Beautifying downtown for parade is one focus for group

There will be an organizational meeting of Ironton business owners on March 27, and they are hoping to come up with a name to go with their mission of bringing customers to town.

“We don’t really know what the group is going to be called yet,” said Sam Heighton, executive director of Ironton aLive. “It will be a business association of some type. I’m going to let them decide that.”

Heighton helped start the group and said he will still be helping the group but is stepping back some.

“I’m going to turn the meeting over to them next week and let them decide what projects they want to do,” he said. “It is for all Ironton businesses, not just downtown. I will continue to attend meetings and will be there for support. I want to make sure it has a good start so we can have a strong organization.”

This will be the third meeting the group has held and Heighton said the previous meetings have been well attended.

“But I am making an effort to get more people out for this,” he said. “We have a lot of things going on.”

Two of the group’s focuses will be fixing up the downtown area and being part of the Ironton’s annual Memorial Day parade on May 28.

This year, the parade is celebrating the fact that it has been held continuously for 150 years, making it the longest-running Memorial Day parade in the country.

The meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Ironton City Center, 301 S. Third St.