St. John receives grant funds to improve Main Street

ST. JOHN — The St. John Project Fund, a non-profit started by St. John locals, received a $3,000 private grant from AgWest Credit Services to add to their funding to improve Main Street in St. John.

St. John Project Fund President Jessiann Loomis said that the group has also received private funding through a trust for $18,000 and has been able to raise approximately $10,000 to move forward with their projects.

Loomis said that the non-profit is starting with a longer project doing repairs to some storefronts that have sat vacant for a while and are in disrepair.

Almost all of the St. John businesses are occupied except for one that a business bought and has been working on fixing up.

Loomis said that repairs include fixing rotted wood, and they’ve already started giving businesses a fresh coat of paint. “Getting them a little fixed up is the first step,” she said.

Loomis said the group was able to get some of it done this fall, “we’ll finish it up in the spring,” she said, adding that the nice weather ran out.

In the future, the group hopes to add outdoor spaces for people to spend time in. “Unused outdoor spaces for people to come and stop,” Loomis said, adding that the spaces could include informational placards and some history.

The non-profit also has plans for several murals on some of the sides of buildings, “if we can get those things done, I think it would be a really good thing for the pride of the community,” Loomis said.

Some of the fundraisers that the St. John Project Fund has hosted include a grain drive in which farm families donated grain under the non-profit’s name to the local grain company, and the fund marketed it. “That had a lot of support,” Loomis said.

Loomis said one of the great things about St. John is how the community steps up, “Several people just stopped by when we were painting and donated,” she said, adding that little donations go a long way. “It’s a pretty special community in that way.”

The Project Fund’s next fundraiser is a virtual pumpkin carving contest, where people can submit a picture to the St. John Project Fund’s Facebook page by Oct. 28, and there will be three prize winners.

St. John currently has pumpkins from local Joey Neff at Dechenne & Steinke Farm and has them available in an empty lot. As well as decorating along outside the business, Loomis said.

Loomis said the St. John Project Fund started six years ago when a group gathered to replace park equipment that had to be pulled out for liability issues. “We went to town fundraising, figuring it all out, and have an awesome park out it,” she said, adding that the passion for the fund was started there with just a few people taking time to make something happen. “The community so supportive of it,” Loomis said, adding that it makes it fun for everybody.