The Mills 50 Mainstreet organization sponsored a community event on Friday, June 26, 2009 called "The Vibe" at 1013 East Colonial Drive, Orlando, Florida. The event was intended to build support from local business owners and residents to pitch in and do some volunteer work to help revitalize the Mills 50 intersection and surrounding areas.
A major inspirational force at the Mills 50 Mainstreet organization, Kristine Iverson is also its Program Director. The ambitious project is fortunate to have her at the helm and apparently a lot of responsibility falls on her office to break ground on a daily basis to help the Mills 50 Mainstreet organization accomplish its goals. To learn more about Mills 50 Mainstreet, contact Kristine Iverson.
Jeff Thompson, the co-president design chair, offered us in-depth information about the Mills 50 Mainstreet project goals. Jeff Thompson also highlighted how diverse the Mills 50 Mainstreet area really is. In addition enhancing Orlando's diversity with the cultural influences of Vietnam, Thailand and China, the Mills 50 mainstreet area also includes a gay and lesbian community, a holistic and nature-based community and also offers resources for the arts, drawing in performers and artists from throughout the city of Orlando.
Vice President Promotions Chair Byron Price, offered energy and ideas of opportunity for local merchants and illustrated how new and extensive pedestrian traffic would frequent businesses to make it a bustling social and profitable center. Pointing out the restaurants and encouraging the community to get involved to make the Mills 50 Mainstreet area more walkable, Byron Price ended with, "We do this because we have a passion for it and we want to see it be successful and flourish."
Other notable speakers in the Mills 50 Mainstreet mini-documentary include Scott Donald and Tonya Dickie of Frequency Productions who were present to represent the arts community. Insisting the area was an ideal venue for local artists to work and display their works, Donald and Dickie were also excited to help with the revitalization project.
Other artists at "The Vibe" event included Reverend Thich Minh Chieu who showed his skill with the brush. Offering calligraphy messages of love and prosperity, the Ven. Thich Minh Chieu also makes beautiful drawings made up of finely placed lines. His interpreter and a representative of the Vietnamese community, Nina Nguyen, explains how it takes years of practice to learn this skill and how one mistake would ruin the painting, forcing the artist to begin again from scratch.
Jason McCormack, a talented singer songwriter was kind enough to let us film and publish his song titled "Hello Autumn," for use with the Mills 50 Mainstreet mini documentary. You can hear more songs from Jason McCormack who currently resides in New York.
Thank you, Jason!
David Brotherton of b•creative inc. offered some images for use in the video which will help people visualize the future of the intersection of Highway 50 and Mills Avenue in Orlando, Florida. David Brotherton has also done a lot to help the Mills 50 Mainstreet organization with other artwork as well.
Thank you, too, David!
We expect to keep in touch with the folks at Mills 50 Mainstreet and we think they are offering Orlando something really special. Part of making a city greener, comes from making the city neighborhoods more walkable and enjoyable. Since this is one of the primary goals of the Mills 50 Mainstreet organization, we think the value they will add to Orlando will be immeasurable.
To Mills 50 Mainstreet and to Success! Three cheers!
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