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MAIN STREET EVENTS
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 Around
75 bicyclists participated recently in the first Ride of Silence.
The 10-mile ride, which began at Cotton Square in downtown Lufkin,
was organized by Jeremy Webb.
The Ride of Silence is a community ride to bring awareness to
the sport of cycling and also show our respect for those who were
unfortunate and have lost their lives or been severely injured, Webb
said. Webb himself was injured last year while riding his bicycle.
“We rode in silence as a group for three main reasons: To
HONOR those who have been injured or killed, To RAISE AWARENESS that
we are here, and to ask that we all SHARE THE ROAD. I don’t expect
to change the world but if we change the views of ONE person, we
have been successful,” Jeremy said.
Every type of rider showed up from competitive cyclists to
people that haven’t ridden a bike in years, he said. The ride was
free and cyclists were asked to ride no faster than 12 MPH and
remain silent during the ride.
The first Ride of Silence was organized in Dallas in 2003 by
Chris Phelan after endurance cyclist Larry
Schwartz was hit by the
mirror of a passing bus
 and killed. According to the website, there
were 293 confirmed rides held around the world in 2008.
Lufkin’s
Ride of Silence was held Wednesday, May 21 and was opened with the
reading of a proclamation by Mayor Jack Gorden and a moment of
silence for those killed or hurt while riding bicycles.
Barbara Thompson, Main Street Director, said the city was proud to
host the bike ride and to have the ride begin downtown. “Our new
streets offer a smooth and safe thoroughfare for bike riders so this
was an excellent place for a ride, whether organized or just for an
evening outing for the family.” |
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“New Year, New Look” Main Street Lufkin’s 15th Annual
Gala Night on the Town was a tremendous success. The event, held
December 30th, included dinner, entertainment, dancing and a silent
auction. Guests enjoyed hors d’ oeuvres at Joe Lowery’s Photography
Studio, soup and salad at First Street Café and got their “desserts
to go” at First Street Art Center. The main course, provided by
Outback Steakhouse, was served at Jennings Station. Music for the
evening included bagpiper Richard Zurfluh, VIP Barbershop Quartet,
Larry Greer and the Shades of Blue and DJ Debbie Richards. Money
raised from the gala are used to provide incentive grants and in
other revitalization efforts for downtown Lufkin. Businesses who
helped make the evening a success included: our sponsors: Outback
Steakhouse, KSA Engineers, Yates Broadcasting, Al Meyer Ford, Card
and Party, Bob Inselmann, Joe Lowery Photography, First Street Café,
First Street Art Center, The District (Brazos Transit), Studio 220,
Story Wright, Thomas Squyres. |
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 Our
27th Annual Flag Day Celebration was held June 14 in
Bronaugh Park (formerly City Hall Park). The observance
included the reading of the official proclamation by Mayor Jack
Gorden, flag presentations by State Representative Jim McReynolds
and Jonna Fitzgerald representing Congressman Louie Gohmert, and patriotic music
by Tina Webber. Promptly at 6:00 p.m., Lufkin’s citizens joined
Americans across the nation, as they recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
We have a
streaming video of the event. |
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 The
14th Annual Downtown Hoedown was the best ever! This year’s
event was kicked off with the annual parade. The parade was
led by the Police Departments new miniature robot car "Rudy"
and was closely followed by the Fire Departments new 85'
Aerial Platform. The day was filled with fun things to do
including visiting the arts, crafts and food vendors,
watching the Little Miss and Mister Main Street pageant,
listening to live entertainment, watching Southwest Premier
Wrestling, strolling among vehicles at the Classic Car Show
and much, much more! We have a 12 minute
video of the event.
You can read about it in the
Lufkin Daily News. |
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 Main
Street Lufkin hosted a special ceremony on Cotton Square
Park to celebrate the completion of the downtown Lufkin
street renovation project and to unveil the new street
clock. Funded by grant and local monies, the project
included resurfacing the downtown streets, replacing
existing sidewalks with new handicap accessible cement
sidewalks with brick pavers and planters. New old world
style streetlights, banners, benches, trash receptacles and
the street clock all add to the new downtown atmosphere. We
have a short video of the
unveiling of the clock. Read more about it in the
Lufkin Daily News. |
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| Main Street presents Gala Night on the
town in October. This year's Gala will be a Progressive
Dinner downtown. A special evening of dining, dancing and
fun sponsored by Main Street and the downtown businesses.
Stay tuned for more information. |
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 The
2005 Christmas parade (see
video) was a crowd-pleasing success Saturday with floats
making their way through downtown Lufkin.
In the commercial category, first place went to Texas Rainy
Day Investment (TRDI) and Bob Morgan was second and the Pet
Beauty Shop was third.
In the non-commercial category, Central Volunteer Fire
Department took first place honors with the Alcohol and Drug
Abuse Council in second place and Texas Community
Development team in third place.
In the community organizations, Wakefield Baptist Church was
named first place winner, the Red Hat Society won second
place and the Salvation Army Band third.
“We had a great day Saturday and the turnout was wonderful,”
said Barbara Thompson, Main Street Director. “People put a
lot of hard work into creating some really unique and
interesting floats.”
“No event like this goes on without a lot of volunteers and
behind the scenes work. We want to thank everyone who had a
part in making Christmas on the Square and the Main Street
Christmas parade a success. Whatever you did it was greatly
appreciated and we couldn’t have done all the fine things
without your help. Thanks again to everyone who helped make
our Day a big success.”
We have videos of the
parade and the
courthouse lighting. Read more about it in the
Lufkin Daily News. |
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