Welcome to Main Street Vero Beach sponsors of Downtown Friday and the annual Hibiscus Festival on Florida's beautiful Treasure Coast

Main Street Vero Beach is a group of interested residents, property owners, government, business, and professional people dedicated to the promotion of civic pride and community involvement in the historic downtown area. This association works to make downtown Vero Beach an attractive, safe place to live, shop, work and play.

MSVB Membership

Join Main Street Vero Beach! We offer a host of opportunities for you to network your business, meet our members and be involved in our efforts. Tell the community about your services or products by setting up a booth or table for a reduced rate at our well attended events or join one of our fun & friendly committees. Help us define and set new goals for MSVB, the downtown merchants, service organizations, property owners and residents.

Downtown Vero Beach

Take a tour of Historic Downtown Vero Beach. We have a lot to offer including restaurants & small cafes, retail shops, service businesses, recreation, museums & galleries and entertainment & events.

About our Events

Main Street Vero Beach organizes and supports several events throughout the year in

Historic Downtown Vero Beach. Visit our News & Upcoming Events to read about the next one & make sure to treat the family to a day or night of fun!

If you would like to participate as a vendor including businesses, crafters, artists, community organizations or food & drink sales, visit either the Downtown Friday page, the Hibiscus Festival page or the Farmers Market page for more information.

For a vendor application to participate in our next event, CLICK HERE.

MAIN STREET NEWS

New Artistic Banners Dedicated in Historic Downtown Vero Beach

Twenty-four artistic banners are now hanging from flagpoles in the

historic downtown sector thanks to six local artists, the City of Vero Beach, and an artistic collaborative effort put forth by Main Street Vero Beach and the Cultural Council of Indian River County.

Out of twenty-five submissions in a banner competition, six colorful pieces of art have been reproduced on banners thanks to the selected artists: Winners and their art include long-time Downtown Friday artist Bernice Brown O’Brien with “Pocahontas Building,” Artists Guild Gallery artist Dawn Mill with “Historic Theatre,” Gallery 14 Dorothy Hudson with “Green Market Flowers,” “Hibiscus Festival Poster winner Ivo David with “Centennial Fountain,” Cultural Council Planner cover artist Stacy Ekey with “Hibiscus Building Bagel Shop” and acclaimed local artistRene Guerin with “Railroad Tracks.”

The City of Vero Beach invites artists of all ages to submit images of artwork to be considered for the 90th Anniversary Celebration Poster. The Celebration will be held in historic downtown Vero Beach on Friday, October 16 from 5:30 p.m. to 830 p.m. The celebration will recognize the 90th year of Vero Beach ’s incorporation.

The theme of the artwork must have an historical theme relating to the 90 years (1919-2009) of development and culture in City of Vero Beach. The image may be horizontal or vertical. Electronic images only will be accepted. The artwork must be 18” x 24” at 300 dpi. Artwork must include the artist’s signature within the work but no headline or copy will be accepted on the artwork. The poster will be used to promote the Anniversary Celebration and act as a beautiful keepsake of the event.

Images may be submitted via email to maria@mainstreetverobeach.org or on a CD, with artist’s name and contact information (address, telephone and email address) printed on the CD via mail to Main Street Vero Beach, 2036 14th Avenue, Suite 103, Vero Beach, FL 32960. The deadline is July 31 2009 at 5 p.m. If chosen, the artist will agree to permit the use of artwork submitted to be reproduced on posters and in all related publicity/advertising by the City of Vero Beach .

For assistance with digital image preparation or other queries, contact Sharon Morgan at ircpublicart@yahoo.com

Downtown Banners

In early 2009, Main Street Vero Beach (MSVB), in cooperation with the Cultural Council of Indian River County, invited local artists to participate in a Downtown Banner Art Competition. MSVB sought several pieces of artwork that would be reproduced on large banners (30 inches by 60”) scattered throughout the historic downtown area between 19th Street to 23rd Street. Suggested art ideas that would depict the rich culture inherent to Downtown Vero Beach included historic buildings such as the Vero Beach Train Station, Indian River Courthouse (now the Courthouse Executive Center) Vero Beach Woman’s Club, Pueblo Arcade, Theatre Plaza, Heritage Center, or historic parks, landscapes, monuments, activities, or downtown merchants. The Competition was chaired by local artist and Cultural Council member Sharon Morgan.

Out of twenty-five submissions, six colorful pieces of art have been reproduced on banners. A total of 24 banners, 4 of each winning entry, will be erected, beginning on June 2nd and the final one will be dedicated at an official ceremony on Thursday, June 4th at 10 a.m.in front of the Courthouse Executive Center on 14th Avenue. Refreshments will follow at the Beach Bum Bagels. City officials, MSVB and Cultural Council representatives, as well as the winning artists, will participate in the ceremony.

Winners and their art include long-time Downtown Friday artist Bernice Brown O-Brien with “Pocahontas Building,” Artists Guild Gallery artist Dawn Mill with “Historic Theatre,” Gallery 14 Dorothy Hudson with “Green Market Flowers,” “Hibiscus Festival Poster winner Ivo David with “Centennial Fountain,” Cultural Council Planner cover artist Stacy Ekey with “Hibiscus Building Bagel Shop” and acclaimed local artistRene Guerin with “Railroad Tracks.”

