Spencer Main Street hosts annual banquet, unveils archway design

'A reason to turn at the light'

At the start of the Spencer Main Street annual membership banquet, President Julie Coffin took the audience on a trip.

That trip, while being descriptive while folks attentively listened during Coffin's opening remarks, was along State Road 46 from Bloomington to Spencer.

"You're moving in a generally westerly direction. You just left a populated area, and you're starting to enjoy the rolling countryside, and you're getting the town. And you hit the first stop light, and you think, 'Wow, that town must have a bang up Garden Club, because look at that...'" Coffin began before being interrupted with applause.

She continued.

"So then the light turns green, and we move on, and we get to the second stoplight. And it's red, of course, and you're sitting there thinking, 'Well, there's nothing particularly scenic there, right?' So you wait there, and the light turns green," Coffin continued.

"And because I'm an optimist, I say the third light is green, so you roll on through. You say, 'Oh, look, this town has a Walmart, just like every place else does.' And you're done with this little town."

Coffin wanted to paint a different vision of Spencer.

"But wait, what if it could be different? Let's rewind. Go back to the first stoplight. Admire the garden again, ooh ahhh great garden, right? As you begin to approach the second stoplight, you look down at the table in front of you, and you turn over your placemats, and you see the most fantastic entryway arch you've ever seen," she said, as folks unveiled the photo of the arch as their placemat.

In this version, folks leave Morgan Street, have a bench to sit on to enjoy the most fantastic hanging baskets.

"Your turn signal is on, and you're thinking, 'It's a good thing that that arch is there so that I knew to turn at the light. So once you turn, you find this charming historic downtown area. It meets every single one of your needs. You can eat at any time of the day. You have multiple absolutely one-of-a-kind shopping sequences. You have a historical theater for entertainment. You have a music restroom, and you have a bench to sit on to enjoy the most fantastic hanging baskets."

Coffin then painted a vision for the future.

"Wouldn't that be great if everybody who was driving on Morgan Street knew that there was a reason to turn at the light?" Coffin asked.

She then said they have been working with the town and noted to get a design and that they are working on finding a way to fund the archway to the downtown.