GALION — The Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce has announced its plans for Third Fridays In Galion, or TFIG.
The initiative is an opportunity for the Galion community to gather uptown and support local Galion merchants.
“Our goal is to give the community a reason to come out and enjoy Galion’s uptown,” Miranda Jones said. “If you just give them a reason, they will come. And that’s exactly what we are hoping Third Friday will do.”
The event will kick off at the Park Square Gazebo with the third Friday in May, the 19th at 4:30 p.m. and go until 8 p.m. Jones, Member Engagement Director at the Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce, is collaborating with uptown businesses, merchants and other interested organizations to establish the first-ever Third Friday In Galion.
“Our main goal is to get people to come out in uptown. We want to offer an environment for people of all ages in the area that is family friendly and fun,” Jones said. “Galion has such unique shops that a lot of people don’t even realize are in Galion. They drive right past them every day, this will bring awareness to our niche shops.”
Jones said the event was modeled after 1st Friday events in Bucyrus and Mansfield.
“We got the idea from these other locations that have had a lot of success and we made it fit to what would be good for the Galion community,” she said.
The Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce will oversee the event.
Retailers plan to stay open late to offer sales, restaurants will offer food and drink specials, and vendors can set up in designated spaces located on the square. No streets will be closed, only parking spaces will be blocked on the square.
“We want people to drive through and see people lining the street and wonder what is going on,” Jones said. “Once they get to the square and see all the people around the Gazebo and the vendors filling the parking spaces in the actual square, we hope they stop or circle back around to join in the fun.”
For other businesses, like the shops, the real benefit for them is the recognition and awareness that comes from people seeing them open. The tangible success may come weeks or months later when people are planning for purchases of things like clothing, custom framing, or antiques.
The event also gives people awareness of the revitalization efforts in the uptown district.
“I had somebody who had moved away from Galion come in just the other day and say ‘Wow, I didn’t realize how many new shops had opened uptown,’” said Joe Kleinknecht, CEO/ President of the Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce. “That’s the kind of thing we hope to see as the outcome of these Third Fridays. It’s a chance for folks to really see the what’s there, what’s coming to Galion and get excited about it.”
Jones said she’s enthusiastic about Third Fridays In Galion, which she has coined TFIG.
“We are so excited about bringing some new ideas to the uptown area this year,” she said. “We want to make sure people always have something to do here. It’s not TGIF, it’s TFIG, Third Fridays In Galion.”
If anyone is interested in helping Jones and the Galion-Crestline Chamber with these events, they can contact her at the Chamber office, 419-468-7737 or via email mjones@galion-crestlinechamber.org. Jones stated that she will be reaching out to potential vendors and sponsors in the next two weeks.
