PCCP Episode 1

Caitlin Reibenbach and Eden Mills, along with Mayor Olivia Dawson, are starting a podcast called Pender County Connect. The podcast aims to connect the arts, tourism, and small businesses in Burgall and Pender County. They plan to bring in local guests to discuss their impact on the community and how they can work together to drive tourism and support each other. The podcast will be available on platforms like Spotify and Apple, and they also plan to have a presence on social media. The podcast is unique because it is one of the first in the area and offers a platform to showcase what Burgall and Pender County have to offer. Listeners can expect episodes every other week and can suggest topics or guests to feature. Caitlin is an artist and comedian, and Eden is an artist and also works with Pender County Tourism. They both have their own Instagram accounts where they share their work. The podcast will cover topics such as arts, tourism, small businesses, and unique places in Hey y'all. Thank you for tuning in to the Pender County Connect podcast. My name is Caitlin Reibenbach. I am a local Pender Countyan, if that's what we are called, and today I am with my fabulous co-host Eden Mills and Mayor Olivia Dawson. Hey. Hi guys. My name is Eden Mills. I'm an artist here in Burgle and also work with Pender County Tourism. Well welcome. I'm Olivia Dawson, as she says, the town mayor but also Pender County Tourism director, and we're happy to talk with you today. Yay. So who wants to go first to tell us a little bit about what our goals are with this podcast and why we are here? Eden, you said you're a artist. What type of art do you like to do? So I've done about seven to ten murals in the area and will hope to continue to do more murals in the town and surrounding areas, but I do acrylic painting in resin pours and seascape creations on plates and canvas. I also create digital designs and illustrations as well, so multimedia artists. Are you an artist, Miss or Mayor? I am no mayor or Miss Dawson. What do you even call me, Olivia? I'm no artist, but as you stated, I serve as the town mayor and the director of Pender County Tourism, and I just am here to be supportive of all the things that we can do for not only Burgall but Pender County. So with the focus on art, I do serve as an Arts Council board member, but my goal is just to help and lend a hand when we can to grow opportunities here in Burgall and Pender County. Nice, nice. I'm also an artist, but I'm like the lowest of the low artists, comedian zone. Anyways, if y'all are free on, well, the night that we are recording, I'm doing a show in Carolina Beach, so I guess it doesn't matter, listeners, but hit me up on Instagram later. So again, welcome to our Pender Connect podcast. So this is where we wanted to start this opportunity to talk about all things that connect us here in Burgall and Pender County, connecting the arts and tourism and small business, and just wanted to highlight what we took here, and we're going to start here with this podcast. We want to bring topics and themes to you, to introduce you to things that you may not know about, or and introduce you to people that you also may not know. So I say that the listeners can expect us to bring on people that are local in the area to talk about what they do, how they impact tourism and the arts community, and how we can connect with them and others to drive those people to Pender County, and how we can all just support each other and network together as well. So ladies, do you want to talk about what inspired us to do this? Sure. Other than what we've already chatted about or told our listeners, what inspired us to start this? For me, I came in one day to a Pender County Arts Council board meeting, and I forget how I was brought up, but I was like, yeah, I would like to maybe do a podcast, bring in some artists, and I think both of y'all were like, that sounds like a great idea, and I was like, okay, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. I have equipment. The Arts Council has equipment. I don't see why not, and I'm just someone who doesn't believe in gatekeeping, and if I like something, I kind of want to force the things that I like onto other people, and like, hee-hee-hee, now we're all together doing a fun activity, and I guess that's what inspired me, is that I just like meeting new people, and I need an activity. That sounds good. What about you, Amy? Well, when I started working with tourism back in March, I brought the idea to you about doing a podcast, so I just thought it was something I had thought about wanting to do, just didn't know when and how, so now we have the resource, Caitlin, who's here to help us do this podcast, and she's bringing her equipment, and we are upstairs