Monday, March 31, 2008

Main Street Honors Volunteers at Martini Night

Dixon Main Street hosted its annual volunteer recognition night on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at the Post House Ballroom. More than 140 people turned out for the event, which featured an amazing show by mentalist Christopher Carter and music by The Real Live Band. The evening also featured our annual awards ceremony for our outstanding volunteers. This year’s honorees were:

Spirit Award: Melissa Glessner
Rookie of the Year: Mitch Tucker
Behind the Scenes Award: Joni Ehnen and Bill Ost
Visionary Award: Judy Brantley
Creativity Award: Melissa Mehrens
Leadership Award: Joan Roth
Volunteer of the Year: R.J. Gabaldon

An auction was held to help raise funds for Main Street events throughout the year. The presenting sponsorship for the first Main Street golf outing was auctioned off and 5/3 Bank graciously stepped up to the plate for that sponsorship. The first annual Dixon Main Street Golf Outing Presented by 5/3 Bank will be held on June 12 at Timber Creek Golf Course.

Monday, March 17, 2008

First Annual Founders' Day Celebration!

The Dixon Main Street and the Loveland Community House and Historical Museum will host the first annual Founders' Day / Father John Day from 6:30 p.m – 10 p.m. on Friday, April 11 at the Loveland Museum. The celebration falls on the same day (April 11, 1830) that John Dixon, the namesake and founder of the city of Dixon, settled near what is now the corner of First Street and Peoria Avenue in downtown Dixon.

“Our community’s history begins in our downtown. Father John settled on the banks of the Rock River and the city grew up around his settlement,” Josh Albrecht, executive director of Dixon Main Street said. “Honoring the man who gave birth to our downtown and our city seemed like a marvelous way for Dixon Main Street to promote our history.”

Partnering with Main Street for the Father John Day festivities will be the Loveland Community House and Museum, which houses numerous artifacts that belong to Father John Dixon and other settlers. Sponsors for the event include the The Telegraph, WIXN, Carebear’s Popcorn, Treats and More, The Good Book and the John Deere Historical Site.

“The volunteers that dedicate their time to the Loveland Museum are walking encyclopedias on the history of Dixon,” said Albrecht. “They were a great choice to help bring our community’s history alive.”

The Father John Day event will be held at the Loveland House and Museum, 513 West Second Street, Dixon, and will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a social hour and free tours of the Loveland Museum. Carebear’s will provide free popcorn and ice cream. Melodious Thunk will perform jazz music and Rick Trahan, the John Deere Blacksmith will be on hand to talk about the John Deere site. At 7:30 p.m. the featured program about John Dixon’s life presented by Loveland volunteers and local relatives of John Dixon will begin. The presentations will be about Dixon’s acts of heroism, family tragedy, his wife, why he wasn’t a rich man, why he didn’t join a church and his relationship with the Indians. After the program, the museum will remain open for tours and volunteers will be on hand to talk about Dixon and the Loveland Museum.

“Many towns have founders, but in most cases their relatives didn’t remain in the area,” Loveland Museum curator Fran Swarbrick said. “Dixon is lucky to have had a great founder whose family is still active in the community today.”

Monday, March 10, 2008

RJ Gabaldon named 2007 Ambassador of the Year

Dixon Main Street Board Member RJ Gabaldon was selected as the 2007 Dixon Chamber Ambassador of the year for 2007. The Dixon Chamber Ambassadors club is a group of Dixon Chamber members who handle different functions on behalf of the chamber. They serve as a welcoming committee for new Dixon Chamber members by facilitating a formal ribbon cutting at their place of business and also assist business owners whom host Chamber business after business parties by helping with their raffles & the hosting of their guests. The Ambassadors are very involved with offering time and resources with most non for profit activities and serve as the face of the Dixon Chamber from a goodwill standpoint with the residents and businesses of Dixon. RJ has been an instrumental part of the Ambassadors through all of his hard work and dedication to the organization. He has been a member since September, 2006. Congratulations RJ!!

Volunteer Recognition Night!

