Main Street Winnemucca (MSW) and the Humboldt General Hospital Employee Committee (HGHEC) are partnering up to sponsor 16 of the banners that run along Haskell Street displaying military photos of veterans.
“This benefits the community by celebrating our veterans and showcasing them on the flag/light poles along Haskell St. It is so neat to drive down the road and see all those who have served,” explained Kim Hayes, HGHEC Event Coordinator in an email.
Veterans can be nominated by reaching out to Main Street Winnemucca via email (WMCAmainst@gmail.com) or via Facebook Messenger with the vet’s name, military photo, rank, and branch of service. The banners will be filled through a drawing of the veterans’ names at the end of the nomination period, which will be extended until May 10. The nominations do not have to be local veterans, in support of all who have served.
Typically, the banners can be purchased for around $70 from Jim Dandy Productions and brought to City Hall and they will hang it up, but the HGHEC and Main Street have each made donations allowing for the purchase of 16 banners total.
“The sponsorship of veterans flags was a collaborative effort by our board… This event shows our community support of our military and helps to freshen up our Haskell Street walking path,” explained MSW Board Member Michelle Miller.
Main Street Winnemucca is part of Main Street America which leads a collaborative movement with partners and grassroot leaders, advancing shared prosperity, creating resilient economies, and improving quality of life through place-based economic development and community preservation in the downtown and neighborhood commercial districts, according to Miller.
Hayes explained that MSW was able to request funding for this project from the HGHEC, which provides monthly donations to groups in the community gathered from HGH employees who choose to donate a small portion of their paycheck to help fund donations to local groups in Winnemucca and scholarships to Lowry High School Seniors who are looking to go into a medical field.
“These groups [like MSW] are asked to fill out a donation request form. This form asks for the group name, who in the community they serve, how the funds will be used, and how much they would like to be considered for. Then, HGHEC will look over the requests and make our decision at our monthly meeting on who and how much we will donate. Main Street Winnemucca was one of our donation request recipients for March,” said Hayes.
The original deadline for nominations was May 3, but MSW has extended the deadline to May 10 in hopes of getting an abundance of nominations for which they can ask for sponsors to get the banners made.
“Our board consists of the most dedicated and hardworking individuals in the community. We are always looking for volunteers [and sponsors] who would like to join our efforts,” said Miller.