Wisconsin Main Street managers are expected to attend quarterly meetings as planned by the state office each year, and the location of these get-togethers is almost always a Main Street community in good standing. Since there are at present 36 municipalities located all over the state of Wisconsin, often people have to travel quite a distance in order to attend. For example, we have communities in the northwestern part of the state (Rice Lake, Osceola) to the southwest (Viroqua, Platteville and Prairie du Chien) to the Lincoln Village neighborhood in Milwaukee, Beloit and Sharon (about the same size as Gillett) located almost on the Illinois border. We have Algoma and Sturgeon Bay on Lake Michigan, Sheboygan Falls just west of Highway 43 near Kohler, and Eagle River and Rhinelander way up north even for us in Gillett. The central part of the state is well represented as well, including Wausau, Stevens Point, Marshfield, and of course Portage, our destination. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Tigerton, a community about our size located in western Shawano County and a proud member of the Main Street program since about 1990.

            On Wednesday, the state is sponsoring its third annual workshop for members of boards of directors of groups like Revitalize Gillett, Inc., invited from each community which has a Main Street program. The last count I heard was approximately 75 people were attending, with folks traveling from far and wide to learn more about what the Main Street program offers and how each community organization’s boards can be more productive in its efforts.

            Kurt Darrow, Vice President of Revitalize Gillett, Inc., will drive down to Portage on Wednesday morning to join Brandon and me for the day and then Kurt and I will attend a meeting of the Wisconsin Main Street Alliance at the offices of Portage Main Street at 4:00 p.m. After this meeting, Kurt and Brandon will return to Gillett and I will stay in Portage through noon on Friday for the rest of the conference.

            I have now attended about ten of these meetings and I never fail to be surprised at how much I learn from my fellow managers and how gracious and hospitable each community has been while we are visiting their home town. I’ve visited the amazing Villa St. Louis, a national historical landmark, and cruised down – or up? – the Mississippi River in Prairie du Chien, enjoyed dinner theatre and a Door County fish boil while we met in Sturgeon Bay, attended a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game and enjoyed dinner on Lake Pewaukee while visiting Pewaukee, and walked the downtowns of Algoma, Sheboygan Falls and many other communities on guided tours led by proud local citizens.

            These quarterly meetings, usually held in January, March, June and September, offer great opportunities for the managers of these diverse communities to get together and remember how much we are all working toward the same goals all over the state, whether it be in small rural communities like Blanchardville, Darlington and Gillett, mid-sized locations like Rice Lake, Chippewa Falls and Monroe, larger cities like Fond du Lac, Wausau and Whitewater to neighborhoods in Milwaukee or Green Bay, our state’s largest cities. Everyone is attempting to find a way to preserve the joy and excitement their little corner of the world provides for its citizens and its visitors, some with more success in one area than another.

            One of the things I enjoy most about attending these meetings is the opportunity to enlighten people about my home in Gillett. While it’s safe to say many folks had never heard of us until we got into the Wisconsin Main Street program, I can guarantee you they’ve heard of Gillett now and include us in their planning for ways to make all our communities more viable and successful into the twenty-first century.