Grants Mainstreet puts focus on Route 66

By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Route 66, which passes through the city of Grants, Milan and Gallup, has been called many things from the Mother Road to the River of Immigrants, but the one that was used most was “Mainstreet USA” and it’s appropriate that today one of the key players in economic development in town is the Grants Mainstreet Project.

Mainstreet works together with the city government and others whose focus is attracting business to the community for a viable economy. According to Mainstreet Project Executive Director Kathy Gonzales, it’s a grassroots project that taps into the communities abundant energy.

“The Mainstreet Project has been around for about 20 years or so and it grows every year. The volunteers are great and we rely on that support a lot as we are a nonprofit agency. We run off of donations and different grant moneys from the state, New Mexico Tourism Department, the Scenic Byways, Lodgers Tax, and some federal money is available but when we apply it has to be matching funds,” she said.
The events sponsored by the Mainstreet Project throughout the year raise funds for them including the Fire and Ice Bike Rally.

“We use the money to make improvements in our mainstreet district, such as beautification to help bring tourists to the area. We also have other events planned, like Jazz Fest and Art in the Park. All these projects take time so we are taking it one step at a time. We’re even planning on having a Fire and Ice Golf Tournament at the end of September, but right now that is just in the planning stages. The reason we want to have more events this year is to help make up for some of the money we lost at the Rally due to the rain and flooding,” Gonzales said.

The grassroots aspect is important to the project too.

“We like to get people involved who like to get their hands dirty and help plant trees, shrubs, flowers and help out with other aspects of beautification. During the Bike Rally for example, we got together with Future Foundations and they got their youth group involved and we teamed them up with councilmen Walter Jaramillo and Randy Hoffman, who is chairman of Mainstreet Organizational Committee and together they planted 85 trees and helped spruce up the mainstreet medium and around the park area before the event. Next year we hope to plant 150 trees,” she said.

Hoffman joined the Mainstreet Project in 2006 and is now head of the committee that goes after the money.

“I take care of salaries, fund raisers, and grant writing. I go after it where ever I can find it,” he said. “If you don’t know what you’re doing when putting together grant proposals you should get help and we have that help available from the New Mexico Mainstreet group in Santa Fe which is a statewide organization. They have associates that can help with putting grant proposals together properly so the job is done right the first time around. We also have a great working relationship with our city council to help get things done. The offices there have been tremendously wonderful to us so helps us in that respect getting projects off the ground,” Hoffman said.

To volunteer or if you have ideas for the Project: Grants Mainstreet Project, 285-3573.