddling steps to winning awards and being a model for other organizations.

At the partnership's quarterly meeting at the Fitzpatrick Hotel in Washington last Wednesday, Whitehead presented the state of Georgia's 2008 Tourism Champion Partner Agency Award to the partnership. "This is really special," Whitehead said. What began as an idea had become a successful program for five counties - Columbia, Lincoln, McDuffie, Warren, and Wilkes - to work together to promote regional tourism.

"Governor Perdue was so pleased with what these five counties had done, that these five different counties could find common goals that brought them together. And it was amazing to me. People in Atlanta kept asking me about what we did here - it's known all over the state. It's a beacon light showing how counties can work together, and to say I'm proud of this - that's not even close."

Partnership Chairman Walker Norman accepted the award for the partnership. The group meets quarterly and the voting members are the county administrators, county commissioners, and community mayors. Norman, of Lincoln County, serves as chairman and Sam Moore of Wilkes is vice chairman. Moore will become chairman in 2009.

To win the award, the Clarks Hill Partnership of Georgia used a Tourism Foundation Co-op Marketing Grant to promote regional tourism for the 2007 Bassmaster Weekend Series National Championship held at Wildwood Park last November.

The Partnership sponsored a 30-minute fishing show, BassEdge, that appeared on Versus Network in January and also set up booths at the Bassmaster Classic Championship in February and the FLW Cup Championship and Expo in August 2008 - all to bring tourists to the Clarks Hill area, including Wilkes County.

At the most recent meeting, the group agreed to have a display with pro bass fisherman J. Todd Tucker at the Atlanta Boat Show, which will bring thousands of boating and watersports enthusiasts to the Georgia World Congress Center in January. "These people are the top target market for Clarks Hill counties," said Columbia County's Beda Johnson.