Music >> Rameen Karbassioon: City Spotlight is supported by Consolidated Communications.

CCI is honored to salute the cities and their leaders in the area as well as providing TV, internet, and phone service to local homes and businesses.

We live where we work and are proud to support the communities we serve; more information available at consolidated.com.>> Rameen Karbassioon: Welcome to City Spotlight where we're focusing on east central Illinois communities.

Today, we're talking about Arthur.

With us today is the mayor of the village of Arthur, Matt Bernius.

And the Arthur area tourism director, Christy Miller.

Thank you for both being here.

>> Matt Bernius: Thank you for having us.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Before we get started with what's happening in Arthur, how about a little background information on both of you.

Matt, if you'd go first please.

>> Matt Bernius: Sure, I've been in Arthur since 1989.

Moved there in the eighth grade, I consider myself to be a lifelong resident.

Never really left, I've always loved the community, and have stayed.

Got on the village city counsel in 2002, took over as mayor in 2011, so.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: And Christy, tell us a little bit about yourself.

>> Christy Miller: Sure, I came to Arthur about 20 years ago.

I was a high school student then.

And I do currently have four kids going through the school system.

I have been an EMT for about four years.

The Athletic Booster's president for about the last five years.

So, very involved.

And I took this position last year in May.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Excellent, both of you have been involved with Arthur for quite some time so I'm interested to hear what you guys have to say about the Arthur area.

First off, you've been involved with the village government since 2002, the last four years as the village mayor.

When you joined the village government, could you paint a picture for us what Arthur was like at around that time.

>> Matt Bernius: Sure, well I was-- I was pretty young at the time.

It was just a group of guys.

Arthur's very fortunate, they've always had a mayor and village board members that have always wanted to do the right things, and you know, put Arthur first.

So, it was very fortunate for myself to-- I was appointed by the mayor at that time, and to fill an expired term.

And it was nice coming in there, working with a group of people that really had the same goals as you did.

Ultimately, we all wanted the same thing: to make Arthur a better place to live.

And the community as a whole really hasn't changed much.

It's still as positive today as it was back then.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Okay, fast forward now.

You've been mayor of Arthur for about four years now.

What are some things that have transpired or that Arthur has accomplished?

>> Matt Bernius: Well, we've seen a lot of growth, not necessarily in the last four years-- well we have seen a lot of growth in the four years that I've been mayor, but prior to that, a lot of the industries have really expanded.

We've been very fortunate.

Our work base is very strong, a lot of people commute to Arthur to work, and we feel that that's very positive for our community.

Being mayor for the last four years, we've been able to-- we work really hard at controlling our spending, our budgets.

We've been able to build some cash reserves.

We've also spent over a million dollars in infrastructure projects.

So, one of the things that we're, the previous mayor and myself, had worked on and we finally got it completed under my tenure, is that we reduced a big portion of the flood plain that was in Arthur.

And you may not think that that's significant, but it is.

There's a lot of homes that saved a lot of money on flood insurance, and we believe that'll enable them to invest that money back into their homes and community to make things nicer.

We have businesses that could locate in those areas, and so that took a lot of time, a lot of money.

You know, we worked with a lot of engineering people.

It just was a-- it's a very positive.

One of the things that myself and previous mayors kind of worked together on and we know that was a success just because of working together.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Okay, and Christy, you told me that you came to Arthur form Decatur when you were a high school student.

What did you know about Arthur when you first got there?

And tell us a little bit about what you've seen that may have changed in your 20 or so years in Arthur.

>> Christy Miller: Sure, I knew nothing coming into town except that there was Amish people there and it was a different way of life, a little bit slower and different.

But what I did notice was everybody took an interest in the community.

You know, from the people that lived in there to the people that visited.

You know, there was something behind the Arthur name.

And I have seen, I've seen a lot more people coming into town and what has been continuous is the support that the community gives back.

You know, the businesses, the residents; they all give back and put in to the community that they all do care about.

And that's been very wonderful to continue to see grow even more so.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Well we're thankful you're here, and before we get going and several times throughout this show, I'm going to say "the Arthur area" not just Arthur.

So, Matt could you tell us what the Arthur area-- tell us a little bit about the geography of why we call it the Arthur area?

>> Matt Bernius: Well, we believe that the success of Arthur is not solely based on what lies within our city limits.

