Tourism Council Meeting

Description

We’re excited to invite you to the next meeting of the Summerville Tourism Council, a quarterly gathering of local hospitality professionals, merchants, nonprofit leaders, and public figures who are passionate about growing tourism in our town. 

You do not need to be a Chamber member to attend this meeting. Anyone with a stake in local tourism and hospitality is welcome.

 

 Each meeting includes time for brief updates and introductions around the room.
 

This quarter, we’ll hear about a fascinating new publication: The Tea Farm—Her People and Her Town: Summerville, South Carolina. The book, released by the Timrod Literary and Library Association and co-authored by Thomas R. Dion, Walter M. Bailey Jr., and William L. Walker Jr., offers an in-depth look at the history of the Pinehurst Tea Farm. Through more than 200 illustrations and carefully documented research, it tells the story of how the tea farm shaped Summerville’s character and supported local organizations for generations.

Author Thomas Dion, will be joining us to share highlights and stories from the project:

About the Author
Thomas Dion was born in 1946 in the old Dorchester County Hospital. He attended public schools and entered Pinewood in 1955. Later he was a member of the last class to graduate from Gaud School in Charleston. He was a member of The Citadel Class of 1968, served as a commissioned officer in the United States Navy, and later returned to school to complete his graduate work in Civil Engineering at Clemson University in 1973. He worked at the S.C. Department of Transportation and at Sigma Engineers in Charleston before joining the Citadel’s Civil Engineering Departmental faculty in 1976. He was promoted to Colonel and became a full professor in 1996. He retired after 38 years of teaching at the end of 2013. He married Susan Cameron Richardson and they have two sons: Thomas Walker Dion (1975–2012) and Cameron Richardson.
 

He is the author of two internationally published civil engineering textbooks, lead author of two local history books, and has also been issued patents in and outside of the United States. He was elected as a Commissioner of Public Works for the Town of Summerville, served as a charter member of the Board of Architectural Review, and as the chief examiner for the S.C. State Board of Engineering and Land Surveying Examiners on matters pertaining to land surveying for 10 years. In addition to many professional organizations, he is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars. He was a recipient of the Palmetto Award medal during Citadel Corps Day 2010 and of the LeTellier Cup from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2011 for his lifetime contribution to the profession. In 2013 he received the South Carolina Professional Land Surveyors Life Service Award for his educational contributions to the profession of land surveying in the State of South Carolina over the past 38 years. He is a member of St. Paul’s Church in Summerville, South Carolina.