By Staff
Just think about how far we've come. I'm talking about Niles, and in particular, the downtown Niles area.
Remember when we didn't have a Riverfront Park? Gosh, think about how much our downtown has changed because of that park! What did we do before it? I don't remember much of anything downtown. Think about how much that park has added to the quality of our lives.
Riverfest is a prime example. It grows by leaps and bounds every year. Before we had Riverfront Park, the annual festival came close to dying out.
Now, it's only rival is Apple Festival.
I began pondering how we've grown as a community – mainly because of Riverfront Park, in my opinion – when I received the lineup of all of the events happening in downtown Niles this weekend. It's staggering. Read this:
Whew!
Riverfront Park has been such a catalyst for so much positive change here? I wonder if Tom Rattenbury and the late Murray Campbell and Tim Childs and others who worked tirelessly for many, many months to make it a reality knew what an impact it would have on our community.
It hasn't been that very long ago that downtown merchants couldn't even agree on hours they would stay open late during the Christmas holiday.
Just look at us now.
We should all take great pride in what's happened in our community in a relatively short period of time. And the key to it all was leadership. Leadership from our city officials. Leadership from business owners, who took time away from their own companies to play a role in bettering our city. Leadership from a committed group of hard-working volunteers.
I remember when I worked as editor of the Niles Daily Star how jealous I was at all of the renovation and exciting things happening in Dowagiac's downtown. I so wished Niles had someone like Vickie Phillipson to organize efforts, provide diplomacy between business owners and motivate all. Now we do in Main Street's Lisa Croteau.
It makes me excited about what the future holds for Niles. What's next? What more are we going to make happen with continued leadership and hard work? Will we as a community come up with a way to buy the old Ready Theater and turn it into a civic or convention center? Will we move forward with plans to link Riverfront Park and an improved Plym Park?
The possibilities are endless now that we have the ball rolling.