Hiiraan Online

City Garden City Telegram
Tuesday September 18, 2018

Videos showing children standing in unity and a clown in a storm drain won the City of Garden City two national “Savvy” awards for local government communication projects this month.

A national network of local government communicators, the City-County Communications & Marketing Association, or 3CMA, administered and presented the awards this month in Milwaukee. There were 700 entries in 40 categories, according to a press release from the city.

Garden City earned a first place award in the Video: One-time Special Programming category for “Infinite Hope,” a video filmed at Bernadine Sitts Intermediate Center, and a third place Award of Excellence in the Video: Public Service Announcement category for “IT Stormwater PSA,” a video that warned the public to be aware of what fell in their storm drains.

“Infinite Hope” was made in response to letters fifth grade students in Shelburne Falls, Mass., sent to Garden City expressing their shock and offering support in the wake of last year’s failed terrorist plot to bomb Garden Spot Apartments, the home of several dozen Somali immigrants.

“I wish there was no people like this in the world but there just is, and I assure you they don’t represent us. I wish we could all try to push away our differences and those of others and come together,” students read in the video.

According to the release, judges praised the video’s script, production elements and creativity and called it engaging and powerful. Text at the end of the video reached back to the authors of the letters.

“Thank you, students of Buckland Shelburne Elementary School, for caring enough to write to us. Continue celebrating the ways differences can bring people together.”

The “IT Stormwater PSA” took a much more light-hearted approach. Coming out a few weeks after the release of the film adaptation of Stephen King’s “IT,” which features a scene where the evil clown Pennywise drags a child into a storm drain, the video, blaring red, slasher-style font, told locals to beware what fell into their own drains. In the video, a strange arm in a storm drain threw out a styrofoam cup, a tree branch, and a paper boat, before the camera panned closer to see someone in a clown mask staring through the gap.

“Be careful what gets in your storm drain because ... IT could come back to haunt you,” the video said, going on to explain pollutants in storm drains could contaminate drinking water and clogged drains could lead to water damage for property owners.

According to the city’s release, judges said they appreciated the connection between a mundane topic and culturally relevant movie.

City Manager Matt Allen praised Freburg and Lohfink for being able to excel in a pool of larger staffs and budgets.

“Receiving two awards from the premier national organization for their profession, and the fact that the two videos were very different in style and purpose, is a testament to their creativity and overall talent,” Allen said in the city’s release. “We are fortunate to have them creating new and exciting ways to share public information and building a two-way communications bridge with the citizens the city serves.”

Both videos are available on the city’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.