Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Keller, Garrett-Holets, Mabie, Voss, Petkovsek, Counsell
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 9/12/2018
“Neillsville Welcomes You” (Banner – 2018)
Banner Will Show off the Best of Neillsville
Artist Chris Keller recently designed a banner for the city of Neillsville. The banner was displayed at Farm Technology Days in July and will be displayed at Neillsville events in the future. (Ryan Spoehr/Clark County Press)
By Valerie Brecht
“Neillsville Welcomes You,” reads a recently made banner showcasing the city of Neillsville. The banner was designed by Chris Keller and donated by Linda Garret-Holets.
At the common council meeting July 24, then-Mayor Steve Mabie presented the banner to the council.
“I think Chris really did a nice job,” commented Mabie.
The banner features photos of several Neillsville locations, including the Black River, The Highground Veterans Memorial, WCCN radio, Clark Cultural Art Center (CART), historic downtown Neillsville, The 1897 Clark County Jail Museum and the Historic Reed School.
The banner was made to be displayed at the Wisconsin Farm Technology Days in Marshfield July 10-12. JoAnn Voss, Barb Petkovsek and Julie Counsell represented the city of Neillsville in the Clark County Economic Development Corporation tent during the event. Over 42,000 people attended.
More recently, the banner was on display at the Clark County Fair.
Keller was approached by Petkovsek and asked to design the banner.
“Barb Petkovsek contacted me because she had had some conversations with the mayor and Linda was also involved from the CART Center,” Keller explained.
Keller, who was art director for many years at Oscar Mayer, designed all of the graphics for CART, including several banners for them. Therefore, she was familiar with the dimensions of the banner and what was required.
“It’s a really great product,” she said. “Linda, when she was talking to the mayor, she must have thought, ‘Oh, this is a really great, very easy piece of marketing merchandise.’ You can just roll it up, fold it up and it’s easy to carry, easy to use.”
To make the banner, Keller first talked to Mabie and Garrett-Holets what they wanted to include in the design. They wanted to have the gazebo in Sniteman Town Square, which is the logo of the city, and some “points of interests to show off the depth and breadth of what there is to do here,” said Keller.
Keller got a few pictures of pints of interest online but shot most of them herself.
The banner contains the slogan “Friendly Folks Love It Here,” and Keller says that slogan is fitting. Her and her husband have lived in Neillsville for five years.
“Not to sound trite, but there are a lot of friendly folks here. My husband and I have had the pleasure of meeting a lot of wonderful people,” she said.
In the future, council members have suggested that the banner be displayed at different Neillsville events such as the Autumn Harvest Festival, Heritage Days or even athletic events at the school to gain publicity for the city.
