[OMS_MANAGERS] Downtown Update - July 2023 Newsletter

[La Grande Main Street Downtown]

July 2023 Newsletter LA GRANDE MAIN STREET DOWNTOWN About Us Support Our Mission Hello OMS, Summer has officially begun and LGMSD is starting out “event season” strong. Touch-A-Truck, which we co-hosted with the La Grande Parks and Recreation Department, was an incredible success and a fun time for all! Kids of all ages had an absolute blast interacting with all sorts of trucks, maintenance rigs, and law enforcement vehicles. On a more aesthetic note, the flower baskets are blooming out nicely and continue to add an extra bit of loveliness to Downtown La Grande.   A Note from Monica McLaughlin, Executive Director What a crazy, but fun time of year! Our events and committees are firing on all cylinders. It is exciting to see the movement and changes we have made in downtown La Grande in the last 8 months! Our Crazy Days Committee has been very hard at work, making Crazy Days the best it can be, and revamping the event! We are thankful for all the downtown businesses that are jumping in to add their own flair to this loved event for our community. I do hope you will come out to the Main Street Refresh meeting on July 25th to keep the momentum going! It is important that we get your input. Always here to help - I am a phone call or email away! Welcome New Partners Thank you to our newest Partners who have joined in our efforts to make Downtown La Grande a more vibrant, stable and beautiful place for the community to gather to shop, eat, work, live, and play: Le Bebe Cakes Yuri Books Laurence Auto Body United Finance Thank You Renewing Members Rosewood Cottage Ten Depot Street EOAlive.TV Nate Conklin State Farm  Eastern Oregon Beer Fest We have a new Eastern Oregon Beer Fest committee working hard to put on a great event for our region! Lots of local vendors, food trucks, beer and cider are on tap for a wonderful day at the Union County Fair Grounds! Tickets are on sale now, available HERE Our events calender is located HERE The highlight of July will be the 63rd annual celebration of Crazy Days in La Grande on July 14th and 15th. This year’s festivities promise to be better than ever, with sidewalk sales, local vendors, a car show, a pie baking contest and auction, assorted food offerings, live music, skills demonstrations, and activities for kids. Merchants up and down the avenues will be offering bargains with sidewalk sales starting on Friday, July 14th and continuing on through the next day. Gazing further into the future, the Eastern Oregon Beer Festival is a must-do summer event. Scheduled for Saturday, August 19th, the Beer Fest will feature beers from breweries across Eastern Oregon, the Pacific Northwest, and beyond. There will be live music, local craft vendors, great food, and an opportunity to interact with the brewers. All general admission and VIP passes come with a commemorative tasting glass. Tickets are available now at: http://www.eobeerfest.org/ We're always looking for volunteers! There's something for everyone with our different committees. Give back to your community through work in one of our main committees (Promotion, Design, Economic Vitality, or Outreach) or help downtown clean up, or event a specific event! Click HERE to see all the different opportunities CALL FOR VENDORS We have some wonderful events coming up! Are you a local food/craft vendor? -Crazy Days July 14th and 15th -Eastern Oregon Beer Festival August 19th -Community Harvest Festival October 7th If you would like to participate in any or all of these events or would like more information, check it out at https://www.lagrandemainstreet.org/vendor-applications.html. Community Charging Rebates Program   Tucker Billman, Manager of Government Affairs at Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative, has announced the application period for the Community Charging Rebates Program being offered by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). A two-page fact sheet is featured on the link below for the landing page of information on ODOT’s website. These rebates can stack with OTEC’s existing EV rebates. The application period opens June 13th and closes August 15th. Oregon Department of Transportation : ODOT’s Community Charging Rebates Program : Climate Office : State of Oregon Mr. Billman encourages everyone to take a look at the fact sheet to get a better idea of how the program functions and what projects would be eligible. Please feel free to contact him with any questions at Main Phone: (541) 524-2824 or cell phone: (541) 519-3553 or by email at tbillman at otec.coop. Meet LGMSD   Check out the newest feature on the LGMSD webpage: Meet LGMSD.  