We like to say that our boundaries stretch eight miles in any direction around Arthur.

That became even more true last year when we finished the annexation of the Atwood school and into the Arthur school district.

So, our community is really became a lot bigger.

And those kids are down in our school and that's great for our communities.

Not only that, when you go an eight mile circle, you get a lot of the Amish businesses as well as other industries that are out in the community.

It's unbelievable when you really partner with those people, the centuries that you can have and how much it benefits all of us.

We are Arthur area.

So, when people come to Arthur, they don't just come to Arthur, they come to the area to enjoy what we have to offer.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: All right, let's dive into what's going on in the Arthur area.

Let's start with economic development.

How would you describe the economic landscape of the Arthur area?

>> Matt Bernius: Right now it's very strong.

We've got a lot of industry in Arthur, probably one of the problems more than anything is the labor force.

We have a lot of our businesses in town continue to expand, always looking for qualified workers.

And so, we believe that we have some of the best workers around.

And like I said earlier, there's a lot of people that commute to Arthur for good jobs.

And so, things are strong.

Our downtown area is strong and viable right now.

I think maybe we only have one business that's open or available.

You know, we have had economic development in the chamber that works really hard at these festivals and other events.

And the chamber or the economic development, they work hard at, if there's a business open, they try to find something to go in it.

They're always searching, always putting out feelers that will help us, you know, keep things on the cutting edge and keep businesses in downtown.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: And speaking of downtown, many businesses line Main Street, several of which have been there for quite some time.

Talk a little bit about the longevity and the importance of those businesses that have been along Main Street there in Arthur.

>> Matt Bernius: I believe that the businesses downtown, they offer a little something different for everyone.

Maybe it's, you know, a little shop for fabric, a men's dress-- or men's clothing store, dress clothes.

We have restaurants downtown.

I think it's just a different feel from other communities.

And I think they've been successful, you know, based on their customer service and the things that they offer.

And people know they're going to be there.

Year in, year out, those businesses-- we don't really see a high turnover in those businesses like some communities.

So, I think people have come to expect the high quality businesses in Arthur.

They know that they can count on being there.

And so, I think that helps their longevity.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Let's follow up on that a little bit.

Why have you not had any turnover really?

Why have they been able to stay strong?

>> Matt Bernius: Well I think they're just, you know, successful business people.

They don't, you know, they know their business.

They control costs.

Hopefully, we like to think, that they benefit from the festivals and the many people that we bring through Arthur.

You know, whether it's the fireworks or the festivals or-- and the people that are just traveling through the area to see the Amish.

And so, we'd like to think that they benefit from that.

You know, like I said, we have a lot of busses that come to Arthur.

So, Main Street in the summertime and spring is really bustling with tourists.

So, we'd like to think maybe that's sets us apart from other communities and helps them.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: There are over 480 businesses in the Arthur area.

As far as growing and moving forward, where could Arthur grow from this standpoint?

>> Matt Bernius: We believe we have a lot of opportunities.

We've got some ground on both east-- excuse me, east and west of Arthur.

You know, those opportunities also come with challenges.

The village board last year approved the TIF district.

We have a area located inside Arthur that used to be an industrial area, industrial zone.

And it needs some refurbishing.

The buildings have been deteriorating over the years and so we believe it was an opportunity for us to put that into a TIF district.

So, if the time is right and the people are there, we can invest that money to rehab that facility.

On top of that, we expanded our TIF district to include our local schools.

Actually the local schools, the fire department, we made sure that they were in the TIF just because they're so valuable to our community.

If TIF district is successful, we want to be able to have those funds available for projects for the school.

Also, the TIF runs through downtown so if those buildings over the years become dilapidated, we want to somehow put some sort of plan together, some facade package to keep the downtown vibrant and looking good.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: You mentioned the schools in Arthur.

I understand there was a newer junior high that was put in place?

And you guys co-op with other towns.

How important is that to have-- how has that process worked to be able to get a new junior high and to be able to absorb some of the costs?

Or talk a little bit about being able to co-op with other schools too, as well.

>> Matt Bernius: When we started the process, they annexed Lovington, then a year later they were able to annex Atwood.

And that has been pretty good for our community.

We believe that Arthur is now the hub for those communities.

All their kids are traveling to Arthur to go to the high school.

They all have their own junior high and grade schools, but they're all coming to Arthur for the high school.

