Olde Town Covington Meeting
October 24th, 2022 @ 5:30
AGENDA ITEMS
I. Call to Order
II. Minutes–Overview of minutes from Board Meeting
III. Treasurer’s Report –Jaime Hale. $35,278.55 -OTC. $22,028.73 -Cork & Pork.
IV. Committee Reports
A. Organization –
Mission Statement:
Olde Town Covington is a local non-profit organization which seeks to promote the revitalization and economic development of downtown Covington, which, in turn, should enhance growth for the entire business community of the Alleghany Highlands. Olde Town Covington sponsors events and activities which provide entertainment, social interaction, educational experiences and tourism opportunities throughout the region. All of these contribute to the local economy. Olde Town Covington is exclusively dedicated to the renovation, revitalization and improvement of the downtown area of Covington, Virginia.
Our office hours continue to stay the same. The hours are 12:00 – 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday. Rylee won’t be able to attend Monday monthly meetings with her school schedule. Jennifer S. will take over notes for that day.
To start, we want to give a huge thank you to those that helped with the All Alumni CHS Reunion. We couldn’t have done it without all of our volunteers!! It was a great turnout.
Website Development / Advertising Campaign – John has helped tremendously with getting the Covington Cougar ornaments up on the website to sell and ship out. He has also updated the 2022 Christmas Parade registration form. If you are interested in signing up, check out our website at WWW.Oldetowncovington.com
B. Economic Restructuring
1. EDC Update–Terri McClung – We can not stress enough how vital it is to our community that you support our local businesses on Main Street. Formals and Florals, Honeycomb Grove Meadery, Kanawha Cafe, and many more need your support in order to stay open.
2. Chamber of Commerce– Pam Warren Josh Taylor is the new Director of Marketing and Special Projects. Any event updates?
Hometown Christmas Event/Tree Lighting- November 27th at 6 PM.
Mountain Magic/Pumpkin in the Park- October 22nd at 2 PM.
C. Design
1. Building Rehabilitation Update- No updates at this time.
2. Industrial Heritage & Technology Discovery Center Update –Advertising/Actively recruiting volunteers. They would love to be open on the Weekends, but more volunteers are needed to do that. They’ll be the host for our event, Muffins and Meadmosas. More events continue to be scheduled there, along with more exhibits in progress upstairs.
3. Sign at Walmart is currently on a small halt being updated and redesigned, we are hopeful to have these categorized by the end of November.
D. Promotion and Special Events
1. Farmers Market- No updates at this time.
2. Cork and Pork- June 2-3, 2023. We had many comments at the Bicentennial Celebration on the excitement of the C&P coming back. We are happy to hear some competitors are coming out of retirement to compete at this event.
3. Chamber Marathon- June 3, 2023. Packet pickup at Farmers Market.
4. Fireman’s Festival- Carnival games will be set up in Rosedale Park, May 31 to June 3, 2023. A couple of us have emailed Coles, with no response. Rylee even filled out a form on their website to get a response, and never heard anything. What is another way we could reach them??
5. Hometown Halloween- October 28th, 5-7 PM. Email her at cary.linkswiler@gmail.com for any questions. OTC would appreciate your candy donations for this event!! Drop them off in our box in the lobby of our office.
6. Downtown Ghost Story Walk, October 21st & 22nd–Jennifer Smith is leading this event. David Crosier will be the one telling stories. At this time (10/20) they are sold out for Friday night with very few left for Saturday. This event was a tremendous success!! Additional date added for Friday the 28th.
7. Muffins and Meadmosas, November 19th at the Discovery Center. Join us for a morning of fun making a Christmas-themed round wooden door hanger led by the ladies of Formals and Florals on Main. Honeycomb Grove Meadery will have meadmosas, along with Kanawha Cafe selling baked goods.
8. Christmas Parade, December 3rd. Please encourage churches, businesses, clubs, organizations, etc. to participate! People and floats make it FUN!!
City of Covington Parks and Recreation Events Update- Thomas Smals.
V. Old Business
-We have finally completed all Reunion events. The reunion was a huge success from a community spirit standpoint.
VI. New Business
Marian Paxton has stepped down from the board. We are actively taking nominations for a replacement member to the board. Please send nominations to Rylee.
Ornaments have been selling well. In-person sales we sold about 240. We have started shipping them as they are posted on the OTC website.
Covington High School has an Alumni Association!! Julie can answer any questions you may have about that. Preserving the history of our high school is vital to our community spirit!
Mobilizing Main Street Program Application: This is an application to a 2 year program that is a precursor to the Main Street America designation. This program offers access to grant opportunities and educational resources to move our organization to the next level of Main Street America designation. There are 10 questions that need to be answered and we are seeking everyone’s input on the answers. Some questions you may not have any input. #9 is critical– we need a short bio of each member supporting this effort! Rylee will email the questions and you reply to her and allow us to compile. Application is due Nov 15! I have made the commitment to attend the webinars and David Bryant, Paul, Kathy Downey and Mayor Tom are all committed to back me up.
A. Downtown Business Visitation and Contacts – Julie Stanley
Rylee and Brad visited all businesses on Main St to give them a paper copy warning about street closure for Hometown Halloween.
We have new businesses downtown but please remember the staples that have been around like Double C, HotDog House, Alleghany Floral, etc. Need our continued support!!
B. Downtown Walkthrough and concerns -Business Contact/Partnerships–We need them at our meetings or engaged—open to suggestions or ideas???!!!!
D.Website Updates- Ornaments are posted for sale, and lots of upcoming events have been posted.
E. Volunteer Recruitment- We are always in need of volunteers, just ask for ways we may need help!
F. Partnerships with Mountain Gateway and High School Business Programs/Clubs are being established. Specifically, reach out to high school FCCLA Club (Family Career & Community Leaders of America). May have to wait until fall, but will attempt to contact sponsors/leaders to plan. If anyone knows of any specific organizations to reach out to, let us know.
G. Fundraising Ideas-
Any event ideas that involve other Main St. businesses are always awesome!
Christmas Ornaments with Covington Cougar will also be sold at upcoming events and online
H. Request has been made for OTC to get involved with Lumberjacks–Similar to the activities that were planned when the team was initially brought here. Theme Nights/Business Recognition Nights/etc. Meet sometime in January/February to discuss this more.
Meetings will now take place on the last Monday/Tuesday of each month.
VII. Next Meeting –Board at 12 pm November 28, 2022.
–Citizen Members/Volunteers November 29 at 5:30 pm.
VIII. Adjournment.
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