LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Lima residents gathered downtown for a free night out. This month's First Friday featured a performance by the band Probable Cause.
There were also several vendors selling things like handmade soaps or jewelry, pottery, and prints for sale from Art/Space Lima, and organizations like Johnny Appleseed Metro Parks and WOCAP Headstart talking to visitors about what they have to offer. The event gives the city something fun to do over the summer, and it helps small businesses by getting them some face-time with customers who may not have heard of them.Â
"Some businesses may not be quite on the main road, for instance, and this does get them on the main road. And maybe some people who are outside of the areas where they travel frequently, if they all come here, then they'll be able to hunt them down later," said Cricket Rodriguez, the executive director of Downtown Lima Inc.Â
Rodriguez took over as executive director just this week. The Celina native is excited to do her part to grow the local economy and build on what's already here.Â
"When I was a kid, to me, Lima had the same big city magic that other kids had about New York, or Paris, or Chicago. To me, it was Lima, because you could actually get here. Between the opening of Spring and Main, the Central District, I really want to see those multi-use spaces come together in Lima," she continued.Â
The next First Friday will be held on August 2nd, and the theme will be A Salute to Our First Responders.Â
