Press Release April 29, 2008
For more information contact:
Ellensburg Downtown Association 509-962-6246 info@ellensburgdowntown.org
 

  Ellensburg Downtown Association
Celebrates National Historic Preservation Month 


Citizens in Ellensburg will join thousands of individuals around the country as part of a nationwide celebration of 2008 National Preservation Month in May. "This Place Matters" is the theme of the month-long celebration, which is sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In Ellensburg, Preservation Month 2008 will be observed by numerous events put on by the Ellensburg Downtown Association and other groups including the Kittitas County Historic Museum, Historic Ellensburg. This month long celebration will start with an informational Preservation Month reception held at the Kittitas County Historical Museum, Saturday May 3rd at 3pm.

These and other organizations will hold a number of community events throughout the month of May including: Mornings on Main Street held every Thursday at 8am in the Hal Holmes Community Center hosted by the Ellensburg Downtown Association; Upstairs Walking Tours of historic downtown Ellensburg buildings May 24 at 10am and 1pm hosted by the Kittitas County Historic Museum.

The Kittitas County Farmers Market also starts in May and runs every Saturday morning beginning May 3rd. The Ellensburg Annual National Art Show and Auction is scheduled for May 16-18 hosted by the Western Art Association.

Historic Ellensburg will be holding their annual awards programs in May. Historic Ellensburg's Excellence in Preservation Awards will be on May 10th at 7pm.

Mother's Day weekend the downtown will also be celebrating Central Washington University's Family Weekend. Downtown activities will include a variety of special promotions for Moms Dads and Grads Weekend. Included in this weekend, Saturday will be the Farmers Market's 5th annual Children's Music Day.

The Ellensburg Downtown Associations Annual Awards Luncheon will be May 29th from Noon till 1:30 at the Hal Holmes Community Center. The EDA will recognize outgoing board members; outstanding volunteer of the year, business partner of the year, downtown citizen of the year, and this year's downtown legacy award recipients.

May is also National Bike to Work Month and the Cascade Land Conservancy will be hosting several community events for this month long commemoration; such as a Bike to Work Breakfast and Raffle Friday May 16th. This event will be held at the Rotary Pavilion, and will start at 6:30 am. The Ellensburg Downtown Association will be installing two new art/bike racks on the morning of the 16th. This will be the second year that the EDA has installed functional art in the form of bike racks. The first two were installed in May 2007 at the corners of 5th & Pine, and 3rd & Pearl. This years installations are planned for 4th & Main, and 4th & Ruby.

Ellensburg Public Works will also be a part of Preservation Month with the celebration of their own Public Works Week May 18-24. To highlight the week, Public Works will be hosting a day long "Touch a Truck" event featuring modern day safety vehicles and pictures of their antique ancestors. "We are very excited about this months festivities and this months theme of "This Place Matters," it is a great fit for Ellensburg and all of the community organizations working together to make May such an exciting and activity filled month in downtown Ellensburg," said Timothy Bishop, Executive Director of the Ellensburg Downtown Association.

Since the National Trust created Preservation Week in 1971 to spotlight grassroots preservation efforts in America, it has grown into an annual celebration observed by small towns and big cities with events ranging from architectural and historic tours and award ceremonies, to fundraising events, educational programs and heritage travel opportunities. Due to its overwhelming popularity, the National Trust has extended the celebration to the entire month of May and declared it Preservation Month to provide an even longer opportunity to celebrate the diverse and unique heritage of our country's cities and states and enable more Americans to become involved in the growing preservation movement. This year will mark the first official Preservation Month.

The Ellensburg Downtown Association is a local non-profit organization whose mission is to Enhance the economic and cultural vibrancy of historic Downtown Ellensburg. Using the National Main Street 4points mission approach to downtown revitalization, the Ellensburg Downtown Association received national main street accreditation earlier this year.

In 2007, the National Trust for Historic Preservation recognized Ellensburg's long track record of historic preservation efforts when they named Ellensburg one of last years "DOZEN DISTINCTIVE DESTINATIONS."

For more information about National Preservation Month, visit http://www.preservationnation.org/preservationmonth

Or the Ellensburg Downtown Association at www.ellensburgdowntown.org

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