Born and raised in Cambridge City, Tamra Davis believes in the power of small, even anonymous, acts of kindness to strengthen the community. In this episode of the Western Wayne News podcast, she sits down with Kate to discuss Tamra’s work as president of the Cambridge City Chamber of Commerce, her 24 years at the Golay Center, the pitfalls of misinformation on social media, the value of clear communication, and inspiring the next generation to get involved. Enjoy!
Transcript
Tamra Davis: I’m Tamra Davis, and I’m the president of the board of the Cambridge City Chamber of Commerce.
Kate Jetmore: From Civic Spark Media and the Western Wayne News in Wayne County, Indiana, I’m Kate Jetmore. As a native of Richmond, Indiana, I’m excited to be sitting down with some of our neighbors and listening to the stories that define our community.
My guest today is Tamra Davis, who is President of the Cambridge City Area Chamber of Commerce, Administrative Assistant of the Golay Community Center and lifetime resident of the Cambridge City Area. She is a 2002 Graduate of Lincoln High School and mother of 3 children.
Tamra has been a Chamber Member for 4 years, 3 of which she was acting President. She has worked at the Golay Community Center for 24 years and has transitioned roles throughout her time with the Center. This is where she found her passion for Community and discovered her gift for planning and organizing events.
Welcome, Tamra. Thanks so much for joining me on the show today.
Tamra Davis: Thanks for having me, Kate. I appreciate you inviting me to be on your show.
Kate Jetmore: You, as we heard in the intro, are based in Cambridge City. And of course, I’m curious whether you’re from Cambridge City originally.
Tamra Davis: Yes, I was born and raised in Cambridge City. And my roots run deep because my parents were from here as well.
Kate Jetmore: Well, you’re obviously very involved in the community, most notably on the Chamber of Commerce and at the Golay Center. And what I’d like to know is, what drives you? How do you stay motivated and excited?
Tamra Davis: I started, like, doing stuff in our community when I was younger, like high school age. And there’s something rewarding about doing things for others, even if they have no clue that you’ve done it.
So in life itself, there’s a lot of things that you can’t, like, control. And when you are doing things, like, for the community and stepping up and wanting to make a difference, you find strengths you didn’t realize you had because that is something you know you can control.
That is one thing you can do is to, like, get involved, find something that you’re good at and give back. Like, I don’t know if you’ve ever had like something go crazy in your life and you just felt out of control with it. But then I see like when stuff like that happens, and I can’t really do anything about it, I put all my power into something I can change and make a difference in.
Kate Jetmore: That’s really well said. Where did you learn that, Tamra? Is that like, did your parents have that gift of giving back to the community? Is it something that you learned in school or from the church or…?
Tamra Davis: When I was younger, I just, I did go to church, I went to church, the Baptist Church. And I believe in Sunday school, they had mentioned like having the ability to do small things for others. And it’s something I tried to instill in my children when they were little, like holding a door for someone, and a simple smile goes a long way.
And I honestly think the feeling you get from making someone’s day is something that then kind of sticks with you, and it’s a feeling you really can’t explain, but you want to continue to do, whether it be an anonymous act of kindness or doing something bigger.
I actually am one of those people, I always say to my kids, you do things because you want to do them, not because you want recognition.
And I think that’s because when someone doesn’t know you’ve done something, the reward in the process is so much greater than if they actually knew, like, you were the person behind it, because you see their genuine response to something you’ve done.
So I like to be the man behind the curtain, so to speak.
Kate Jetmore: Is that something that you make an effort to do? Do you sort of go above and beyond to remain behind the curtain?
Tamra Davis: Yes, the curtain is my comfort zone. So I like to not be in the limelight. And actually, this is something my board knows specifically, because we’ll do something and I’m like, I’ll look at one of the other board members. And usually it’s Sarah, because I know Sarah doesn’t mind talking. I’m like, by the way, you’re talking today. I’ll just stand here. So I kind of don’t like to be the center of attention. And I’ve always been that way. I’m not for real sure why. That’s just how I am.
Kate Jetmore: Well, I want to thank you for stepping out of your comfort zone today and joining me on this show. That’s really exciting. And I’m sure that the people who know you as the person who prefers to remain behind the curtain are thinking the exact same thing.
Tamra Davis: Yeah, they got a few chuckles when I told them I was going to attempt to do it.
Kate Jetmore: You’re doing it. You’re doing it right now!
Tamra Davis: I know!
Kate Jetmore: Tamra, when you talk to young people, or young families who might be considering staying and working in the community versus picking up and leaving, what kinds of questions or concerns come up in those conversations?
Tamra Davis: Actually, when I find out people in our community are wanting to stay within our area, I kind of get excited because a lot like me, it just shows that their roots are strong and that they like this area.
The one thing I try to do is encourage them to get involved. I have nieces in my area and they have young children now and I’m like, the best way to do things is to get involved, whether it be like within their sports, within a club or whatever it may be, just in the community, just try to get involved.
We’re all looking for different volunteers. The clubs and stuff are getting smaller. And so we need more younger people to step up and get involved.
Kate Jetmore: Yeah. It sounds like, I mean, you mentioned that this is something that comes up as a mom. It’s something that you talk to your kids about and encourage them to do.
Do you think those conversations are happening in other families? Are we teaching the next generation to get involved?
Tamra Davis: I’m not sure. I’d like to think people are, because the only way to make your community better is to be involved and to figure out how to help.
I know, like, a lot of people my age that I went to school with that are still in this area.