Everybody's traveling there for sporting events and so forth.

So, it's really good, it's positive.

The communities have really worked together.

It's been really good.

As far as the junior high, I don't want to take too much from the school board standpoint, but they were able to get a 2%, I believe, tax referendum that passed.

And those are the funds that they used, and-- to build the grade school or the new junior high.

It's a nice edition to the school facility.

And we're fortunate to have the school board in place that's forward thinking and that we're able to move on.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Let's continue talking about infrastructure.

How would you say things are right now and are there going to be any improvements for any of the buildings in Arthur at any point this year?

>> Matt Bernius: You know, if you drive through other communities and you travel Illinois quite a bit, we're very fortunate to have the downtown area and really the business climate we have.

People have invested money in their businesses and they've kept them up.

They've maintained them and they're really in pretty good shape.

We know that it's part of the reason that we included the downtown area in the TIF is that, you know, we're hopeful that, you know, 10 years down the road if we have some money in the TIF that, you know, we can assist with like a facade package to help those businesses like I mentioned earlier.

But for right now, I feel like our businesses are in pretty good shape.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Let's talk about residential properties.

How would you describe the homes and places where people live in in Arthur and around Arthur?

And where could you see potential growth maybe?

>> Matt Bernius: Okay, at many times throughout the last 10-15 years, housing has been a number one concern in Arthur.

At times, there were only two or three homes for sale.

And that posed a problem for people wanting to move to the community, very few rentals available.

And so, we've-- the village partnered and bought some ground and built a subdivision a few years ago that's been somewhat successful.

We've got two phases of the subdivision left that we're going to look at selling to a contractor.

It-- basically what that does is it allows for new home construction.

So, we've seen that what they've done there is that someone will build a new home, that frees up an older home in another part of town for people that are new to the community or young couples that are looking to move into the Arthur area.

So, that's our number one concern.

We're going to want-- we want to expand that subdivision.

We've also got some other people that are talking about a couple parcels near Arthur that they want to convert to subdivision.

So, we're excited about that opportunity.

We believe that this new annexation of the schools will cause a little bit of growth and so we're excited about that.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Something to continue to look at and see how it moves forward.

Now, before we talk about the many festivals and events that go on in Arthur and the Arthur area throughout the year.

I want to ask you about the Arthur and the Amish.

And I want to hear from both of you on this.

The influence-- how does-- people associate Arthur they think Amish, so how does the two work together and how does the Amish influence Arthur or vice versa?

>> Matt Bernius: I think people travel to Arthur because they want to see what it's about.

They want to understand the different cultures and what those people bring.

First off, they're great to the community.

The Amish are-- they work really well with the village.

They support a lot of our local stuff.

I'm also a member of the volunteer fire department and we couldn't-- would not have the equipment and the resources that we do without the support of the Amish.

So, it's-- they're great.

I think people come to see them because, you know, they're hard working people, you know, the work ethic and the culture that they instill in their kids.

And it's just a different way of life; it's the simpler way of life.

We're happy to partner with them.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: And Christy you had mentioned when you first got to Arthur 20 some years ago, that's pretty much all you kind of really knew was the Amish.

So, having been there 20 years now, maybe answer that question: Arthur and the Amish?

>> Christy Miller: I think they compliment each other very well.

You know, we're able to work together and we when people think of Arthur, they think of the quality behind the product, whether that's quilts, woodworking, and things like that.

But when you come to Arthur, it's authentic.

You know, rather that's a smile or a wave when you're walking down the street, or the product that you're going to get when you're there.

And I think that, you know, we work very well together with that, the authentic experience that you're going to get when you do come to our town.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Thank you, and Matt you told me, and maybe you answered this so maybe you're repeating yourself, the hardworking people of Arthur had made Arthur what it is.

Maybe elaborate a little bit on that.

Maybe you answered that in the previous question.

>> Matt Bernius: Okay, well it's nice that, you know, we have a strong work ethic amongst the workers.

So, not only the Amish, but I think that instills in everyone.

But we have a lot of Amish that work at our many factories in Arthur.

And so, I think that makes it easier for those businesses to expand and grow because they know that the labor force is there, and they know that they're hard working people.

They'll show up to work Monday through Friday, and they don't have to worry about them.

So, that helps businesses when they're looking to grow and to expand and invest in your community is because of those people.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: All right, let's move on.