above the Arts Council building, so it is something that we're gonna try to stay consistent with, and hope that it turns into something that we can all just benefit from. Right, well, right, we just were looking, as the two of you stated, just looking for more opportunities to share, as we stated earlier, and then this seems like an exciting thing to do, that merges all of our objectives and goals together, and so where can listeners find us? Where are we going to put this? Spotify, Apple, probably send a carrier pigeon with a nice encrypted USB that will not put a virus on your computer or laptop or other listening devices. Probably find us on SoundCloud, but definitely check us out on Spotify and possibly Apple. So, and we plan to build some social media around this as well, so you can probably find the link on Facebook or Instagram, is that right? It will be PC Connect podcast on Instagram, unless Meta forces us to change it. Yeah, also try to get some of this audio with clips on YouTube as well, maybe. We'll see where it goes with it. Right, so we just invite listeners to tune in, follow us, and as we grow with this opportunity, with this podcast, we'll be able to share more about where to find us as we get this further along. And if you really like us, you can stalk us on our own Instagrams, if you would like to share and follow your own. Yeah, my art Instagram is at art.of.ed.en, art of Eden, and then I also have my personal Instagram linked in the bio of that account. My Instagram, I'll spell it out for you, but it's k-a-t-e-l-y-n.reisenbark, r-i-v-e-n-b-a-r-k, and that's on Instagram. Olivia? Well, you can find me at Mayor Olivia Dawson on Instagram or, of course, my personal page, which is live underscore Dawson on Instagram, but I'm sure it can be linked up in your lady's bio. And I'll be on the show notes as well. Yeah, absolutely. We're just all over the place, y'all. So, what makes this unique? I feel like it's because it's probably one of the first of any in our area, right? I mean, I think this is a unique, again, I keep using the word opportunity, a unique opportunity here that we have wanted to dive into and to bring to the area, and although there's others around, I don't know that there's really this opportunity to watch this around anywhere else. So, I feel like that was what makes it unique, and it's all the things we have to offer. I mean, I don't think any other, like, tourism place, maybe like, I think, North Carolina Tourism Board or, like, the North Carolina Arts Council, they have, like, a podcast, but last time I checked, they haven't posted an episode since 2022. Wow. I know. They're really behind on the times. It gives you no shade, though. Well, sometimes people get lost in what seems like a good idea, and then they forget to continue it or post about it. Sometimes they still doing it, but it's not posted in the right good places to find it, or, you know, maybe if we're looking for it, we don't know where to look. Yeah. Keep reminding people that you're out there. For sure. Yeah, absolutely. So, we have to do that. We'll build on it, and now we're wanting to put a post out or a podcast on at least every other week, bi-weekly. I think that's good, you know, letting people know, like, hey, we're still here doing our thing. Give us your ears in your attention span, and then, you know, listeners can get involved by if there's topics they want to hear, or if they have, I guess, again, on our social media, when you find us on social media, you know, you can comment and reach out and contact us if there's something in particular you want to hear about, or if you're a small business artist, an attraction, somebody that you feel like, hey, you want us to sit down for an interview, or you want your time to share on this podcast, there'll be opportunities for that. We will, in fact, interview your most hilarious uncle, if you really want us to. We will divulge in your grandma's family recipes and share them with the world, if you want us to, though. I'm all for divulging in recipes. Okay, sure, I think those are... that'd be fun. Yeah, little secrets. So, what topics or themes do we plan to cover in this podcast? I don't know if we already went over that, but... We can remind them. Maybe we can skip that question. Again, topics and themes. We talked about highlighting arts and tourism, attractions, small business, unique places, maybe unique things here, what makes us special, and we, of course, we'll see where this leads us and where we can... what other topics and themes we want to bring here later on. If you want, we can, like, restart this whole thing, and then... Can you, like, pause it? Sorry, I'm not sure if y'all can hear, but there's, like, a truck driving by, I think, and it's distracting, so