Each week, we take you behind the scenes to introduce you to the folks that make us who we are—the Board, the Committees, the volunteers, and the staff. Each week, we plan to introduce you to one of the many individuals who contribute so much to La Grande Main Street and ultimately making La Grande a vibrant, stable, beautiful place to gather, shop, eat, work, live, and play. So far, we have profiled Mary Ann Miesner, the President of our Board of Directors, Joshua Annas, the Vice-President of our Board of Directors, Shawna McKinnis, the Secretary of our Board of Directors, Suzannah Moore Hemann, the Treasurer of our Board of Directors, Carol Summers, Nicole Felty, Timothy Bishop, Bri Troutman, Evie Stacey, Stephanie Hansen, Lauren Babcock (and Ubi)., Mike Craig, Jacque Harvey, and Tisha Comer, Jeremy Robertson, Carolyn Dooley, Renee Mecket, and Bethany Barker. Next, we will be featuring Amanda May, member of the Design Committee. Check it out on our website at: https://www.lagrandemainstreet.org/news Some Committee Reports Promotions Committee -- Shawna McKinnis, Chair Our Women in Business mixer and the Touch-A-Truck event were both very well received by the community! Thank you to everyone who attended these events, as well as those who spent a lot of time planning to help make them a success.   The Promotions Committee has been very busy with planning and revamping of Crazy Days. This year, folks will see many new fun things happening over Crazy Days, as well as some old events being resurrected, including Merlyn’s Catering’s “Over the Top” Breakfast, music, and much more!   Looking to the future, we are planning Music on Main to be held on September 29th with lots of fun options for music at our local venues! This will be a “Don’t Miss” chance to stroll La Grande and check out some great music.   October will bring our Harvest Festival, so be sure to keep an eye out for further information on this sure-to-be wonderful Downtown event.   We are always looking for volunteers to help out at our events. So, if you think you would like to be involved in making any of our events happen, we would love to hear from you! You can sign up at www.lagrandemainstreet.org.   Design Committee – Evie Stacey, Chair, as reported by Amanda May The Design Committee continues to receive and review façade grants. We are excited with the response we have had from local businesses who want to take advantage of the façade grant opportunity and continue to beautify our downtown. These grants have been the majority of our focus this past month.   We are continuing to develop the current projects that we have identified as priority, including the ghost sign tour. We have found a free-of-charge application that would make this tour accessible and are exploring options as to how to promote and use it.   The Design Committee is eager to add more committee members. We are specifically looking for people who have a desire for a hands-on commitment to facilitating current projects. Our drive right now is to perfect the wonderful projects we have currently in the works. If anyone knows someone who may fit this committee, please send them our way! Outreach Committee – Nicole Felty, Chair Our upcoming Main Street Refresh Community Town Hall is scheduled for Tuesday, July 25th at Tap That! Growlers at 6 PM. Invitations will be shared during the next week via Main Street Board members. This meeting will serve as a platform for engaging our community and shaping the future of our organization. We are fortunate to have Justin Aufdermauer, the Executive Director/CEO of the Tillamook Area Chamber of Commerce, joining us as our facilitator and consultant for this endeavor.  Please save the date and prepare to share your ideas, insights, and enthusiasm with us. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding this meeting, please reach out directly to Nicole Felty at nicole.m.felty at gmail.com. Eastern Oregon Beer Fest Committee – Stephanie Hansen, Chair We are approximately one month away from the big day!   At the last few meetings, members of the committee did a walk-through of the fairgrounds to design this year’s footprint. They have requested some items, such as fencing from Eastern Oregon Rental. Securing more sponsorship is an ongoing task that we will continue to work on. The entertainment has been secured. We are planning a meeting with all of them to ensure the process of transitioning to the stage is smooth. Food vendors and craft vendors have been locked in.   