The Mentone Town Council heard a presentation on the Clearly Kosciusko initiative at its meeting on Wednesday, June 9, at Mentone Town Hall from Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams Associate Director Alex Hall with the support of Suzie Light. The council took several signs with the brand to put up in Mentone. From left: Hall, Light, Council Member Tim Croy, Town Clerk-Treasurer Nicki Norris, Council President Jill Gross, Council Member Shelly Krueger and Town Attorney Andrew Grossnickle. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

MENTONE — Mentone is the first town to accept signs that will promote it as being Clearly Kosciusko.

Suzie Light with the Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. (KEDCo) was at the Mentone Town Council’s meeting on Wednesday, June 9, to share what the organization is working on currently. That includes entrepreneurship and housing and talent initiatives.

She was accompanied by Alex Hall, who is the associate director of the Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams. He talked about Clearly Kosciusko.

“It’s an initiative that we started at Lilly Center in partnership with other organizations, kind of like a community brand like you would picture Pure Michigan for the state of Michigan as the easiest way to put it. We’ve been working on this since 2017, creating just something that people can get behind,” he said.

At first, Clearly Kosciusko was intended to promote the lakes around the county, said Hall, but it now includes other entities.

He offered the council some Clearly Kosciusko road signs to put up in Mentone, which is the first place he’s asked.

The council took several to put up.

In other business, the council:

• Heard from Town Utilities Superintendent Josh Shepherd that the street department’s to flush the town’s water hydrants on Friday morning, June 11.
• Heard a thank you from Council President Jill Gross to the Mentone Chamber of Commerce and street and police departments for their work related to the Mentone Egg Festival.

The council’s next meeting is 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 7, at Mentone Town Hall.