Batavia, IL: Batavia MainStreet proudly introduces a new event for 2007 – the MainStreet Downtown Housewalk scheduled for Saturday September 15th. MainStreet board member and event chair Sharon Harwick of Fabric Boutique L.L.C. brings her expertise to this new event, having worked on a number of house walks, including The Wheaton Junior League's "Through the Looking Glass" Housewalks, 2004-06, and The Yorkville Junior Women's League Christmas Walk, 2006 She comments, “MainStreet was looking for a new event to showcase our downtown and to raise funds for our organization. This event accomplishes both and falls right in line with our mission.” Harwick’s professional expertise as an interior designer together with her community volunteer background make this a perfect event for her to chair. Highlighting different styles of downtown living also makes this a unique walk. Batavia MainStreet President Sharon Mitchell comments, “Downtown living is a critical component of revitalizing our downtown. Without people living downtown, you miss an important piece of the redevelopment pie”.

Sharon Harwick is quick to point out that much work is needed now to be ready for the fall. The task at hand is to form a planning committee on Wednesday March 21st at 7:00 p.m. at the Fabric Boutique (3 S. Batavia Ave in the Gammon Corners Coach house). The agenda for Wednesday meeting includes explaining how a house walk is organized, volunteer roles and the evaluation of logo options created by Anderson Advertising Design. Volunteers unable to attend the meeting should contact Sharon at slharwick@comcast.net or call the store at (630) 482-9402 to sign up.

Dozens of volunteers are needed – some for planning right now, home owners, decorators, florists, house captains and helpers the day of the event. Harwick explains, “The most important thing right now is to get our core group of volunteers together to make sure we have a point person for each house, than everything will fall in line after that.” The MainStreet Downtown Housewalk features different styles of downtown living – from upper story lofts, to condominiums and historic homes.

The Batavia MainStreet Program is one of 64 not-for-profit, community based organizations in the state of Illinois. The mission of Batavia MainStreet is to enhance the identity of Batavia’s downtown area as the heart of our community. MainStreet members work through the four points: Design, Economic Restructuring, Organization and Promotion to improve the downtown district. MainStreet volunteers believe the revitalization of Downtown Batavia is essential to our community’s sense of pride, place, and heritage for this and future generations. For more information Batavia MainStreet or to volunteer, please contact the office at (630) 761-3528, email britta@downtownbatavia.com or check online at www.downtownbatavia.com.