The Old Town Commercial Association would like to thank all of the wonderful Festival of the Moon and Festival of the Sun volunteers. At the festivals, volunteers served beer and wine to patrons, sold drink and admission tickets, checked IDs and handed out glasses and wristbands, among other jobs.
The cooperation from our volunteers greatly added to the success of our festival weekend and made both Friday and Saturday night run smoothly. Thank you again volunteers, we could not do the festivals without you!
If you are interested in volunteering for future Old Town events please contact the OTCA office at (517) 485-4283 or e-mail with your contact information to be added to our volunteer list-serv. Thank you to all who continue to support Old Town!
The OTCA has a wonderful intern staff. We couldn’t keep the office running without them! Here is a little information on the OTCA’s newest interns.
Ashlei Echols: Ashlei is an OTCA employee through the Michigan Works Program. She will be a junior at Everett High School in the fall and enjoys playing soccer, singing and acting. In the future Ashlei plans to go to college out of state. She is unsure what she wants to do for a career, but whatever it is -from rocket science to marine biology - she will have passion for what she does.
Courtney Sipperley: Courtney has been working as a Communications Intern for the OTCA since January 2008. She will be a junior this fall at Michigan State University (MSU) and is working toward a degree in Advertising and Public Relations. You may have seen her from time to time filling in at Grace boutique in Old Town. Courtney is a member of PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) at MSU and she works as a lifeguard on campus.
Sara Colunga-Santoyo: Sara began working as a Communications Intern in May 2008. She is a Marketing major at MSU, where she will begin her sophomore year in the fall. Sara belongs to the Native American & Hispanic Business Students and Multicultural Business Program at MSU and she also works at The MSU Land Policy Institute.
Kara Swanson: Kara began working as a Design intern for the OTCA in May 2008. She attends Lansing Community College and has plans to graduate with a degree in Graphic Design in the next year. She is the designer and co-creator for a magazine called “Turn it Down” which features music and art happenings in the Lansing area.
Daedalian Lowry: Daedalian has been working as a Design Intern since May 2008. He graduated from MSU with a degree in Advertising and is currently taking graphic design classes at Lansing Community College. In addition to working for the OTCA, Daedalian runs his own DJ business, is an on-air broadcaster for 99.1 WFMK, and is the Assistant Program Director for 89.7 WLNZ.
The Artisan’s Circle is an artist co-operative that features all locally-made artwork in a variety of media including painting, pottery, leather work, quilting, hand blown glass and many other unique creations.
The Artisan’s Circle is a new addition to Old Town, located next door to the OTCA office at 1236-B Turner St.
As an artist co-operative, all 17 artists are owners of Artisan’s Circle and own stock in their corporation, Lansing Old Town Artist Co-Operative.
The idea for Artisan’s Circle began with five artists. The majority of them had rented studio space in Old Town and decided it would be good to have their own space. Consequently, they began to solicit other artists to take part in opening up their co-operative. In October of 2007, Artisan’s Circle opened its doors to the people of Old Town. The owners chose Old Town as their location because “it’s a great art district, with a great atmosphere and we knew that Old Town was greatly improving,” said Paula Gibson, one of the owners and artists of Artisan’s Circle.
In the future, Paula said The Artisan’s Circle hopes to “expand, improve and create new artwork.”
The Artisan’s Circle is open on Sunday from noon-5p.m. and on Tuesday-Saturday from 9a.m.-6p.m. For more information about this co-op, call (517) 675-2050 or visit http://theartisancircle.com.
Now that the summer is officially underway, I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for your work. In the past three years since I’ve been in Old Town, I’ve seen major changes. I went from working for a stable corporate entity, to working for a non-profit with an extremely dedicated and excited group of people, but with questionable funding. Though I gave up the comforts of corporate America, I don’t regret it for a moment. There is no doubt in my mind that this is where I am meant to be. As I look around at the businesses, employees and residents, it is evident that you feel exactly the same way.
I am continually amazed by your endless energy and commitment to our neighborhood. There were so many examples of this in the last month alone, it would be impossible to list them all, but here are a few. We had about 65 people who came to the rescue when we had only ten volunteers for the last shift of Festival of the Sun; the entire Classic Wines staff jumped behind the bar to help pour beer at Festival of the Moon when we experienced larger-than-expected crowds; a resident stopped by with homemade treats for the volunteers setting up the festival; residents stopped by to sweep and help set-up, though they weren’t asked; locals made sure that the Farmers Market was staffed and that the farmers were happy; volunteers pitched in to plant the open beds and tree wells to “ready Old Town for company;” donors gave us plants and compost to keep away weeds and keep the beds moist; all kinds of people worked hard to move that compost to the appropriate places in 90 degree weather; business owners picked up trash, weed whacked and cleaned up open spaces; locals are helping to water the hanging baskets and keep the area looking beautiful; volunteers spent their entire weekend at the festivals helping to make sure the events were a success. The list goes on and on. Thank you so much to each of you who work so hard to continue to make Old Town so wonderful.
In addition to the donation of time and energy, a number of people have made significant financial donations to ensure that we’re able to continue the work of revitalizing the neighborhood. Please be sure to support these people as much as possible. It is not just the large donors that mean so much, it is also the individuals who have made donations to Old Town - sponsored the banners and baskets, hung a banner at an event, paid for the printing of a brochure, etc.
Thank you to the OTCA board of directors, who contribute significant amounts of time and energy, and who make sure that we’re able to successfully complete projects. These unsung heros are truly wonderful people who work in the background without much thanks, no reimbursement and are taking time away from their businesses and families for the greater good of Old Town.
I cannot say thank you enough to all of you for your help and support. I truly love Old Town. Thank you for giving me such a wonderful place to work.
Have a wonderful summer,
Jamie Schriner-Hooper, Executive Director
The Cedar Street School, located on the corner of Grand River and Cedar Street, is currently undergoing renovations to become the Old Town Medical Arts Building. On Thursday, July 10 at 3:30p.m., community members will be given the opportunity to join Mayor Virg Bernero in a groundbreaking ceremony and tour of the building.
The first floor of the Old Town Medical Arts Building will become the home to ThreadBear Fiber Arts Studio, which features a wide variety of yarn. The owners of ThreadBear are current Old Town residents and are moving their business from their present location on Waverly Street in Lansing.
The second floor of the new building will hold the office suites of doctors Carla Guggenheim and Gail Shafer. Carla is a Rheumatologist who specializes in treating arthritis. Gail earned a bachelors degree in Occupational Therapy as well as a PhD in anatomy. In addition to the doctors offices, there will be a waiting room complete with a coffee and smoothie kiosk and a retail health supply store.
The third floor of the building will become a member-based gym, complete with standard exercise machines, special equipment for patients who are undergoing physical therapy and a dance and yoga studio. There will also be a Gyrotonic exercise system, which is used to enhance balance, flexibility and muscle strength. These specialized machines are similar to Pilates and are often used by dancers.
The Old Town Medical Arts Building is LEED certified, meaning the entire building will be environmentally-friendly. These new “going green” features include geothermal heating and cooling, a green roof and xeriscape gardening, which uses very little water.