Chamber of commerce partners with local businesses to recognize Owen graduates

Posters featuring class of 2020 displayed by downtown merchants

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
June 15, 2020

Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce volunteer Roger Hibbard, left, delivers posters of the Owen High School class of 2020 to Town Hardware and General Store owner Peter Ballhausen on June 12. Fred McCormick

It’s not uncommon for locals to see a familiar face or two when strolling along the streets in downtown Black Mountain, but an initiative by the Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce is adding a new twist. 

Dozens of local businesses are showing their support for the Owen High School class of 2020 by displaying posters featuring graduates in their windows. The campaign, which was organized by chamber executive director Sharon Tabor, allows the community to show its support for the class during a difficult time. 

“I sit on the Owen advisory council and we were talking about the things we could do for seniors since they wouldn’t be having prom, graduation and other traditional events this year,” Tabor said. “Someone connected to one of the children reached out and I thought we should find a way to get the town involved, since these graduates are the future of Black Mountain and the Swannanoa Valley.”

Tabor reached out to local businesses and asked if they would be willing to display the posters to recognize the Owen graduating class. She also contacted Black Mountain-based Precision Graphics to create the images using senior pictures. 

Ray Nightingale, one of the four owners of the Veranda Cafe & Gifts on Cherry Street, places a poster of Owen graduate Amaya Avila in the window of his restaurant on June 12. Fred McCormick

“These posters represent the entire senior class,” Tabor said. “We had some students who didn’t have senior pictures, so we have one poster featuring all of their names that is being displayed, as well. That allows all of this class, which has had a very unusual graduation year, to have some presence in town.”

The posters were purchased by the chamber and volunteers from the organization delivered them to participating businesses last week. The majority of them were distributed to merchants in the central business district, while some can be found along storefronts in the Village of Cheshire. The posters will remain on display for a minimum of two weeks and given to each graduate when they are taken down. 

“This is a way for local businesses to come together and say ‘thank you, and we appreciate these graduates who are stepping out into the real world during this time of pandemic,’” Tabor said. “We want them to know that this community supports them.”

Roger Hibbard delivers posters of the Owen High School class of 2020 to My Father’s Pizza, one of several downtown Black Mountain businesses to recognize the graduates by displaying them in its windows. Fred McCormick