My thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s Taste of Chocolate. The event was a great success, with 460 tickets being sold and 30 businesses participating. It is another example of what Downtown Rhinelander Inc. is here for: connecting.

There are two more items on the calendar that you should be aware of, and hopefully became involved with. The weekend of March 16 and 17 is the St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock celebration. I hope that at some point during that weekend, you will visit downtown and be a part of the “green” community spirit. Anyone can be in the parade, so please call Jack at (715) 369-3030 and sign up. Also being held on both of those days is the pub crawl. It is a fundraiser for the Safe Ride program and also a raffle. This event gives you the opportunity to visit places that perhaps you have not been, and that includes businesses as well as the “pubs.”

It is also time for the call to artists. Hodags on Parade will be needing artists to create a design and paint the Hodags that make our streets so fun and inviting in the summer. The official announcement with the details will be out the first week in March, but I wanted you to start thinking about designs and perhaps doing something that you have always thought about doing. The Hodags are smaller, so you won’t need a large area in order to house and paint them, and painting in general should be less daunting.

In almost every article I write, I am asking for volunteers. Downtown Rhinelander Inc. works extremely hard and having an employee of one, you know that things get accomplished because the good people of the area help out. We always need you. I have compiled a brief list of volunteer opportunities. Please take a minute and if there is anything that you feel you have skill for, or you have some spare time, we would appreciate the help.

The following volunteer opportunities are available:

Promotion chair. Head the Promotion Committee. Set agendas, run meetings, oversee all DRI promotions/events. Member of the DRI Board of Directors.

Office help. Answer phones, receive guests and perform occasional small office duties such as copying and filing. Days/hours available are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., and Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pick whatever works for you.

Flower waterers. Individuals or teams. Drive water truck and/or water flower baskets. (We are currently working on setting the schedule and need you). May/June until mid-September, 5:30-7:30 a.m. See the downtown come to life. Pick one day a week, or one week during this time, or be an alternate. Again, any time you can give will be so appreciated.

On behalf of everyone involved with Downtown Rhinelander Inc., thank you.

Maggie Steffen is available at (715) 362-7374 or msdri@frontiernet.net.