By Jim Buice
Enterprise Record

Nearly a year after turning down similar funding requests from Tanglewoof Dog Park at Tanglewood and the Humane Society of Davie County, the Bermuda Run Town Council gave its approval to a sponsorship with the Twin City Youth Soccer Association.
The three-year deal with the youth soccer league, which has more than 2,500 players and had nine-plus hosted events in 2012-13 along the banks of the Yadkin River, calls for $5,000 each in funding per year from the town and the Bermuda Run Tourism Development Authority.
The council voted 4-1 in favor of the sponsorship, which includes all the participants wearing the town’s new logo on their uniforms, in last Tuesday night’s regular monthly meeting.
“Were it not for our new brand, I probably wouldn’t make that recommendation today,” said Lee Rollins, the town manager for Bermuda Run.
Last July, requests from Tanglewoof Dog Park at Tanglewood ($5,000) and the Humane Society ($7,000) were rejected after councilwoman Shirley Cagle’s motion died for the lack of a second. She made the motion for $2,000 to go to the dog park and $3,500 to the Humane Society, but council members were reluctant to approve either because of a tight budget in a difficult economy and an overall mindset that taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be going to nonprofit organizations.
Rollins said that this sponsorship with the Twin City Youth Soccer Association made sense for several reasons.
“I’m recommending approval to leverage, to partner and to entrench,” Rollins said during the meeting before outlining these points: “leverage more fully for Bermuda Run businesses the economic impact benefits the Twin City Soccer Association is making and will continue to make; partner with the Bermuda Run Tourism Development Authority to gain greater exposure for Bermuda Run restaurants and hotel; and recapture some of the economic impact currently enjoyed by Forsyth County. Entrench further the investment the town has already made in its brand awareness as part of the comprehensive plan …