Main Street honors its volunteers

Jefferson Matters: Main Street held their annual Volunteer Appreciation Party on Thursday, Feb. 21 to thank the 60+ volunteers who are regularly involved in the program.  Each of the five committee chairpersons honored a volunteer who they felt had gone above and beyond this past year.  The following were introduced by chairpersons of each – Design – Sandra Drewry; Promotion – Dianne Piepel; Organization – Michele Hardin; Economic Vitality – Bonnie Silbaugh; and Tower View Team – Marc McGinn.   Without the work of these many hands, our downtown would not be what it is today.

The Jefferson Matters: Main Street 2018 Leadership Award was also presented by President Jamie Daubendiek to Debra McGinn.  Debra has led the Tower View Team working tirelessly to promote their mission of bringing public art to the downtown through rooftop art, Ring Out for Art sculptures, painted pianos, and alley projects. She is also involved in the Promotion committee video-taping business commercials, supporting shop local through social media, keeping the Jefferson, IA app up-to-date, and involvement in the HomeTown Teams project.  She continues to share new ideas for Main Street projects.  Debra serves on the JM:MS Board of Directors.  The Main Street Iowa awards will be held in Des Moines on March 8 and Deb will be recognized at that event also.

The theme for this event correlated with the Investment Drive theme – We Aim High.  The party was held at Meythaler Photography on the downtown square with refreshments provided by the Organization Committee.  Following the social time and recognition, those in attendance were invited to view two historic preservation projects with upper story uses nearby – City View on State and the new home for The Forge – Pillar Technology’s location in Jefferson.