Tourism and before we have Christy kind of go through some of the upcoming events and activities in Arthur.

Matt, overall how would you describe tourism in the Arthur area?

>> Matt Bernius: Tourism's important to our community.

Whenever you're out in the area and you talk about Arthur, a lot of people, you know, they reference it back to the Amish.

But it's more than that.

It's an opportunity for us to expand and, you know, the Arthur area.

Whether you're coming in the fall to go to the pumpkin patch or coming in the spring or the summer for one of our festivals or one of the antique shows.

It's just an opportunity for us to showcase what we have.

The goal of tourism or marketing is to drive customers in to our local businesses.

We want to keep our local businesses thriving, you know, whether it's from the gas station, the grocery store, or any of the number of businesses on Main Street.

If we're not driving people to their shops to spend money, you know, they die on the vines.

So we-- tourism's very important to us and we like to partner with the economic development in the chamber as much as we can.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: And you had told me prior to our taping that in your travels throughout Illinois and other places, that other mayors of other towns have been a little bit envious of Arthur being able to hold so many events throughout the year.

What does that-- when you hear that, how does that make you feel about what you're doing in Arthur?

>> Matt Bernius: I have, I've had mayors say, man you've just got so much going on, I'm envious of your community and what you're people do.

And you know, I think it's just cause we pull together.

I'm very proud of it; I'm proud of what the people do, whether it's the chamber of commerce, the rotary club, if there's something that needs to be done, the Arthur community pulls together and we get it done.

And we do it in a professional fashion, that's something to be very proud of.

And so, it makes me feel good when I go to other communities and they talk about, man we love coming down to Arthur, we love seeing the Amish, we love going to the pumpkin patch, you know, we love doing this and that.

And so, it makes me proud to be a part of it.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Roughly 50 events scheduled in the Arthur area for 2015, that's a lot.

I have a brief list in my hand right here, so let's go through a handful of them Christy.

Let's start in March, there's four things going on.

A couple of antique shows, tell us a little bit about those four things going on in March.

>> Christy Miller: Sure, so the antique shows are March 6th and 7th, and the one is held at our Moultrie Douglas fairgrounds.

And then the other one is at the Auto Center.

And they bring a couple thousand people to town.

So, that definitely benefits our downtown businesses as well because we do have another antique store down there.

So, we bring a lot of people to town that weekend.

And then, we do have another big show that comes up in March, and that's the 13th and 14th.

And that is actually our Home and Garden show.

And that's a time when we can showcase out at the Auto Center our local businesses and what we do have to offer, as well, to the inside of your home as well as the outside of your home.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: All right, let's move on to April.

And you have the fifth annual quilt walk and the 26th annual quilt show and auction.

And I understand one of them has changed venues or maybe I'm mixing it up here.

>> Christy Miller: No, not the quilt walk.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: I was jumping ahead on that, sorry about that.

>> Christy Miller: That's all right, that's all right.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Tell us about those two shows there in April.

>> Christy Miller: Well, the quilt walk is held the week before the quilt show.

And that is downtown, most of all the businesses will have a quilt or something to do with that and you'll be able to walk the downtown and see different quilts, hear the story behind the quilt.

And then that weekend is the quilt show where we will auction off about 100 different quilts.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: And how did-- it's the fifth annual, so tell us how the quilt walk kind of came about.

>> Christy Miller: Well, you know, that's one of those things where every body downtown has something.

You know, they had a quilt or a story that they wanted to showcase.

And it was, why not?

You know, why not add something more to it.

You know, forward thinking on that.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: And I think I know where I jumped the gun on my question was, in May, the Chet Kingery Bluegrass festival, tell us about that.

>> Christy Miller: That was recently held, the last couple years, at Rock Home Gardens.

This year, due to the unfortunate closure of that, it will be moved.

Our fair board took that on, so it will be at the Moultrie Douglas County fairgrounds that weekend.

And we're hoping-- there's about five different bands that will be there, so we're looking forward to a great weekend.

The same weekend we also have Touch a Truck out at our park.

And that, again, will showcase some more of what Arthur has to offer.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Okay, two more things to highlight and they're both in June.

Let's talk about Strawberry Jam at the beginning of June.

>> Christy Miller: All right, well all things strawberry.

So, that is where-- it's more to showcase our downtown businesses with a little bit more flare.

