Kevin Drum, a local business owner and Village resident, filed paperwork this week to run for Pinehurst Village Council. His decision to run was impacted by several factors: Clark Campbell not seeking reelection, encouragement from residents, and the importance of the Village developing a long term strategic plan. Kevin feels it’s important to have a council member that is raising a family, lives and works in the Village every day, and one that doesn’t represent an interest group or agenda–only the interests of the residents.
“I feel fortunate to live here and get up every morning and go to my office in the historic Harvard Building and overlook the Village. I am also proud that I was able to invest in making the Village have a more vibrant future by opening a restaurant in the historic Pinehurst Sundry Building when another business closed. Running for council is merely an extension of that pride in my community and my wish to contribute to a constructive dialogue and help my friends, neighbors, and fellow residents steer the Village into the future.” says Drum.
Kevin is a business development consultant specializing in the golf industry and destination marketing with an office in the Harvard Building in the Village of Pinehurst. He first came to Pinehurst at 12 years old to attend the golf school, staying at the old Ratcliff Boarding House next to the Holly Inn. His parents, golf writer Bob Drum and his wife Marian, decided to move the family here permanently the next year. He attended the University of South Carolina and then worked in Public Relations for Tenneco Corporation at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and in Michigan. Homesick in 1987, Kevin moved back home to Pinehurst and began his business development consulting firm. Since then, Kevin has worked for some of the top golf product brands and destinations including Sea Island, Kiawah & Yonex and was contracted to develop the Sandhills Golf Association’s logo, brand & web-site here in Pinehurst. He most recently served as consultant to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Golf Association where he steered the golf tourism industry through Hurricane Katrina & the BP oil spill, as acting Executive Director for a decade.
Kevin and his wife, local physician Dr. Jennifer Stoddard, live in the historic district at While-Away Cottage with their 3 children. Kevin has perspective on the past, present and future. He first served on the Village Center Enhancement Committee in 2013 and, after his term ended and the committee disbanded, he decided to start his own village center enhancement committee when he saw a restaurant closing in the iconic Village Sundry Building in the center of town. Kevin stepped in after the business closed to redevelop this important historic structure. It is now the thriving Drum & Quill Public House named after his father, with the “Quill” representing the golf writer’ pen.
Kevin also served on the Historic Commission Update Committee and the Long Term Strategic Pre-Plan Group. He is presently serving on the Village Planning & Zoning Board and as an alternate on the Board of Adjustment. Kevin has his Facebook page up, Drum For Pinehurst, and will use it as the central communication mechanism for Village residents. If you are interested in serving on a grass roots election that is not seeking interest group or newspaper endorsements, or large-scale funding, just support from individual voters he will represent in the Village of Pinehurst, join in on the “Drum For Pinehurst” Committee by messaging them.
