Northern Lakes Economic Alliance • 231-582-6482 • info@northernlakes.net
Amanda Baker, Downtown Development Coordinator
Volunteers gather to show off their handy-work during East Jordan’s Planting Day.
In 2016 the East Jordan Downtown Development Authority (DDA) was financially in a position to begin moving projects forward again. It had been a while since the DDA was able to do any visible projects, and they wanted to accomplish something without putting themselves back in the same financially strapped situation they had just gotten out of.
A suggestion came from the Charlevoix County Community Foundation to unify the downtown flower boxes by planting the same flowers in each. The DDA was able to work with the Foundation, Billie’s Floral, and Joe Shear Services to bring bright red geraniums to all 47 planter boxes on Main Street as well as the M-32 Bridge and throughout the City Marina.
The flowers look great, but the real secret sauce comes from the volunteers that show up each year to plant. The community has shown up in force each year to support their downtown, and planting 1,200 flowers has become a breeze. In 2018 all the boxes were done in under an hour!
Encouraging the support of your community is the key to making any project a success. Whether it be planting flowers, providing public input on future goals, serving on boards, or even just helping spread the word of what’s being done, your volunteers are the driving force of your community. Muster them!
For more information on rounding up volunteers and tackling projects like this in your community, contact Amanda at 231-582-6482 or amanda@northernlakes.net.
