Printed on Main Street

by the

Proudly

Oceana’s Herald-Jour

nal

staff news views events

VOL V, 1-20 • FEBRUARY 2015

Also inside

Volunteer

Spotlight

The Main

Street Menu

MEMO from

the Manager

Page 2

Page 6New look, new features! Take a peek inside!

SpotlightMain Street

Page 3

Mary Lulich’s designs are like a digital fingerprint story inside

Oceana Graphics Unique

Phot

o by

Bet

hany

Fich

ter

Your guide to

what’s happening

in downtown Hart

Welcome

The mission of the Hart Main Street Program is to work with both the public and private sec-tors to restore the vitality once common in the downtown district by enhancing our commu-nity identity and heritage, fostering a center of activity, and ensuring economic stability through concentrated efforts in organization, promotion, design and business development.

How long have you been a Hart Main Street volunteer? I became a volunteer at the inception of the HMS program in 2010 as a committee member.

How did you get involved with Hart Main Street? I started becoming involved by attending some of the public meetings held when we were applying to become a Select Community and be-came more actively involved by joining the ER committee.

What is your favorite Main Street event that you participate in? I enjoy many of the events, however my favorite would have to be Hart Sparks. It’s great to see the families and community members coming together to enjoy great activities, music and the fireworks.

How have you seen Hart Main Street impact downtown Hart? I’ve seen many empty storefronts filled with thriving businesses and in-creased traffic. I’ve seen Hart become more vibrant and the Hart Com-mons gives us a great place to enjoy it from.

Advice for those considering becoming a HMS volunteer? I would recommend that one helps in an area they are passionate about. There are several aspects to Hart Main Street and there is a place for everyone. If you are interested in volunteering, stop by the office and let them know what your interests are.

Our Mission:

Hart Main Street Program49 S. State Street P.O. Box 449

Hart, MI 49420(231) 301-8449

Newsletter StaffAmanda Dodge, Editor, Layout & DesignNorma Gonzalez, ContributorDiane LaPorte, Head of Distribution

HMS Board Executive CommitteeAnne Hardy, Chair Kelcy Smith, Vice ChairJoan LundBorg, Secretary Stan Rickard, Treasurer

TIFA representativesJoan LundBorg Bill HeggErin Fisher Anne Hardy

Board Members At LargeNancy Sterk Norma GonzalezKaren Drenth Harold Schaner

Committee ChairsNancy Sterk, Organization/PRKathleen Premer, PromotionsDave Spitler, DesignKelcy Smith, Economic Restructuring

Ingrid Pearson, Program ManagerJoan Lound, Program Accountant

See us online!www.hartmainstreet.org

www.facebook.com/hartmainstreetwww.twitter.com/Hart_MainStreet

City of Hart: www.ci.hart.mi.uswww.michiganmainstreetcenter.com

Kelcy Smith is the Hart Main Street Executive Board Vice Chair and the Economic Restructuring Committee Chair

Volunteer

Spotlight

Grab a friend or family member and show us what you “Heart about Hart”! Send your photos to us on Facebook at facebook.com/hartmainstreet and you could be featured in an upcoming issue!

What do you about Hart?

SNOW SOME LOVE: Norma and Juan Heart the Hart Commons!

Phot

o by

Nan

cy S

terk

Phot

o by

Lui

s Lu

go

2 February 2015 Main Street Spotlight

Past tenants of the original building at this site

included a photography studio, moving pictures theatre and furniture store. The building was constructed in 1927 as the Amuse Theatre with seating for nearly 400 people. Commercial space was occupied early on by a millinery shop. The theatre opened on October 26, 1927 with a showing of Reginald Denny’s “Fast and Furious” which came out in that year. The manager of the theatre was F. N. Harris. The theatre hosted movie screenings and other events for many years. The theatre was also known as the Hart Theater and in 1937 it made headlines for installing air conditioning.

Can you find it in your Hart?

Historic Hart - Amuse Theatre

The year was 1976, America’s Bicentennial, and Mary Lulich, a young co-op student at Shelby

High School, began work at the Oceana Herald and discovered that she was a good fit for a career field that was going through a lot of change.