So, we have strawberry pie eating contest, we have a giveaway on the hour, it might be strawberry ice cream or strawberry bread or things like that.

So, more of our businesses, you know, pulling together and showcasing what they would have for that venue.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Okay, and last but not least, you have the Arthur Freedom Celebration, and I know the fireworks are a big hit.

I'd like to hear about your comment about what it is, Matt tell us about what that atmosphere is kind of like from your perspective.

So go ahead Christy.

>> Christy Miller: Well, the Rotary is in charge of that event, and they do a great job of, you know, really building that year after year.

They go out and seek sponsorships for that, and we do put on a very good and big show for that.

We have people coming that morning and so they've added vendors down there, there's helicopter rides and things like that, but we bring a lot of people you can't find a parking spot, so come early.

They park clear out in the country just to come see that spectacular show.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: I'm one of them, somehow have got a good spot and we really enjoyed the show this past year.

>> Christy Miller: Wonderful.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: So, Matt what's that like-- that whole-- the Freedom Celebration like?

What is Arthur like?

The energy level?

>> Matt Bernius: Well, what the Rotary is done, is they've held the festival the weekend before the fourth of July so that's allowed them the opportunity to have more at a more reasonable cost.

And so, they've just been able to grow that festival or that display, that fireworks display every year.

And so, by promoting it, it's just word has got out on the type of performances that they put on and the type of display.

And it's just everybody is just a kind of energy in the community and like she said, the lines all roads leading to Arthur during that thing about four or five o'clock, it just-- in fact, traffic wise they've started shutting down, they bring two roads in and when it's over they take two roads out of traffic.

And so, we bring in-- we've got to rely on the state police, both Moultrie and Douglas County sheriff's department as well as our own police department for traffic control.

It's just a major thing.

And you know, they're estimating somewhere around 25-30,000 people, you know, throughout the community that line the country roads to watch that thing.

It's pretty impressive, and for a small community like Arthur to be able to pull that off, hats off to the Rotary Club, because they do a great job.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: You probably answered one of my future questions, and that's just the first half of the year.

So, we don't have enough time, it's a whole other show, maybe, to go through the latter half.

And I can't-- almost forgot the Great Pumpkin Patch.

Quickly tell us about the Great Pumpkin Patch that happens in the fall.

>> Christy Miller: Sure, our fall time is a very special time in Arthur.

Not only do we have the pumpkin patch, which does grow over 300 varieties of pumpkin, gourds, and squash, that is grown on their land.

They have 200 acres that they grow on.

And that is a huge draw for us.

But they also give back to the community.

And one of those events is the pumpkin house.

And that is the beginning, the week before Halloween, they donate 300 pumpkins and the community comes out to carve those pumpkins.

And then in front of the house is a huge pumpkin display of 300 carved pumpkins for the week.

So they are, you know, giving back in ways that, you know, a lot of people don't know and don't see.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Our time has moved fast, so I'm going to get to my last question.

I'll start with Christy and then Matt goes second.

The strengths of the Arthur area moving forward?

What would you say some of the strengths of Arthur are?

>> Christy Miller: Well again, it's the people.

And they just come out and they're willing to get things done.

And they don't need credit for it.

And I think that speaks to a lot of the festivals that we have.

They're not seeking credit or their business to be recognized, but they're just willing to get in, and get their hands dirty and get things done.

So, I think Arthur's got the people, really, as their strength.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: And Matt, how can Arthur build upon its strengths?

>> Matt Bernius: She stole mine, but I think again, you know, the people that we have and what we offer as a community, you know, whether you're looking to come to Arthur to live or to work or to play, we've got anything that you need.

Our community offers, we have several banks, we have clinics, just anything that-- parks and recreation; so, a really nice, clean community.

And we offer a lot for you, so.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: I want to thank both of you for being on City Spotlight.

Matt Bernius, mayor of the village of Arthur, and Christy Miller the Arthur area tourism director, appreciate your time here.

>> Matt Bernius: Thank you.

>> Christy Miller: Thank you.

>> Rameen Karbassioon: Now, let's take a look at some of the upcoming activities going on in the Arthur area.

Music >> Rameen Karbassioon: City Spotlight is supported by Consolidated Communications.

CCI is honored to salute the cities and their leaders in the area as well as providing TV, internet, and phone service to local homes and businesses.

We live where we work and are proud to support the communities we serve; more information available at consolidated.com.

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