First Fridays set to make 2022 return
SMART-sponsored downtown event entering its second year
As spring is starting and the weather is steadily — trying to — warm up, the city is preparing to celebrate the start of the season. The St. Marys Area Resource Team (SMART) itself is bringing back First Fridays just in time for the occasion.
SMART is happy to bring back their First Friday events staring on May 6, with the plan to have plenty of people come as long as the weather is permitting.
Laura Yelton of State Farm, who is also known with her work with SMART, is excited to have it come back again this year.
“First Fridays are what’s created to give a reason for people to come downtown and explore what is down here while having some fun and being entertained,” said Yelton as being the purpose of the event. It’s something that was experimented with last year, and is making a return after the last ones were deemed successful.
The upcoming event will have the theme “Spring Street Fling,” and the plan is to bring back everything that was popular the first time around. Attractions like the bounce house, musical entertainment and many others things presented at all participating locations.
“Almost every single SMORA establishment
and restaurant has some form of entertainment going on,” Yelton stated. She would like to reiterate that SMORA is active during First Fridays, so anyone wanting to drink responsibly can use it. “We also have entertainment in front of the theater and hoping that it will help create a big dance party out on the street.”
The event will also feature pop-up shops such as Marlow’s Creations, various food trucks like The Munchie Machine and a movie sponsored by Yelton and Miami & Erie Trading Company. They’ve even hired Jeff Pilkinton, the artist who painted the angel wings on the Art’s Place building to make chalk art for the More information on what specifically will be there is available on the First Fridays St. Marys, Ohio Facebook page.
Yelton is excited to see how people will react and is looking forward to bringing it back to an eager public. While it has been plenty of months since the last one was held in August, she almost feels like it was yesterday they started this.
“It feels like they just ended. It feels like they’ve gotten here once again quickly,” said Yelton. She hopes that everything goes mostly to plan. “We’re just very much looking forward to next Friday’s First Friday and hoping the weather cooperates.”
SMART is making sure to prepare for a large turnout and they want to make sure it all goes to plan. Yelton and the other members are very grateful for the work the organizations and businesses involved have done to help put this all together.
“We look forward to seeing everybody out and about, enjoying the entertainment, the shopping the food and just the companionship,” said Yelton. “And also a great big thank you to the community and the city of St. Marys, and obviously to SMART.”
Make sure to mark your calendars for May 6 at 6 p.m. when the festivities start. More information on what’s being offered this time around will be available at the First Friday’s Facebook page, with updates until the day of.