We are now finalizing volunteer commitment and tasks for the entire weekend, including setup on Friday, Saturday (the day of), and cleanup on Sunday. It is imperative that we have committed volunteers for setup and cleanup. We have the VIP party planned, and we will continue to communicate with Marco and the chef to ensure we provide good food for our VIPs. The entertainment has been verified and we also have Loveland providing safe rides that evening.   All of our committee members have been working incredibly hard. With everyone having full-time jobs and personal lives, their efforts should be recognized and I am grateful to each and every one of them. Downtown “Furniture” On Offer   Do you want to enhance the outside space surrounding your business? If your business is within the LGMSD boundaries, you can acquire the following items on a first pay, first serve basis to spiff up your bit of La Grande for only $165 (the items are free--this is the installation fee).   ·       Square Planters (6) ·       Round Planters (6) ·       Round Garbage Can (1) ·       6’ Benches (2) ·       8 ‘ Old Bench from Max Square (1) ·       Table (3) ·       Table Seats (6) ·       Bollard (3) ·       Bike Racks—Mt. Emily (13) ·       Blank Bike Racks (7)   To place your order, please contact Monica McLaughlin, LGMSD Executive Director, at director at lagrandemainstreet.org or text 541-313-8770. La Grande Lit Week La Grande Lit Week, happening from July 17th through July 22nd, is a project of the Eastern Oregon University MFA Program in Creative Writing, bringing together faculty and visiting writers during its annual residency for seven days of literary events in Northeastern Oregon on the I-84 corridor. The lineup features winners of the Oregon Book Awards, the Washington State Book Awards, and the Pacific Northwest Book Awards, as well as authors touring new or recent books. Most of the featured authors will be in conversation with EOU MFA faculty after their readings. There will also be “community classes” offered throughout the week. Please see the full schedule at https://www.eou.edu/mfa/2023litweek/.   This year is carrying on with fun and exciting events and a forward-moving spirit. Join us in the adventure that is La Grande Main Street Downtown.! Interested in being a Partner? Click here 2023 LGMSD Partners Ad Dad Advantage Mortgage Aguilera's Amazing Aromas Allied Mortgage - a division of Mann Mortgage LLC Associated Design and Engineering BELLA Mercantile Be Well Studio Benchwarmers Pub & Grill Beyond the Lens Photography Birddog Glass Blue Summit Realty Bout Time Boutique Cam Credits Carol Summers City of La Grande Clanktronix/The Archives Claudson's Sew and Soak Community Bank Community Kindness of Eastern Oregon Community Merchants Connected Professional Accountants LLC Country Financial, Paul Swigert Designs By Stef Dochos Dirty Girls Detailing DraWiki Eastern Oregon Title Edward Jones - Shawn Mangum Eleven Fifteen Spa Elkhorn Media Group EOAliveTV EONI Eastern Oregon University Elkhorn Media Group Fairway Independent Mortgage Fitzgerald's Flowers Globe Furniture Grande Ronde Hospital Grande Ronde Soap and Bath Guyer and Associates JC Woodworks John Howard and Associates Josh Annas Katie Martin Custom Designs K Voelz Wines La Grande Theatres Laurence's Auto Body & Paint Le BeBe Cakes Bakery and Coffee House Les Schwab Tire Center Let'Er Wrap Longbranch Lucy's Boutiques at the Market Place Underground Mamacita's International Grille Market Place Fresh Foods Mary Ann and Arlan Miesner Merlyn's Catering MJ Goss Motors Mountain Valley Therapy Mountain Works Nate Conklin State Farm Nature's Pantry Northwest Furniture & Mattress OTEC Peak Lifestyle Studio Papa Murphys Take & Bake Raul's Taqueria Real Deals RE/MAX Real Estate Team Rising Tide Soulpothecary Rob's Speedy Delivery Rosewood Cottage Scott's Heating and Air Side A Brewing Sim Shot Virtual Range Sorbenots Source One Business Consulting Tap That! Growlers, LLC Teal Cactus Ten Depot Street The Potter's House Timothy Bishop Travelodge Tyler Photo Co Union County Chamber of Commerce/Tourism United Finance Wheatland Insurance Wild Child Birth and Photo Woodsy Wicks Yuri Books ​Ziply Fiber   Upcoming Events La Grande Main Street 102 Depot Street La Grande, OR 97850 541-963-1223   Contact Us     Share This Email Share This Email Share This Email About Events Calendar News Contact La Grande Main Street Downtown | 102 Depot St, La Grande, OR 97850 Unsubscribe oms_managers at listsmart.osl.state.or.us Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by director at lagrandemainstreet.org powered by Try email marketing for free today!
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