Jacksonville Main Street looked back on its 25th year in existence on Thursday night at Hamilton’s North East for its annual meeting, celebrating several community volunteers and businesses.
The following people were honored with the following awards:
llinois Main Street Lt. Governor’s Award in Excellence in Downtown Revitalization volunteer award: Cory Garner/El Crow Photography
Illinois Main Street Lt. Governor’s Award in Excellence in Downtown Revitalization in the Promotion category: Miss Jacksonville Pageant (Emily Hudson, Calla Merriman, and Claire Kaufman) – Current Royalty 2024 Miss Jacksonville Hailey Dewitt and 2024 Little Miss Jacksonville Gianna Long accepted the award.
Jacksonville Main Street Community Spirit Award: Colleen Flinn
Jacksonville Main Street Git R Done: Jason Hebron
Jacksonville Main Street Business of the Year: Outbreak Designs/ Rick Rolson
Jacksonville Main Street Volunteer of the Year: Emily Sliger
Jacksonville Main Street Executive Director Judy Tighe says that the organization could spend a whole evening handing out awards to the many in the community that make Downtown Jacksonville and Jacksonville Main Street successful. She says the awards still wouldn’t cover all of the bases for what people do for the city: “I don’t think we could give enough awards for all of the fabulous things that people from this community do for us. We are so grateful. I was really just tickled to see the variety of people here [for the annual meeting]. All of the awards were really well deserved.”
2024 President of the Main Street Board of Trustees Tom Grojean says he was hesitant at first to take on the chair. Grojean was one of the original catalysts in Downtown Jacksonville, having purchased a building in 2000 at the beginning of the square’s transformation. He says Jacksonville Main Street is still an agent of change and growth for the city: “We know we have made a difference, and we’re going to continue to make a difference. We’ve got a great support staff, and the community supports us, and we support the downtown merchants and building owners. I think it’s a good chemistry right now.”
Tighe reminisced on the many strides downtown Jacksonville has made over the last 25 years. She says that the current climate is one of hope and continued growth: “We collectively have done a lot. It is really impressive. You can’t do that much work without an incredible team. It’s not one person. It’s not two. It is a whole team of people. It’s a whole community, and everybody bringing something to the table. Really, when you go back 25 years and you look at what our downtown looked like and what kind of situation we were in – it was hopeless. Now, it’s so filled with hope, and we’ve got more and more young people coming. They are so filled with hope and ideas. That is the type of environment that we envisioned creating because it fosters that kind of hope. It’s awesome to see it happening now.”
Tighe says she is looking forward to year 26 with Main Street coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the City of Jacksonville. She says everyone’s favorite Main Street events along with some special, unique events will be coming up over the next 10 months.
The newly elected Board of Trustees officers include President John Rohn and Vice President Jeremy Coumbes. Current Secretary Keri Mason and Treasurer Tim Flinn were reelected for another one year term.