I'm going to stop now. Okay, so I've lived in Pinner County my whole life, if you would like to know. I'm 25. I got really into theater in high school. I went to the early college here in town and was really into acting, did some background acting for a hot minute, got really into writing plays and comedy in college when my parents were homeless and decided, why not humor people? And, yeah, now I'm doing comedy in Wilmington, working on a coming-of-age film about what it's like for women to go through the character development of the early 20s. What are the comedy schools that you work with? So, I am a partial owner of Women of Wilmington Comedy, which we're also trying to start a podcast, which is just, like, a way for, like, women comedians to get together, and we do showcases out the bar called All My Ovations in Wilmington. I'm also part of Momity Comedy. I'm not a mom, but I'm an ally for moms, and by that I mean I'm, like, a fun aunt, like Maura Rose from the show Schitt's Creek, and that's not a bad word. In case you're wondering, I did not say a bad word. We're not explicit. But, yeah, those are what I'm part of. All right, so, I have grown up in this area my whole life. I graduated from Hightee Trust High School in Rocky Point, but I've lived in between Rocky Point and Burgall for my whole life. We never moved or anything, but until I bought a house in 2021 and renovated that for eight months, and I live right here in downtown Burgall, where we're recording. So, I've done my art business for four, five, almost six years, probably, but got serious about it in 2020, and then recently joined the tourism team. So, I'm enjoying it, and there's been some great opportunities and plenty of opportunities for artwork to be added to a small town as well, of course, but, and that also went along with teaching classes, too. So, I've taught art classes here in Burgall for 20, well, since 2021, and just taking a little break for right now, but I'll get back into doing some more art classes, resin and acrylic painting as well. All right, so, I'm Olivia Dawson, and I practically grew up here, born and raised, between Burgall and the little town of Rose Hill, where a lot of my family is from. Graduated from Pender High School in 2002, so I'm much older than these ladies, a little bit older, and I just have grown up working in the community, and then discovered my love for more community involvement, and I decided, I said, one day, I want to be mayor, and that dream came true, or that goal came true in 2021. What was my three to five-year plan actually turned into my, like, one to three-month plan. It's funny how those opportunities work, but I've been with Pender County Tourism for almost, well, really, a little over six years now, I guess, maybe almost seven at this point, seven years now. I've worked with the North Carolina Blueberry Festival for almost seven years, and during all this time, I've realized that I really enjoy being impactful in the community. I like government work, and I actually really love non-profit work as well, and so that is what has led me to where I am today, and as I said earlier, is wherever I can help make a difference, and bring new opportunities to town, to the community of Burgau, and then to Pender County, that is where my heart is, and I desire to help make things better, make them grow. Nice. So, this is our very first episode. We're so happy that you're tuning in, and listening with your ears and your hearts. It is July 1st, so we're doing that for the 4th of July. I'm not sure about y'all, but Burgau has a lot going on for July 4th, from what I hear. We've got a little bit of something going on. We've got a little golf cart parade. We invite everyone to join us on July 4th for that opportunity, and I guess parents, adults, especially kids, you have an opportunity to come out right after that and get hosed by the fire truck. So, it's going to be right after the parade, so we invite you to come and join us at Thursday, July 4th at 10 a.m. in downtown Burgau. That's exciting. Are you excited about that? I don't know. I mean, I definitely want to check it out. I don't know about getting hosed by the fire truck, but that's pretty fun. Yeah. Come for the sake and watch. Either way. Yeah. I'm excited. This podcast is kicking off. It's July, and I'm excited about how this is... what we get to chat about every couple weeks. Yeah, and let us know what your favorite summer activities are or what your family likes to do for the 4th of July. What are your favorite hot dog toppings that you like? Maybe just, you know, listener engagement. Yeah, we're so excited. Thank you so much for your time. We hope that you come back in two weeks from now when we will be talking to an exciting guest about their exciting lives.