May 30, 2017
Board Officers
Jeff Peterson
Kate Hanson
Gail Ruhland
MaryKay Pfannenstein
Penny White

Board Members
Brett Anderson
John Bestgen
Tami DeLand
Brad Goskowicz
Bradley Konkler
Steve Laraway
Ryan Laudenbach
Rob Ruprecht
Mark Stafford

Quick Event Links
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Waddle for Water, June 24
The DTC and St. Cloud Rotary Club are quackers about ducks, rubber ducks that is.  Join us for the quaziest race ever when we "drop" 5,000 rubber ducks off the Veteran's Bridge into the historic Mississippi River as part of the 2017 Granite City Days Festival.

YOU have the opportunity to cheer on your little quacker racing for the finish line AND help raise money for our community.  Your "ducky donation" will allow us to raise funds for the Mississippi RiverWalk project.

Get your ducks in a row for the Downtown Duck Drop on June 24.  The drop expected to take place around 1:30 pm, immediately following the Granite City Days Festival.  Watch from along the Beaver Island Trail behind the River's Edge Convention Center.  LET'S PLAY! ADOPT TODAY

Take Metro Bus to Downtown and walk to our event.  
Let's Get Quackin'!
If you are ducky for Downtown and want to help with the Downtown Duck Drop, we need assistance with the following:
  • Front loader to be in the Granite City Days Parade on June 24th carrying the rubber ducks in the bucket, then dumping them into the Mississippi.
  • Volunteer (6) pied-pipers to be in the Parade inviting them to follow the front loader to the Beaver Island Trail to watch the dropping of the ducks.  
  • Volunteer (1-2) to organize a boat parade between 1 - 1:30 pm on the Mississippi.
  • Secure something to guide and corral the ducks as they float down the River into a funnel.
  • Secure a funnel to collect the fastest winning ducks.  
  • Volunteers to be in boats or kayaks to be sure no ducks escape, and to collect all at the end.
These duck drops or duck derbies take place all across the country.  We thought it would be fun to add St. Cloud to the list, have a quickin' good time while raising money for the proposed new RiverWalk.

If you are interested in volunteering/helping, please email Pegg@StCloudDowntown.com or call 320.257.8600.   
Beautification Important 
We love St. Cloud's Downtown and we know you do too.  So many take part to make our daily experience just a little better.  We are so grateful to the following businesses for dressing downtown's streets in vibrant shades of red and green.  

Bumbledee'sFalcon National Bank
Germain PlazaGeo-Comm
Granite City PropertiesGray Plant Mooty
HMA ArchitectsHerges, John
Inventure PropertiesLoft Salon & Spa
Mahowald InsuranceMetroBus
Netgain TechnologyParamount Center for the Arts
Pickled LoonRajkowski Hansmeier
River's Edge Convention CenterSawatdee
Spice of Life TeaWhite Horse
White, PennyWimmer Opticians
912 RegencyFairview Gardens

Partners in Planting:
Kelly, Shari, Penny, Janet, Tammy, Mary Kay, Mindy, Michelle, Helga and Pegg.  49 planters were finished by this expert-team win under 3 hours! All orchestrated by Penny White. Thank you
 
Link
A Fun-Filled Summer Planned in Downtown!
Downtown is a place filled with shops, galleries, nightlife and restaurants so it's no surprise that there is always something new going on.  Whatever your interests, you're sure to find an event that will excite you.    

Friday, June 9, 5 - 9 pm | Downtown Art Crawl
Wednesday, June 14, 5 - 9pm | Summertime by George begins
Thursday, June 15 - United Way's 50th Anniversary Celebration
Thursday - Sunday, June 22 - 25 | Granite City Days
Saturday, June 24 around 1:30pm | Downtown Duck Drop
Tuesday, July 4 | 4th of July Fireworks!
Friday - Saturday, July 28 - 29 | Tech H.S. Centennial Celebration
Friday, Aug 11, 2 - 9 pm  |  Downtown Art Crawl
August 24 - New Flyer Community Bus Pull
Friday, Sept 8 | Granite Games competition
Saturday, Sept 16 | Takin' It to the Streets concert

All these events bring thousands to our Downtown and community. Start planning your outings now!
5th Avenue Construction
The City of St. Cloud, Public Services Section,
will be conducting weekly meetings with the businesses.  Watch for email notices.  
These weekly meetings will be held at City Hall.  

Construction is anticipated to start the first week of June with a completion date of 9.15.17.  
News & Noteworthy
Leighton Interactive
Leighton Interactive recently announced that its previous Director of Client Services, Jennifer Keul, will assume the position of Vice President.  

GeoComm Interns
GeoComm is pleased to announce the addition of Abi Albro as Marketing Intern and Dan Friday as GIS intern.  

Street Light Project
The City is upgrading street light in the Central Business District to improve system reliability and performance.  The upgrade includes the latest LED lighting technology and includes electronic banners, flower hangers and a sound system capable of announcements and music.  The project should be completed by the end of July.  Thank you for your patience.

New Stearns County Sheriff
Dan Gudmundson officially became Stearns County sheriff.

Larger Events at River's Edge
Over 7,000 people expected during the month of June

Boys & Girls Club, Get Your Kicks
...Route 66.  The 2017 Summer Benefit is August 3, 5:30 0 8:30 pm at the River's Edge Convention Center.  Link

Register Now for Arts Camp 2017, June 14-15 This year's Arts Camp for Educators and Teaching Arts, Expanding Your Teaching Toolbox, provides an opportunity to explore many ways to add depth, variety and new pathways to help ensure success for all students.  Link

2017 Tech H.S. Centennial Celebration
Mark your calendars for July 28 - 19 to help celebrate St. Cloud Tech's 100 years of history, tradition and legacy.  If you are a Downtown business, consider placing a welcome sign and decorate in orange/black to show your support of this milestone.  Link
For Sale or Lease
The national trend of migrating inward to urban areas is spreading like wildfire.  Downtown dwelling is picking up speed.  Businesses are continually moving closer to the city center.  Take a look at what i garnering all the hype.  Find-a-Property Tool  Link
Benefit from Membership
Become our partner and become a Downtown builder.  Every day is our chance to make our Downtown and this region a little better.  The DTC continually provides support, resources, strategy and a little TLC to ensure Downtown continues to grow.

DTC Members should remember that this newsletter is a FREE way to share your news, announcements, events, etc.  Simply send an email to Pegg by the of the week. 

DTC Monthly Radio Show on WJON
We invite you to listen to WJON at 12:40 pm on the 2nd Thursday of each month where Downtown, the Downtown Council and our members will be featured.   Link

Website Redesign
We're working with Cohlab to redesign our website in order to provide better value to our members.  We plan to add a business spotlight series, sponsored by Capital One.  Let us know what would be helpful to YOU as a member that should be considered in the redesign.  Link
Downtown is the heart and soul of every city.  It is the gathering place for its
people and the physical and aesthetic expression of its collective visions.  A 
downtown is the manifestation of the diversity of the intellectual, cultural, 
social, business and political consciousness of its people.