They’re trying to get their kids involved. So I would like to think that those are conversations that are being had at home, so.
Kate Jetmore: Yeah. I’m curious from where you stand, what is keeping people in Cambridge City or drawing people to Cambridge City, and what are the things that people are seeking when they decide to leave the community and go elsewhere?
Tamra Davis: A lot of things that draw people to Cambridge City is we are a small, tight-knit community with a rich history.
We have, like I said, many clubs and organizations that try to give back, and I think when people come here for our events, our festivals, whatever it may be, and they see our downtown and the murals, I mean, are a dead giveaway of some of our rich history.
And then they walk into our stores and people are welcoming. It just kind of draws you in. It’s kind of a slower lifestyle than say if you lived in the city. And that is something that appeals to people.
However, when people are moving away, it’s a lot of the issue I think is housing and or jobs. Our area, unless they want to commute, it’s kind of further away from some of those jobs.
I know my son commutes to Indy every day. He works construction. So, like, he doesn’t mind it because he’s young. But if he has a family, that’s two hours of his day that he might want, you know, with them. So I think that’s an issue most of us are seeing.
Kate Jetmore: Mm hmm. And are those issues, things that are being looked at by various organizations in Cambridge City? I mean, we could talk about the Chamber, we can also talk about the Golay Center. I mean, are people talking about the issue of housing and jobs in Cambridge City?
Tamra Davis: I’m a little green to this area. But I think that’s something that I have heard come up in Downtown, not so much really the Chamber itself. But I know like I’ve heard the housing issue come up before in conversations. I think it was probably maybe at the town board or something.
But now, I mean, people can commute still and go to our school district outside of the jurisdiction. So I’m not sure what the overall plan on that is or anything, but I have heard it come up.
Kate Jetmore: OK. I wanted to ask you about different attitudes. When there are people whose expectations can’t be met and maybe they’re upset about that. You know, even when great things are happening in the community and progress is happening, even if it’s slow, how do you deal with that? How do you deal with people who sort of have decided that they’re not going to get on the bandwagon?
Tamra Davis: You know, this is one of those things that you can’t really change a negative mind, but a good conversation goes a long way. Just listening to them, finding out their perspective on it and just having an honest conversation. And then I’m a positive person. So I always believe in highlighting the positivity in it all, because, I mean, you can’t blow out someone else’s flame to make yours brighter. I don’t believe in any of that. And actually, that makes the whole room go more dim. So whether then to do something like that, I believe everybody just needs to have a conversation, because people don’t know what they don’t know.
And usually, if you have a conversation and you can clear things up, that goes a long way. And then you don’t have all the negative feedback and then social media, you don’t, it won’t go to social media. And because if you go there, it becomes a little bit more out of control, so to speak.
Kate Jetmore: For sure. And that’s exactly where my mind was going. Because, you know, when you say talk about it, listen to each other, it sounds so simple. And actually, you know, communication, if you decide to engage in clear communication, it’s really not that complicated. But in the age of social media, I think we sometimes have the sense that we’re talking to people when we aren’t really having a conversation.
Is that something that you’re witnessing?
Tamra Davis: Well, I have seen circumstances on social media where people don’t know all facts, jump the gun, and it creates a little bit of chaos and something that takes me back to school… in like 1938, The War of the Worlds was released. I don’t if you remember the whole debacle with that and it created chaos, because everybody really thought aliens were coming to the Earth. And like, it’s because they were misinformed. And they didn’t realize it was a show. And they thought that it was really happening.
And so when we don’t have an honest conversation, we don’t find out the facts. And then there are situations where it’s half truths, it creates a little bit of chaos. And I feel like that’s why honest conversations person to person, not text message, not typing away at your computer can go a long way.
Kate Jetmore: Right. That is such a good reminder, such an important reminder for ourselves, for our kids, for everyone. And I just want to say that, you know, as you know, I mean, social media is a reality, and it is a tool, you know. How about, are there ways that you’re using social media, whether at the Golay Center or through the Chamber, where you’re seeing sort of more positive results?
Tamra Davis: I feel like, yes, for advertisement purposes, we have a great platform on social media. Anytime we have events and stuff, we do put it out there. We put it on our website, and then also in papers as well. But we seem to reach more people through social media.
Kate Jetmore: Tamra, what about Cambridge City’s relationship to the rest of the county? You know, Cambridge City and Western Wayne County’s relationship to the rest of Wayne County and the broader region. How do you see that relationship?
Tamra Davis: It is actually a pretty good relationship. We have Sarah who you heard me mention, she’s usually the one I nominate to do all my speaking. She is actually on the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce.
So that is a great asset for us to have, because they can then converse on what we’re doing here as a community. And that gets the word out in the Richmond area and other areas since it is the Wayne County Chamber.
So we have some people that their roots are strong in Cambridge that kind of represent us and help work alongside us, and I believe that we have a great working relationship.
Like, you can kind of commute or communicate with them, you know, hey, these are areas that we see an issue with, but a lot of times that is done by our town boards. They’re the ones that really kind of, the economic development and stuff like that, they kind of push a little more and see more than something like the Cambridge City Chamber of Commerce.
But when we have, we just did a networking event where we try to open up those opportunities for people in Wayne County to come to our area or have a visualization of what our needs are and have a conversation with us.
Kate Jetmore: Well, Tamra, I’ve really enjoyed talking to you today and getting to know you a little bit more, and I just want to wish you and your family all the best.
Tamra Davis: Thanks, Kate. I appreciate you having me and pulling me out of my comfort zone.