The Oceana Herald also had something that few others did at the time, and that was computers, and Mary said that she was really able to grasp the technology. After graduation, she went off to Aqui-nas College and earned her bachelor’s degree. Fast forward 20 years and through a career working for the Big 3 automakers and Tier 1 companies on the southeast side of the state and designing for cli-ents around the world and you will find her on Main Street, literally. Well that is 213 East Main Street to be exact, at Oceana Graphics.

For years, Oceana Graphics was owned and op-erated by Mary’s fellow former Oceana Herald co-worker Gloria Brischke and she was looking to get out of the game and had put her business up for sale. During that time, Mary moved back to her hometown of Shelby and her work caught the eye of the family-owned design and printing company Hi-Lites Graphics in Fremont, who ended up pur-chasing Oceana Graphics. “Glo connected the dots for us,” Mary said. “You have young people who can work with websites, and older people that do more print, but I do both.”

This fact has made Mary into a one-woman design team. She sends all of her work to Fremont to be printed and shipped back to her for distri-bution. “I specialize in really elegant design and work hard to produce clean, ef-fective, personal and practical business collateral. I create art that works for every application,” she explained.

Oceana Graphics is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to noon and then 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Please like them on Facebook, check out their web-site at www.oceanagraphics.net, give them a call at (231) 873-5782, or just stop on by!

The first thing you will see when you walk through the door are Mary’s stylish black and pink glasses from Oceana Eyecare over the top of her computer. “I’ve always had funky glasses as a way to acces-sorize,” she said. Then you will be taken in by her kindness and friendly personality as she helps you with whatever project you bring in for her expert eye to examine and leave for her to put her digital thumbprint on.

“I create art that works for every

application.”

Hey kids! If you are 12 or under, stop on by the Hart

Main Street office and tell Ingrid where this plaque is located in downtown Hart and the first ten to guess correctly will receive a coupon for a free cookie from Morat’s Bakery on the Corner.

The Main Street Menu

Watch this space every issue to see a favorite dish served up by one of our downtown restaurants!

La Probadita

The latest menu item at La Probadita? This

delicious looking combo plate, appropriately named “La Probadita Combo.” The dish includes (clockwise from the top) grilled jalepeno (chile toreado), a gordita and a taco with your choice of fillings, a chicken or pork tamale, beans, grilled cheese, and rice and grilled green onions (cebollitas) in the middle…all for just $9.99! Not that hungry? Split it with a friend! Doesn’t that drink look yummy? Coming soon to the menu: homemade horchata! The La Probadita Lunch Counter is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Oceana Graphics Unique

Phot

o by

Ram

on R

osas

3February 2015Main Street Spotlight

The PulseAll-Star Celebration

October 28, 2014

All photos by Bill Hegg4 February 2015 Main Street Spotlight

5February 2015Main Street Spotlight

Anyone lucky enough to have seen the wonderful

comedy, “Annie Hall,” will remember when

Annie and Alvy agree to go their separate ways. Their

relationship is no longer working, and he uses the

analogy of a shark to explain their predicament:

“A relationship, I think, is like a shark. You know? It

has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think

what we got on our hands is a dead shark.”

This actually works well as a metaphor for life. We

have to keep constantly moving forward, or we get

complacent. Our lives get stagnant and uninteresting…

we start taking things for granted, and our passion

dies. That’s why we are constantly looking for ways in

which to keep the Hart Main Street mission fresh and

exciting. At the end of the year, our dedicated board

reviews our accomplishments, vis-à-vis the goals we

had set the year before. Did we get everything done

that we wanted to? What can we do next year to build

on last year’s successes? The board keeps incrementally

reaching forward, intent on making downtown Hart a

thriving community center of activity and commerce.

You’ll see in this issue of the Hart Main Street Spotlight

that we are once again striving to keep our look (and

our outlook!) fresh and new. The new larger size is less

expensive to print, and really gets noticed.

Thanks to Jim Young, publisher of Oceana’s Herald-

Journal (and his very sharp pencil), for working with us

to help make the physical creation of the newsletter an

affordable undertaking. We are very proud of the fact

that our Spotlight is printed right here in our Hart Main

Street district.Our new and incredibly talented editor, Amanda

Dodge, has created a new layout that virtually explodes

off the page. Easier to read, more colorful…the new

look matches our renewed commitment to keeping our

newsletter downtown-focused. We want to bring you

the latest news concerning the work of our committees,

features about our businesses and

volunteers, and fun, interesting

facts about downtown Hart.

