There are still those that doubt we have new business in our downtown.
Liz Skoczylas had a great article in yesterday's paper on business growing in Jamestown. I would also like to agree with the comments of Steve Centi - for years there were lots of vacant storefronts in Jamestown and that has all changed now. We have lots of people who visit our office indicating they want to start a business and want to know what storefronts are available. You know what, it is getting harder and harder to find a good location for these people.
Yes, the downtown business community is growing. This afternoon there will be a ribbon cutting at the reopening of Roberto's on the corner of Second and Main streets. This Friday afternoon there will be a grand opening and ribbon cutting at the Chautauqua Music Store and Miraglia Gallery. This is all a testament to the renewed business atmosphere that is occurring in Jamestown.
Another cool asset, and a one of a kind thing, is the completion of the mural on the side of the Duke Moving and Storage Building. It is extremely colorful and can be seen from many different locations. The mural completed by the two Gary Peters (father and son) is a great picture of Lucy, Desi, Fred and Ethel. If you have not seen this great picture the next time you go over the Washington Street Bridge take a quick look to the east and you cannot miss it. We would like to congratulate the Peters' as well as the Lucy Desi Center for this welcome addition to our downtown.
Now I told you I would give you a rundown on the Fireball Run this morning. Last week at this time we were lining cars up to move on to their next destination. I have to tell you these were some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. They were from all over the United States.
They could not say enough good about Jamestown and the people who live and work here. While they were lining up to leave in the morning I tried to talk with as many as possible and get Jamestown information in their hands. I will tell you most of them indicated they would return to Jamestown to spend more time.
In my conversations with the contestants they indicated they had never realized how much Jamestown had to offer. In fact, Jamestown would be the top location in this trip as well as many of the other locations of the other Fireball Runs that have traveled throughout the United States. One contestant said Jamestown "will be hard to top" and their visit to Jamestown was "seamless." Mayor Teresi put it well when he said "Team Jamestown" did a great job because it took everyone to make the Fireball Run the success it was. We can all be very proud of what happened with this great event.
The one thing I would like to end with involves missing children. The basic premise of Fireball Run is the hunt for missing children.
I would like to report to you that as this year's Fireball Run started one of the children, listed by one team, was actually found. I will try and get a more full report on this a little later. While the Fireball Run is a motorized board type game, they never lose the concept of finding missing children.
We hope they will return in the future, and we will work to try and achieve that goal.
In true Jamestown tradition, the children of Ring School lined North Main Street waving American flags bidding the Fireball Run good bye as they departed from Jamestown.