Downtown pg 1 1-6-11
- Details
- Category: Past Issues
caption, page 1:
Banners surround 88 Main, LaPointe's and the building across from Cargill Chevy. Linda Lemmon photos.
caption, page 7:
Banners
The banners that wrap 88 Main, the former LaPointe's Jewelers and the building on Rt. 44 across from Cargill Chevrolet, include photos of buildings and items in Putnam along with uplifting messages about downtown Putnam and Putnam. Linda Lemmon photos.
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM --- It's kind of like putting a 150-foot bow on downtown Putnam.
A wistful "thinking out loud" comment bloomed into striking banners, replete with beautiful photographs of Putnam and upbeat messages about downtown Putnam's Renaissance.
Karen Osbrey and Gary Osbrey, owners of WINY Radio, were having a casual conversation with James and Debbie St. Jean. Karen Osbrey said she "wished out loud" that the 88 Main Street, the former LaPointe's Jewelers, and the Tyvek-wrapped building that sits across Rt. 44 from Cargill Chevrolet would look nicer for the holidays if they could be wrapped like a gift.
"I was wishing that we could find a bunch of wrapping paper" and cover all the Tyvek and let people know that Putnam is working hard on its creating a beautiful downtown, Osbrey said.
A couple days later, speaking with James St. Jean, "Jimmy told me he was working on something great," Osbrey said.
What Jimmy was working on, with the help of his employees at Chase Graphics, was banners to wrap around the three buildings. Osbrey, who is the new president of the Putnam Business Association, said that the St. Jeans donated the materials and labor.
The Chase Graphics employees who had taken the photos and the employees who had helped create the banners, were so excited about how well the banners came out, they offered to help put them up. The 150 feet of stylish banners went up just before the new year, on Dec. 30, Karen Osbrey said.
"There are such creative minds behind those banners," she said.
Osbrey said that Bruce Dexter II intends to begin shortly on renovations to 88 Main Street, and considering the weather, the renovations will begin inside. Osbrey said she hopes that the banners will still be looking sharp until the building rehabilitation project moves to the outside, in the spring.
"If the banners get us to spring, that would be good," she said.