Back in July, I wrote a column about keeping Vicksburg beautiful.

A meeting with friends Missy Arnold and Carol McMillin and our mutual concern about litter prompted the piece, which ended with a commitment from The Vicksburg Post.

I set out to do our fair share in keeping our town beautiful by beginning the project of repainting and refurbishing our newspaper racks that live in about 90 different locations around town.

Paint had faded or chipped on many of the racks, some had rusted and others had windows and faceplates that had colored with age. Others were completely broken.

It occurred to me that in addition to a branding and marketing opportunity for us, work to make the racks look better would also help Vicksburg look better. It was a win-win situation.

What I thought we would accomplish in about 90 days turned out to be a process, and a team and family effort.

My husband started by selecting the bright red paint color,  purchasing supplies and starting on the first rack. He passed on some tips to carrier Regina Smith and her husband, Willie, who together then took on the task and project of sanding decals, repainting and replacing windows and faceplates of 10 more racks.

The office got together to brainstorm ideas for the design that would be placed on the racks. We knew we wanted something new and different that was eye-catching. After many good ideas, it came to a vote and a design by editor Tim Reeves was selected.

The diagonal “Vicksburg” in our custom The Vicksburg Post font and the slogan “Your Story. Our Focus.” is indicative of Reeves’ brilliance and skill when it comes to design. It also points directly to our mission — telling Vicksburg’s stories.

Then, David Girard and Kim Alexander at our sister companies Signs First and SpeediPrint printed decals of Reeves’ design and placed them on the freshly painted racks.

Despite being four months later than I thought the entire project would take, we finally had 11 like-new racks to put on the streets. Regina and Willie put those out over the last week, and we have been overwhelmed with pride from compliments we have received from this team and family’s effort to make our old racks look like new.

Personally, I am proud of our team for coming together to make this project a success that all of Vicksburg can celebrate.

The work isn’t over yet. We have 79 more to sand, paint, place decals and replace windows and faceplates.

Until we’re done, our team will be working hard to get them on the streets as fast as we can. The best is yet to come.

 

Catherine Boone Hadaway is publisher of The Vicksburg Post. She can be reached at catherine.hadaway@vicksburgpost.com.