First Third Friday event in Lincoln for 2021 brings out a huge crowd

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[May 26, 2021]   LINCOLN - Friday night in downtown Lincoln looked vaguely familiar as the town filled with people milling about, enjoying good food, visiting with vendors, and taking part in the many activities offered at the first Third Friday Downtown Lincoln event since 2019.

The term vaguely comes into play, because, in recalling the past events, it is hard to remember a night when there were more people in Lincoln than this past Friday. To say there were several hundred would be a big understatement. While no one was counting, a good guess was that the streets were filled with a few thousand people getting out on a perfect night to enjoy the return of the street festivals in Lincoln.

The downtown square had, for the first time ever, activities and vendors on all four sides. In addition there were a couple of downtown businesses that exceeded the square by a block that were also participating in the event.





On Kickapoo Street, one such vendor was Sir Renna Tea, just north of the square. Owner Eileen Mullins summed up the entire evening in one word “freedom.” Mullins was holding a sidewalk sale enticing shoppers to stop and view the items on a table she had set up as well as take a closer look at the amazing window display Mullins has this month.



While most of the draw to Mullins’ sale was people who had parked further up the street and stopped for a moment as they headed downtown, Mullins was still very excited about what she was seeing in the city. She noted that the event was filling the square with vendors and people and that life was “the way it should be” right now.





Another business that isn’t exactly on the square but close by was the Lincoln CBD. Instead of holding a sale in front of their store on Broadway Street, the owners had opted to put up a tent in front of the former Rent One Furniture store.

Owner Jaimie Harvey was on hand to share information about the products sold at the store. Lincoln CBD opened late last year, and she says the business is doing well, but there is always room for more. She was hoping that an evening on the square would draw new customers to the store in the future.



Other businesses around the square that were open included Guest House Coffee and Pastries, Small Town Creations, The Alley-bi Saloon, Rusty Rail Tavern, Spirited Republic, Sorrento’s and Flossie and Delzina’s. Most of these businesses were selling food and beverages and visitors downtown were taking full advantage of the opportunity to grab something to sip or munch as they visited the other vendors.





Mama’s Arcade was also set up on the square selling food and drink and Top Hat Creamery was open selling sweet, creamy cold ice cream on a warm spring evening.



On the east side of the Logan County Courthouse square, the Lincoln Arts Institute was open for guests and was also offering some fun activities for youth.

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While children participated in a quick and easy print making class with the LAI May feature artist Lisa Lofgren, adults could enjoy the works of the artist on display inside.





The musical entertainment for the evening was Harmony Grits and a large number of people brought their lawn chairs and planted themselves in front of the band for an evening of excellent music.

Across the street from the Art Institute were artisan booths including Randy Washam, Jeff Williams of Springfield, a Henna Tattooist, and the works of Bob’s Woodshed.







Bob’s Woodshed is Lincoln’s own Fire Chief Bob Dunovsky, who does some excellent turned wood pieces including bowls and ink pens. Partnering with Bob in his booth was wife Cindy, who has created her own side business utilizing the left over resin that Bob uses in his woodcrafts.



Also included in the night were plenty of games for kids and adults. The giant games such as Connect Four, and wood blocks modeled after Jenga, were popular stops for kids. Kids and adults enjoyed the volleyball net and Zumba dancing.



On the square, Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch was helping out as a member of the Third Friday Committee and taking time to visit with folks as he traversed around the square. Welch was excited about the turn out for the first event of 2021 and is hopeful it is a sign of good things ahead for his town. He noted that the committee had been concerned about not offering bounce houses this year, but looking at CDC and Health Department guidelines, having the inflatables would have been unsafe for the children in the community due to coronavirus. However, he felt like they were not being missed by anyone.

Welch said on this first night, he wanted to acknowledge the hard work of the committee and especially of this year’s chairperson – Marcia Cook. He said that Cook had dove into the project with complete commitment, and had helped to bring about a very successful first event. He’s anxious to see what will happen with the next two events.

The Third Friday Downtown events will be back June 18th and July 16th weather permitting. The events start at 5:30 p.m. and wrap up around 8 p.m. each of the two evenings.

While it was a full night of fun, food, and entertainment, there is still room for more. Anyone who would like to set up a vendor or artisan booth at a future event can get the ball rolling by emailing the Third Friday Committee at thirdfridays@lincolnil.gov.


[Nila Smith]

 

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