Area residents are invited to help celebrate all things downtown in Jacksonville next week.
Jacksonville Main Street will be hosting its annual meeting next Thursday evening at The Plaza downtown. Jacksonville Main Street Director, Judy Tighe says the event gives everyone the chance to celebrate 2023 while getting excited for 2024.
“It’s going to be at The Plaza at 6:00 pm and it’s free, so come and get a little taste of Jacksonville. We will have a cash bar there of course and we will have a brief little meeting to elect our new officers and review some 2023 things that we have to do, and then spend the rest of the time socializing and snacking on some good food.”
Tighe says the food offerings this year will be provided by different local restaurants. She says it will be hard to top the success and growth that downtown saw last year, but it is already looking for a good start with events coming up soon.
“It was a great year, it really was. People kind of fully woke up out of the pandemic and were ready to get out and were feeling a whole lot better about just everything in general I think, and it really showed.
Businesses did very well and hey there is a lot of stuff going on after February 1st downtown. There’s Gallentine’s, with more than twenty retailers participating in that. And first of all, we have to celebrate the fact that I can say there is more than twenty retailers downtown. Those of us that have been around for a minute know there was a period that it wasn’t that much, so that is a great thing.
Then coming up on the 10th is the Downtown Bar 2 Bar, and that will benefit the Spirit of Faith Soup Kitchen this year. So sign up at one of the bars get your team together and have fun while supporting the community at the same time.”
The 2024 Jacksonville Main Street Annual Meeting is next Thursday, February 1st at The Plaza starting a 6:00 pm. The event is free, however, people are encouraged to register ahead of time in order to gauge how much food will be needed. To register, contact Marcy Patterson by calling 217-243-3857, or emailing her at marcy@mlpatteron.com.