So, here we go, into another

adventure-filled year, with

great things on the horizon

for downtown Hart. We want

to keep moving in the right

direction…forward!

And we promise to never be a

dead shark.

- Ingrid PearsonHart Main Street Manager

MEMO from the Manager

The Design Committee is working on several revitalization projects including:

A mural project for Downtown Hart •Completion of the Streetscape Design to add planters, •benches and signage to the downtown areaContinuous improvement of the Hart Commons•

The Design Committee meets the first Wednesday of each month at the Hart Main Street office at 5:15 p.m.

Winterfest Weekend – Friday, February 6th and Saturday, •February 7th. Come downtown and join in the fun. Broomball, Ice Fishing, State Street Mile Run, X-Country Skiing and enjoy a bowl of hot homemade soup!Coming up in 2015: Hart Sparks in July and live Music •on the Commons in July and August

The Promotions Committee meets the second Thursday of each month at the Hart Main Street office at 5 p.m.

The Promotions Committee is focused on creating positive impressions of Downtown

The Organization and Public Relations Committee

is always looking for new volunteers!

At the last Labor Day 5K we welcomed a whole new group of •

volunteers from Gray and Company (looking forward to seeing

you again - maybe at Hart Sparks on July 2?)

Check our website (hartmainstreet.org) for ongoing volunteer •

opportunities, whether it be for helping at events or participating

on one of our four standing committees

The Org/PR Committee meets the first Friday of each month at

the Hart Main Street office at noon.

Thewinnerwillreceive$210ingiftcertificatesfromall

•seven of our Main Street restaurants

$105inrestaurantgiftcertificatesforonerunner-up

•Only 100 tickets will be available for sale beginning in

•March for $30 each with the drawing to be held in April

See a committee member or stop by the Hart Main Street •

Officeforyourticket

The ER Committee meets the first Tuesday of each month at

the Hart Main Street office at noon.

The Economic Restructuring Committee is holding an

“Eat Your Hart Out” fundraiser raffle:

New members are always welcome!

Committee Updates

6 February 2015 Main Street Spotlight

Meets Wednesdays at

12:15pm

Hart United Methodist Church

308 S. State St., Hart

www.westshorebank.com4070 W. Polk Rd., Hart

231-873-1400

Like us on Facebook 3750 Polk Rd., Hart231-873-2826

2481 N 72nd Ave., Hart873-2163

www.lakesiderehab.com

873-3577Lakeside RehabilitationFamily Fitness Center

39 S State StHart, MI 49420

Lakeside Rehabilitation Family Fitness

Our O�ce3480 W. Polk Road

PO Box 333 Hart, MI 49420-8130

Phone:231.873.4119800.654.0511Fax: 231.873.3998O�ce Hours:M-F 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.Sat. 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

873-3566

7February 2015Main Street Spotlight

811 S. State Street, PO Box 67 Phone: (231) 873-1399Hart, MI 49420 Fax: (231) 873-8779

Lobby Hours: Mon - �urs 9am to 4pmFri 9am to 5pm

Drive-Up Hours: Mon - Fri 8:30 am to 5pm

Sat 8:30 am to 12 noon24 Hr. Drive-up ATM

GREAT HOME COOKINGDaily Lunch Specials

Catering for All Occasions

Live Music!

Downtown Hart… Where Friends Meet Friends

Kristi’s Pour House

Check FB for Dates

231-873-2378231-873-2378

Large Private MeetingRoom

YEARS43

celebrating

Service in Oceana County

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Recreation, Dining, Travel, Respite, Transportation, Adult Day Care,

Outings, Fitness, Cards, Friendship, Community

Residents, 60+ years of age, of Oceana County, are eligible to take advantage of all the

Oceana County Council on Aging offers. Try Us Out and See For Yourself -

www.oceanacoa.com613 E. MAIN STREET

HART, MI 49420PHONE 231-873-4461

YEARS43

celebrating

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2481 N 72nd Ave. Hart231-873-2163

PrintingCopiesGraphic DesignBusiness BrandingBusiness CardsLogosBrochuresFlyersBannersStampsSignsLetterheadEnvelopesPostcards& More!We can help!

www.oceanagraphics.net

231-873-5782(off hours appoints available)

8 February 2015 Main Street Spotlight