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Main Street Uvalde up for multiple awards


Susan Rios

Main Street Uvalde has several projects up for potential awards in the 2021 Texas Downtown Association President’s Awards Program, including an ongoing art and seating project, a photo retrospective of downtown Uvalde, and a summer festival celebrating the town as “The Honey Capital of the World.”

Winners are scheduled to be announced on Nov. 4 at the President’s Awards Gala, held in conjunction with the 2021 Texas Downtown Conference scheduled for Nov. 3-5 in Denton.

This will be the fourth year that local programs have been finalists for awards.  Last year they brought home two awards, for the the ongoing Four Square Friday program and the “Park Yourself in Uvalde” painted art bench project.

“The Main Street Uvalde program is always on a mission to grow, build, and promote our wonderful downtown area. It is a blessing to have so many community partners, businesses, building owners, sponsors, and volunteers that support the program and its initiatives. The work we do as a community binds us together and, in my opinion, deserves to be lauded across the state,” said Susan Rios, Main Street Uvalde manager.

She praised the Main Street Advisory Board, stating she was proud the TDA recognized the programs hard work and passion, as well as the diverse heritage and talent in Uvalde.

This year, Rios said, 107 entries were submitted in 11 different categories from communities across the state.

The local nominations that are now finalists in their respective categories include: in the design category up for Best Public Improvement, the Main Street Uvalde “Park Yourself in Uvalde” painted bench project, accompanied by the “Looking Backward to Move Forward” photographic window display project; and in the achievement category, up for Best Promotion-Traditional Event, the Uvalde Honey Festival.

Though it did not make it to the finals, the renovation of the Uvalde Rexall store was nominated for best renovation, rehabilitation or restoration in the design category.

Honey Festival

First held in 2019, the Uvalde Honey Festival, intended to be an annual event, was originally conceived and organized by Lacie Huddleston, Rosie Whisenant Kimball, who was the manager of the Uvalde Grand Opera House at the time, and Wymberley Pfalmer. 

Though the ongoing pandemic made efforts more challenging, the successful event drew approximately 1,700 people when it was held June 11-12 to celebrate Uvalde’s rich history as the “Honey Capital of the World.”

The festival, parts of which can be seen on an episode of the travel television show YOLO Texas, was put on by the Main Street Advisory Board. The Main Street board members worked on the event for months in advance, forming a committee that met weekly starting in March through June. 

The festival involved musical performances, a 5K race, a scavenger hunt, a pollination education station and more. The committee included Huddleston, Caitlin Visel, Suzanne Tumbarello, Robert Miguel Rodriguez, Al Ortiz, Sergio Ortiz, Rios, and Kristi Muñoz.

Huddleston said 52 vendors attended the event, and plans are already in the works for next year’s festival, where organizers hope to include a cooling station to beat the summer heat.

Art benches 

First conceived in September of 2019, there have now been three phases of the painted benches, with 20 of the colorfully bedecked benches spread throughout downtown Uvalde.

The 5-foot-long white oak benches, furnished by the Uvalde Convention and Visitors Bureau, are painted by area artists who are sponsored by local businesses and organizations. 

Installed by the City of Uvalde Parks and Recreation Department staff, they have been placed in strategic locations to provide downtown seating on North and South Getty streets, U.S. Highway 90, and various smaller streets in downtown Uvalde.

In October of 2020, the project won a public improvement award from the 2020 Texas Downtown Association President’s Awards Program.

Photo exhibit

Multiple reprints of historic Uvalde photos are displayed on the windows of the vacant J.C. Penney building in the 100 block of North Getty Street, offering a look at historic

downtown Uvalde through

photographs.

Entitled “Looking Backward to Move Forward,” the art installation project, which went up in March, was sponsored by family members of the late Tex Elliott. 

The historic retrospective was installed as part of the Main Street program’s celebration of its 10-year anniversary.

jkeeble@ulnnow.com, 830-278-3335