Recently, Jefferson Matters: Main Street was recognized at the 27th annual Main Street Iowa Awards ceremony in Des Moines.

Taking home the top prize in promotions for images was the Play Me Pleez Piano that was a donated piano for public to play at anytime by the Mahanay Bell Tower in Jefferson.

Jefferson resident Kathy Hankel won volunteer of the year award for Jefferson Matters and program director Alan Robinson was recognized with a less than two years of service award.

Since being designated as a Main Street Iowa community in 2012, Jefferson Matters was also honored at last week’s event for reaching its $2 million benchmark from private investments in purchases and revitalizing properties within the historical district.

Jefferson Matters joined 11 other communities who also achieved certain monetary benchmarks ranging from $1 million like with Chariton and Colfax to $50 million such as the Cedar Falls Main Street program.

Since the state’s program began nearly three decades ago, Main Street Iowa has tracked over $1.3 billion dollars in private investments to help revitalize downtown historic districts.

For a full list of other awards and recognitions, click here.