Main Street Thermopolis making plans for the future

A number of exciting moves toward the future were made during a busy Main Street Thermopolis meeting on Oct. 22.

The meeting opened with discussion about the Main Street Thermopolis ornaments, which depict the Klink Building and are the first of the group’s yearly ornament series, which will feature local historical treasures. A total of 75 ornaments were ordered. About 35 of them have sold so far, and Main Street members will approach local businesses in the hopes that they will purchase and sell the remainder of the ornaments. The ornaments will also be sold at the upcoming Thermopolis Middle School craft fair, the Christmas Tree Festival on Dec. 3, and the Nov. 13 and Dec. 11 ArtStrolls.

The group discussed their Small Business Saturday campaign, for which 26 local businesses have already signed up. These businesses include everything from auto parts stores, hardware stores, all downtown storefronts and general merchandise stores. Stores will be giving out puzzle pieces with the name of the store from which the piece originated. Once ten puzzle pieces are collected, they can be turned in to the Chamber office, which will enter the recipient into a raffle. The grand prize of the raffle is $100 in Chamber Bucks, and second place will receive the puzzle itself, which will be designed by Lights On Afterschool program members. Small Business Saturday will be held on Saturday, Nov. 28. The raffle will take place during the annual tree lighting ceremony which will take place that Saturday.

Following discussion about the campaign was a recap of members’ trips to Laramie ad Rawlins to see what other communities taking part in the Main Street program have accomplished. The Rawlins downtown recently won a national award for the rehabilitation that has taken place under the Main Street program, which provided Thermopolis members a unique experience to ask local government and Rawlins community members about steps taken to turn Rawlins into a nationally recognized destination. Members who took the trip gave their impressions of Rawlins and Laramie and suggested ways the Thermopolis group could focus their energy in order to see similar results here in Hot Springs County.

The group, which is less than a year old, has already taken great strides toward their goal. Main Street Thermopolis has recently acquired an office space, located in the Central Bank and Trust and a post office box. Members voted Thursday to use a donated cell phone as the office phone, which will allow volunteers to receive calls whether in the office or not. Office hours are Thursdays from 9-12 and 1-5.

Following the meeting, Linda Klinck, manager of Wyoming Main Street, led the group to help prioritize Main Street Thermopolis’s future tasks. Klinck helped the group decide which of the previously organized committees within Main Street Thermopolis should undertake each task as well as devising an appropriate timeline for each of the tasks. Twenty-one tasks were listed by the group. Among the tasks are Oktobrewfest, encouraging downtown living, a bike share program, the group’s yearly ornaments and an ordinance enforcement officer.