Courtesy Photo Alison and Steve Jakubcin plant flowers in downtown Alpena in spring 2024. This year’s volunteer cleanup and planting day will be May 17.

ALPENA — Downtown Alpena is getting ready for another busy summer season and is looking for help to get the downtown ready for visitors and locals to enjoy. The Alpena Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is working with the Friends of Alpena Gardens, the City of Alpena, and local community members to beautify the downtown by adding more flowers and cleaning up the district after the winter months.

For the fourth year, individuals, businesses, and organizations can sponsor a flat of flowers for $50 that will be planted around the tree boxes downtown. Each sponsor will be acknowledged with a small sign that will be placed near the flowers they have sponsored. This year’s flowers will be a combination of native perennials (coneflower, foxglove beardtongue, and black-eyed susan) and annual begonias. Flowers will also be added in the new tree boxes on the newly streetscaped and redone North 2nd Avenue, from Fletcher Street to Clark Street.

A volunteer cleanup and planting day will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 17. All ages are welcome to join to plant the flowers around the tree boxes and get downtown ready for the summer season. Volunteers should meet in Culligan Plaza and bring gardening gloves or small trowels.

For the summer, the DDA and the City of Alpena are also looking for the next downtown flower waterer, which is a paid seasonal position through the City’s Department of Public Works. The position is approximately 40 hours per week during the summer months and is responsible for watering the hanging flower baskets throughout the downtown, tree boxes, and other city gardens. For more information, contact Kathy Himes at 989-354-1714 or kathy@alpena.mi.us

Julie Dietz has led efforts to beautify downtown and lead fundraising efforts to add flowers around the trees since 2021.

“Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy,” Dietz said. “You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in. I think this quote fits our project perfectly. A small financial contribution or minimal time commitment to volunteer with these efforts to beautify our downtown will have a big impact.”

Those seeking to sponsor a flat of flowers can do so online at downtownalpenami.com/beautification. Checks or cash can also be mailed to Alpena DDA, 124 E. Chisholm St., Alpena, MI 49707. If mailed, donors should indicate what they would like written on their sign. For more information, contact the DDA Office at 989-356-6422.