Beverly and Martin Paris Receive Prestigious Award

Beverly and Martin Paris, owners of Paris Productions in Vero Beach , were honored as Laurel Award Winners on March 25th. The 14th Annual Laurel Awards Celebration Dinner, hosted by the Cultural Council of Indian River County was held at Grand Harbor Club. The 2009 honorees represented a broad spectrum of

cultural leaders in the Indian River County community who were recognized leaders, consistently supporting the cultural community in a variety of categories. The honorees were selected by members of the Cultural Council from a grouping of submitted nomination applications.

The Paris ’ were nominated by Main Street Vero Beach (MSVB) for the Philanthropic/Business Leadership Award and cited by the non-profit organization for their consistent financial support to MSVB since 1994.

“Their association with the downtown organization began out of their desire to help promote the historic sector of Vero Beach and make it their personal mission to see positive things happen for the downtown area,” according to MSVB President Daniel Fourmont in his nomination of the Paris’. “In fact, their names are almost synonymous with downtown Vero Beach as far as the activities that take place there go.”

Paris Productions specializes in Public Relations, Advertising and Promotions for not-for-profit and for profit organizations and businesses. The firm was established in 1994 and Beverly and Martin are well known in the community for the handling of many local events, 24 non-profit events since last October.

MSVB Announces New Board and Officers

Daniel Fourmont, newly elected President of Main Street Vero Beach (MSVB) announces the new Board of Directors and Officers for 2008-2009. In addition to Fourmont, other board officers include Rebecca Rickey-Vice President, Mary Jayne Kelly-Treasurer and Janie Hoover-Secretary. Returning board members include Terry Torres (past president), Betty Armistead, Suzan Phillips, Randy Hagood, Robert Votaw, Olske Forbes and Peter Jones. The newest members inducted on to the board include Rosemare Hatch, Charles Sullivan, Jr., Billy Moss and Paul Newman. Ex-Officio is Cheri Fitzgerald. Executive Director is Maria Kovachev. Event Publicists are Beverly and Martin Paris of Paris Productions.

According to Fourmont, “This is a very exciting period of time for Main Street. We have an Executive Director on board now and a strong partnership with The City of Vero Beach. Our downtown events are well executed and attended by many community residents, businesses and non profit organizations. One example of this is our new Farmers Market every Friday morning from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm, located under the oak trees on the corner of 14th Avenue and 21st Street. We have a number of exciting plans on the drawing board for 2009 and look to people in the community to join us in our mission.”

Main Street Vero Beach Appoints New Main Street Director

Terry T. Torres, President of Main Street Vero Beach (MSVB) has announced that Maria Kovachev has been appointed as the new Main Street Director. Ms. Kovachev is responsible to develop and support the economic development and beautification of historic downtown Vero Beach as well as promoting its awareness while interfacing with local businesses, government and local organizations.

“Maria has come to us with a wide spectrum of experience in the areas that will achieve the four-point Florida Main Street approach which consists of design, organization, promotion and economic restructuring of our downtown sector” states Torres. “We have been a Main Street city since the late 1990’s. Working with previous Main Street Directors, along with a solid Board of Directors and the assistance from the City of Vero Beach, we have made many strides and positive changes for downtown, “ adds Torres. “We are excited about our next phase for growth and are certain that Maria will help lead us in that direction.”

Vero Beach City Manager agrees with Torres. “I am very pleased the Main Street organization has hired a new Director,” says Gabbard. “I am personally meeting with Ms.

Kovachev and will invite her to attend a City Council meeting. The City is looking forward to Main Street progressing in meeting their mission and working with Ms. Kovachev in doing so. This is a win-win for us all.”

Ms. Kovachev received her MBA in Marketing from Iona College in New Rochelle , NY . She has worked in all forms of marketing and fundraising for world-wide companies and local non profits for nearly thirty years and for the past five years, utilized her skills in the field of real estate. She is a member of the Realtors Association of Indian River County and the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce.

Ms. Kovachev is currently working from the Indian River County Cultural Council office in the historic Theatre Plaza located at 2036 14th Avenue in downtown and can be reached at 772-480-8353 or by email at maria@mainstreetverobeach.org.

Coffee with the Mayor

2008 Hibiscus Festival a Huge Success

Sunshine, throngs of people, happy faces, families playing in the park and lots of colorful

flowers bloomed at this year’s Hibiscus Festival. An estimated five thousand or more people jammed downtown Vero Beach to enjoy all the festivities, from the sold-out Pancake Breakfast, to continuous street-wide live entertainment, over 100 booths, 160 5K runners, the most delicious farmers market ever, 300 children enjoying the kids activities, and 5 hours of area children singing and dancing at the Rotary Club’s Salute to Youth stage. The 2008 Festival witnessed the largest crowds, sold the most booth space and had the most runners participating, while introducing three new successful facets to the already exciting line-up that included a Coin Show, Highwayman Art Show and post festival community street party.

Organizers are already planning for 2009 when they hope to introduce even more expanded features to the popular and much anticipated city-wide Festival of the year. To become a member of the planning committee, or to participate in next year’s event, call Chair Milt Thomas at 567-2897, or Beverly Paris at 234-4412.

Main Street Vero Beach Welcomes You!

Main Street Vero Beach (MSVB) Mission Statement