 The Main Street
board this year consists of 12 board members, up
four from last year, and two liaison representatives, one each from
the city and the county. Officers for the year are Seth Goodman,
president; Brian Huffman, vice-president; Jill Douglas, treasurer;
Gladys Dutz, secretary; and Roger Matson, immediate past president.
New board members for this year are Jamie Beard, Misty Bell, Sara
Erlandson, Lisa Mason LaForge, Michael Simonson, Scott Werner and
Paula Rutherford.
The liaison representing the Logan County Board is board member
Andy Anderson and from the city of Lincoln, Alderwoman Joni Tibbs.
According to Wanda Lee Rohlfs, executive director of Main Street
Lincoln, the organization is permitted to have between eight and 12
board members. At the end of this year three members resigned their
positions: Judy Conzo, Ed Malkowski and Barb Reinwald. In addition
Regina Board had resigned earlier in the year, bringing the total
number of board members down to five.
In December when the board met to establish officers, the need
for board members came into discussion. Rohlfs said Goodman for the
most part was responsible for bringing the new members into the
board, as he contacted several of them immediately, recruiting them
to become new members.
Once all the recruits agreed they were interested in the
organization, they submitted brief descriptions of who they are,
what they do and what they would like to see accomplished in the
historic downtown area.
Jamie Beard is employed with Anytime Fitness. She lives in
Lincoln, has been involved with the From the Ground Up organization
and says she loves being a part of the Lincoln community. She said
she hoped to bring to the board energy, creative ideas and a
youthful perspective.
Misty Bell is well known in the community as an employee of
the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County. She has acted as
the coordinator for that agency in Lincoln Art & Balloon Festival
events and has been involved with the Route 66 Heritage Foundation
and the Railsplitter Festival.
Bell is a Lincoln native, living in Mason City. She said her
goals as a board member for Main Street Lincoln are to help keep the
downtown area not only alive but thriving. She feels she can bring
to the board her creativity, organizational skills and a
forward-thinking "can-do" attitude.
Sara Erlandson lives in Lincoln and is new to the
community. She is a teacher at Illini Central in Mason City but has
a keen interest in Lincoln. She said she wanted to become a part of
the board so she could become more involved in her community. She is
interested in helping with the historic preservation of the
community and is excited about learning more about Lincoln.
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 Lisa Mason LaForge is currently a stay-at-home mom who
owned a successful event-planning business in California. She says
she has attended every event in the area since coming to Logan
County and has been active with events in the New Holland area. She
said she likes the quaintness of Lincoln and hopes to help raise
public awareness of the Main Street Lincoln organization and what it
does for the community. LaForge hopes that her fun-loving spirit and
her experience as an event planner will help the organization reach
its goals this year.
Michael Simonson recently purchased ME Realty and is the
former owner of Simonson Flooring in Lincoln. He is active in the
Together for Lincoln organization, the Polar Plunge and has been
involved with other activities in the various group homes in the
area. He said he wants to see the Lincoln community continue to grow
and hopes to help it do so through his involvement in Main
Street. Simonson believes he can bring fresh new business ideas to
the organization. He wants to see the town continue to grow, and he
is interested in beautification projects for the city.
Scott Werner is the owner of the Lincoln Dairy Queen and is a
paralegal with Gehlbach Law Offices in Lincoln. As one who grew up
in Lincoln, Werner says he has a commitment to making the downtown
area strong with a thriving business climate and all the storefronts
occupied.
Werner is no stranger to the Main Street organization as he has
been a sponsor of The Art of Wine and was a volunteer who assisted
with the startup of Main Street Lincoln with Valecia Crisafulli. He
was instrumental in bringing the balloon fest to the downtown area
and served as an organizer for the first two of those events.
Werner said he is bringing to the organization a lifelong
commitment to improving the downtown area.
Paula Rutherford lives in Lincoln and is employed by
HealthSource Chiropractic, formerly 1st Choice Chiropractic with Dr.
Frank Abudato. She has been involved with St. Jude's and the
American Heart Association. Rutherford says she is looking forward
to helping the people of the community as well as Main Street
Lincoln and looks forward to meeting new people and building new
relationships in the community.
Rohlfs said she is excited about the new
members and the potential they bring to Main Street Lincoln.
She is
hopeful that the 2012 year will be a good one with lots of new ideas
that will ultimately increase public awareness of the organization
and will benefit all the downtown area businesses.
[By NILA SMITH] |
