To help preserve, protect, and nurture the economic and cultural vitality of downtown Caldwell through the creation of public and private partnerships.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Help Keep Caldwell Beautiful!

Dear Caldwell residents, visitors, shop owners and landlords,

Over two months ago, Project Main Street took a survey of our downtown and shared some of our photos with you. We posed the question “What would James Caldwell do?”  And, like our fighting parson, you took action!  Residents, neighbors, landscapers, local businesses, Rotarians and our local government and DPW all joined hands to make Caldwell’s first Beautification Day possible. Together we planted 21 trees, prepared 80+ tree beds, painted 55 lamp posts, planted and decorated The Green, refurbished a bus stop and cleaned the entire downtown. If we posed the same question today, we’d guess that James Caldwell would look around, smile, and be proud of what we’ve all done. We certainly are. Great job!
  
Our collective work has really paid off. Downtown Caldwell looks beautiful! If you haven't spent time downtown lately, you may want to come take a look. There’s a renewed energy in the air as people comment that Caldwell is beginning to feel like it did in the old days – a charming, historic center of community. While you’re there, check out some of the wonderful new shops and restaurants that have opened up.

Our volunteers have happily rolled up their sleeves raising money for, installing and maintaining hanging flower baskets and American flags along the avenue. The community rallied for Caldwell Beautification Day. The momentum continues as many store owners fix up and decorate their properties.

But now we need your help. Shaping up our downtown is one thing; keeping it that way is quite another. It will take an effort from each of us.  Please help and encourage others to do so. Together we can build an environment and a mindset that deters littering, vandalism, speeding and other actions that impinge on pedestrian safety and the enjoyment of our town.

Let’s keep Caldwell’s beautification going!  Here are some ideas:
  
Please help keep our trees and flowers healthy. They need plenty of water to thrive, especially the new ones. We’ll be installing watering bags on the new trees this week and will ask the businesses on the block to help keep the bags filled with water. The tree bark needs to be protected, so please don’t hang anything on them or use them to post signs. Please look out for their roots by making sure their beds are clean and the mulch isn’t piled up too high around their trunks.

Please don’t litter or put out cigarette butts on our sidewalks and streets. If you see someone doing this, politely ask them to pick it up and dispose of it properly. If you see debris on the sidewalk or in front of your store, please help out by cleaning it up and keeping our downtown sparkling for everyone to enjoy. If you see someone cleaning up, don’t forget to thank them. If you see those pesky weeds poking back up, take a minute and pull them out before they take over again.

Please remind drivers that the speed limit through our downtown is 25 m.p.h. and that pedestrians have the right of way.  Bloomfield Avenue is a complete street, belonging to everyone including pedestrians and cyclists. Let’s make it safe for everyone to enjoy our downtown.

Caldwell can only look as good as we, as a community, work to keep it.  If everyone does small good deeds, they’ll all add up to our downtown looking great for a long time to come.

If you’re not sure how to best help or you have ideas about making or keeping Caldwell beautiful, give us a call at 973-228-8900, send us an email atprojectmainst@gmail.com, or send a message to “Project Main Street” on Facebook. We’d love to hear from you or, better yet, to have you join our team of volunteers.

Project Main Street is a completely volunteer nonprofit organization funded entirely through individual donations, grants and fundraisers. You have our commitment that we will continue to work to nurture the economic and cultural vitality of downtown Caldwell through historic preservation, downtown beautification, and realizing a vision of our downtown as a pedestrian friendly center of community.

Thank you for your support and for an incredible job well done!

Your Project Main Street Team

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