Harrington News

Monday evening, March 2, at 7 p.m. the Harrington Opera House Society met for their monthly meeting. Those present included: Ed and Bunny Haugan, Gordon and Billie Herron, Linda Wagner, Paul Charlton, Mark and Sheryl Stedman, Karen Robertson, Mike and Bonnie Hardy, Michelle Quigley, Carol, Celeste Miller and Marge Womach.

Many of the building projects are coming to completion. The painting has been finished and the stage drapes have been shortened. Dressing room #1 is completed and ready for use. Beveled windows were installed. The window trim is ready for installation. Finishing touches continue on the outside doors where modifications were needed. The next large building project for the auditorium will be the sanding and sealing and finishing of the wood floor for the stage and the auditorium. Concern for the polished floor having the pews put back in place was expressed. Following the meeting, members were to view the progress.

Coming events were discussed with the main emphasis on having the auditorium ready for the March 20 Horse Crazy Cowgirls with Dave McClure.

The HOHS photo policy was addressed and it was determined that photos of events, including classes, which may show individuals are to be available for HOHS to use on the website, in brochures or in flyers. Notice to this effect would be posted to ensure that people are warned in advance.

Rummage sales will begin May 16, donations to benefit the elevator fund. The next HOHS meeting will be April 6, at 7 p.m. in the Art Room.

Harrington Historic

Preservation Commission

A large gathering attended the Tuesday evening, March 3, meeting of the HHPC which included Amy Foley, Aileen Sweet, Karen Allen, Mark Stedman, Paul Charlton, Margie Hall, Karen Robertson, Celeste Miller, Lindsey Hutsell, Anita Harman, Bunny Haugan, Cassandra Paffle-Dick, Heather Slack, Jim Wilcox and Marge Womach.

Miller opened the meeting, introduced the group and quickly attended to the normative HHPC business which included mention of a letter being sent to Studio Cascade in an attempt to complete the report on the 2000+ Revitalization Update. Mention was also made of the potential sale of the Harrington Haus and that the tentative new owners had inquired about the process for having their building added to the local Historic Register.

Miller then opened the meeting to the many visitors as part of the community's attempt to communicate among its many civic-minded groups; a planned quarterly event was suggested with a member or representative from each group to attend to share information..

Each group is supposed to be sharing their mission statement, their long-range goals for the town and their current, short-term goals. This is intended to prevent two organizations from working on the same project and wasting energy. It is also intended to stimulate communication between the groups to share new ideas or better solutions. Mention was made that when one group has a large project and needs additional support or workers, these quarterly, sharing meetings might avail more workers for a given project. Wilcox stated that the Lions Club has 15-20 active members and that they determine their projects for the year, and essentially have their hands full with their own projects. The "first" quarterly meeting will be held the second Thursday in April with the public invited.

Projects to help revitalize the downtown business district were discussed with various ideas being presented; the goal is to have the downtown area ready for the influx of visitors for Cruizin' Harrington in May. Suggestions included offering help to the owners of vacant buildings with cleaning the storefronts, windows, grounds and sidewalks. Concern for safe projects was expressed when considering the use of students with community service hours. Most members of these groups seem to have civic pride and some are baffled at the condition of some of the properties within the city limits. Inquiries were made regarding enforcement of city ordinances.

Harrington

Chamber of Commerce

Wednesday at noon the Harrington Chamber of Commerce met at city hall with Amy Foley, Allen Barth, Cassandra Paffle-Dick, Mark Stedman, Bunny Haugan, Ken and Melanie Kennedy, Becka Downing, Sharon Nighswonger, Cindy Haas, Heather Slack, Celeste Miller, Marge Womach and Summer Clark present.

The Chamber received the Cruizin' Day banner and the members approved payment of the bill. The banners are to be placed at the north entrance to town in the park and in the Grain-View Park at the South end of Third.

Clean-up Day for the town was again discussed with concern over some of the entry-to-the-town properties noted for their unsightly condition. A member asked that abatement letters be sent to the offending parties if no action is taken this week. In preparation for the big spring event, and with some of the property owners declining to respond to letters requesting they clear their property of debris, several expressed that the owners are holding the city hostage by owning property that is not available for rent or sale, not being used for more than storage (inside and out), and not showing civic pride with an appealing appearance.

Vendors for the May 16 Cruizin' Days at present total four requests for outside locations, to include candles, dolls, popcorn and crafts. The inside vendors have not begun to contact the Chamber with the exception of Amy Foley.

Haas stated that a Beer Garden is in the works to be set up across from the Studebaker Shop with the lot fenced and that the license has been taken care of. Yard sale forms are not yet available, but will be out shortly. Barth stated that he has flyers for the car show prepared and several wanted to create a kids' coloring contest for prizes. There will be a quilt show and a car show, but no plowing activity and no parade.