In 2022, the Downtown Marceline Foundation continued its mission to enhance the near term and long term quality of community life for those residing in, doing business in, and visiting Marceline. We’ve been working with the Marceline IDA (Industrial Development Authority) and the City of Marceline, as well as our wonderful volunteers, including committee members and Board members, and we can’t thank everyone enough for their time and efforts.

Like most everyone in Marceline, we’re excited about the growth of our community. In 2022 the Walt Disney Hometown Museum hired a new Operations Manager; Karvd moved their wood moulding and finishing operations to Marceline; Nature’s Grace began building their 60,000 square foot facility; J&J on Main brought us another much appreciated restaurant; CoffeeTree Group renovated their building on Main Street USA and began operations; the Linn County Leader opened their doors in the old Murray’s store, bringing a newspaper back to Marceline; the Marceline Pizza Company returned a pizza restaurant to downtown; and Olive Sage Emporium opened on Main Street USA. We’re also thrilled that Hazel & Grace Boutique took part in the Downtown Marceline Foundation’s incubator program and filled the first floor of the long-empty (and recently revitalized) Zurcher Building.

Marceline also hosted several events that brought people from distant locations to the original Main Street USA. Events in Marceline help Main Street businesses and our community by bringing awareness and interest to Marceline. Here are some of those events from 2022:

• In March we organized the Hop to Shop event, often called a ‘register ringer’, meant to bring folks into the local stores to see what’s there and buy some goodies. We collected 217 receipts totaling more than $2,600 in sales.
• The first in a series of Christmas tree ornaments went on sale in April, the first version being the ‘Marceline High School’ design. They are quite beautiful, made of metal, and were a big hit. They’re almost sold out now, but they’re sure to be a nice collectible of Marceline history.
• In May the Downtown Marceline Foundation hired a new Executive Director; the 11th annual Marceline Train Show took place, and on the same day was the 29th annual Marceline Car Show, as well as the Marceline Cookie Crawl.
• The Patriotic Pie Wars live auction was a fruitful event with 13 local pie-makers contributing their baking skills in the form of unique pies that were auctioned on facebook. Besides actually winning the yummy pies, the fun of the event is watching people bid in real-time for the pie they wanted for their 4th of July celebration.
• In June we launched the self-guided walking tour, which shares some of the history of our town by scanning QR codes with your mobile phone.
• Marceline again hosted the 10th annual Wine & Art Stroll in August, which brought hundreds of people to Main Street USA, many of whom came from out of town (and a few from out of State!)
• Working with Prenger Foods in Marceline, we raised money by selling tickets for the Grocery Grab, which was as fun as it sounds.
• Our 8th annual Trick-or-Trot Splash & Dash 5k Fun Run had 78 runners dash through the Mt. Olive Cemetery, run along Main Street USA, then head all the way out to the Pool for the ‘splash’ part of the run.
• Elves on the Shelves – 13 Main Street USA businesses participated and we received 90 completed scavenger hunt cards from the kids.

In 2022, the Downtown Marceline Foundation sold our first annual photo calendar, and we introduced the “Postcards from Marceline” fundraiser, where anyone can buy and fill out a postcard online, and we will print and mail it at the Walt Disney Post Office with their special hand-cancellation stamp. We updated the Dining, Lodging, and Shopping Guide to help locals and visitors find what they need when shopping and eating on Main Street, or where to stay in town.

In working to help ‘tell our story’ the Downtown Marceline organization added the word “Foundation” to our name, to help make it clear that we are a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and not a city government entity. The hope is that people will further recognize our contributions to Main Street and consider volunteering with events and contributing to our programs.

On the construction front, we did a tiny bit of sidewalk repair in front of the Coke Wall Mural, and we removed the old cooking hood and vent from the Zurcher Building to make the space for Hazel & Grace better, and in preparation for work on the 2nd floor of the building. Removing that vent also made it possible to reseal the roof.

Hopefully you also noticed the addition of a ‘virtual bulletin board’ in the left windows of the Linn County Leader office. It’s a large TV with information and (hopefully) interesting photos and tidbits that are useful to locals and visitors, such as the weather forecast, upcoming events and meetings, QR codes that take you to the self-guided tour, and other local announcements.

Thanks to encouragement from Marceline’s City Manager, Richard Hoon, we’ve been working to help ‘light up’ Main Street by encouraging merchants to light up their window displays or buildings in the evenings. It’s already noticeable, and we look forward to seeing more lights on Main Street USA in 2023.

In conclusion, all the above activities, work, events, and programs have been funded and supported by you. We always welcome new volunteers and donations, and we encourage you to visit with us to see how you can help make an impact in our community.

The Downtown Marceline Foundation Board, the committee members, and the Executive Director would like to thank you all for your commitment to Marceline. We look forward to your support and your voice in 2023!