Dixon Main Street will host its annual volunteer recognition night on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at the Post House Ballroom. This year’s theme is Black & White Martini Night and the evening will include cocktails, heavy hors d’oeuvres, entertainment and an auction. As part of the theme, those attending are encouraged to wear something black or white, ranging from business casual to black tie.

For our main entertainment, Main Street will host Christopher Carter. Carter, a mentalist, has performed for sold out audiences across the nation. The classy evening will begin at 6 p.m. with cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres until 7 p.m. After the awards ceremony at 7 p.m., Carter will take the stage with his amazing show. To wrap up the evening of fun, Robbie LeBlanc and his band, The Real Live Show will play music from the ’80s and ’90s.

The evening also will include an auction with a new twist, as Main Street will auction off the Headline Sponsorship Spot and a foursome of golf to the first ever Dixon Main Street Golf Outing that will be held on June 12. Other items to be auctioned off include skybox tickets to a United Center event (you’ll have to attend to find out what event) donated by 5/3 Mortgage, a beautiful hand crafted book case from Freight House Kitchen and Bath (will it match your décor—come and see!), desserts, drink trays and many more surprises.

Ticket prices have been set at $30 per person or $250 per corporate table of 8. Space is limited to 160 people / 20 tables. Pre-selling of tickets has already begun. Please contact the Dixon Main Street office to secure your spot at what is rumored to be the must attend event this spring. For more information, call 815-288-2308.

285-Eats Update for March 10

Thank you for calling 285-EATS, downtown Dixon’s dinning hotline sponsored by Treins Jewelry and Dixon Main Street.

Carebear’s has 16 flavors of Cedar Crest Ice Cream now available. Stop in and find out which one is your favorite. Also, don’t forget that March 23 is Easter, so stock up on our fine chocolates and other candy as a great gift for this special occasion. And you can get 10 percent off their new Hawaiian Products line of lotions and candles.

Salamandra is now open on Sundays for breakfast from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. And don’t forget to stop by for a daily lunch special. On Monday it’s Beef Soup, Tuesday is Pork Tacos, Wednesday is Fish Tacos and a buffet, Thursday is Avocado Burritos, Friday is Fish Tacos and Tropical Shrimp.

This week’s specials will surely hit the spot at Books on First. Monday is Mint Mocha Latte, Tuesday is Hazelnut Latte, Wednesday is White Chocolate/Caramel Latte, Thursday is Mocha Almond Latte, Friday is Vanilla Latte and for the weekend, the special is Chocolate Raspberry Latte. Don’t forget to check out the expanded kid’s section.

At Snow White Bakery, there is a special lunch each day this week, so come and try something new. Everyday there is a soup special. On Tuesday, try the Beef Bourguignon (a beef stew with noodles), on Wednesday try the spinach lasagna, on Thursday try the chicken alfredo, on Friday try the shrimp sauted with rice.

At Quizno’s, you can try the toasted gourmet bread bowls or flatbread Sammies for a quick lunch or dinner. The Sammies are just $2 each and you can chose from the Sonoma Turkey, the Italiano, the Alpine Chicken and the Bistro Steak Melt.

In 2008 Alley Loop is great. In their smoke-free atmosphere, enjoy $4.50 daily specials.
Monday is the Turkey Caesar Wrap
Tuesday is the new Mama Mia – an open faced sandwich on chiabatta bread with Italian sausage and sauce and cheese.
Wednesday is egg salad
Thursday is the new Cha Cha Chili Burger
Friday is the their famous Tuna salad sandwich

They deliver at Touch of Thai, so if you can get out for lunch, have it delivered. Call 288-8499. The daily lunch special is $5.95 for an entrée and appetizer.

Baker Street is a must stop for soup, sandwiches or coffee.
Fern’s Café has daily specials for breakfast and lunch.
Spurgeon’s Bay has outstanding sweet potato fries.
Fung Ming has a variety of Cantonese-style dishes.
The Dixon Dog House has daily specials. Try their Chicago-style hot dogs or Italian Beef.
And Stop in at Mama Cimino’s new location downtown. Daily lunch specials are available. And every Tuesday is Taco Tuesday!