“Project Pride” focuses on beautification

Business Leaders and main street property owners are invited to attend a meeting to discuss the beautification of main street in Howard at a meeting set for Wednesday, June 25, 2003 at 7:00 p.m.

Before selecting a location for the meeting, the committee would like to know how many people will be attending. If you are able to attend the meeting, please call the MCCR office at 772-5153 and you will be sent a reminder notice with the location of the meeting.

The beautification efforts set forth by the MCCR Economic Development Committee has been named “Project Pride” in an attempt to improve the appearance of the towns in Miner County.

“The committee has several ideas about what can be done, but we think its irresponsible to implement anything without talking to people who have a stake in the Main Street area,” Faye Oines, MCCR Economic Development Committee Co-Chairperson said. “We are asking people to gather one night to listen and offer opinions.”

While most people agree with the basic idea of beautifying our community, it’s not easy to implement because it often involves issues of property ownership. While it’s impossible to escape this issue, The “Project Pride” committee would prefer to focus on ways to help improve the image without legislating and dictating.

The committee has suggested the following reasons for pursuing this goal of beautification:

• An attractive appearance supports the economic health of the community. If it’s not attractive, people will not frequent it, thus hurting the businesses located there. It also makes it difficult to encourage people to start businesses in the area if it does not look attractive.
• A community’s Main Street is a symbol and reflection of the community. It tells others a lot about the community, its attitudes, and its vision for its future.
• The appearance of a community affects the pride, attitudes, and personalities people in the community. In short, if you look good, you feel good.

If you have any questions regarding “Project Pride,” or other initiatives that the MCCR Economic Development Committee is working on please call Mike Knutson at the MCCR office at 772-5153.