Jill Durnen, Saline Main Street Board President and Co-Owner of Hartman Insurance talks about Salty Summer Sounds, living in Saline, and Volunteering for Saline Main Street.
My grandfather started Hartman Insurance agency in 1946. When I was little, I always would tell him and my dad that I wanted to work with them.So now I joke that they held me to it, but it's always just been something that I've wanted to do. I like customer service and solving problems for people. Joining the agency was a family thing to do, and I'm really happy that I did it.
I went to Western Michigan University. I have a bachelor's degree in finance and Western had an emphasis on insurance. So I went there specifically for that.
My grandfather passed this business to my dad, and my dad is passing it to me. I don't have any kids, but I have nieces and nephews. At this point, they’re not interested in the business. I don't know yet what’s going to happen when I decide to retire. But I don't have any intention of retiring anytime soon. So anything could change, moving forward. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
I've dabbled in a lot of different areas of volunteering. I'm in the Rotary Club which does community projects and helps those that are underserved in and around Saline. I've been on the Chamber of Commerce Board, and that was more business networking and enterprise type of an organization. Then, with Saline Main Street, I'm focused on different aspects of downtown. Not only bringing business in, but also supporting businesses that are here, making things pretty, and having fun events. And so it encompasses a lot of my interests.
We first heard about the Main Street Organization back around 2010. Gretchen Driskell was the mayor and there was a Committee called the Business Development Authority. It was a group of business owners and residents who advised the city how to spend a designated pool of money in downtown. Those funds came from the State of Michigan and around 2011, we learned that that program was sunsetting which meant the funding was going to be drying up. A lot of fun things were created using the funds, like the flower baskets in downtown and the Thursday night concert series. So we started looking at different ways to continue those things.
That’s when we learned about the Michigan Main Street program. We toured a couple of communities that had it and learned all about the program. It was a little daunting in the beginning because we knew that the city wasn't going to have the funds to support us indefinitely, so we’d have to find a way to make our own money.
We saw that a lot of communities in Michigan were quite successful with the Main Street program. It gives you the framework to start with and then you can tailor it to your own community's needs. So, we applied to be a Main Street Community and were approved in 2012. The City helped us get started while we built our corporate sponsorship program and eventually, we became more self-sufficient. We still get funded partially from the City, but their part is a small portion of our total budget now.
I like the people that we work with. I mean some of our volunteers you only see at certain events. So it's kind of a little reunion every summer when you see people that just work at the concerts. I like the concept of what we are trying to do for downtown Saline. Saline is my hometown. I want it to be cool. And Main Street is the tool to get it to stay that way. Sometimes you get burned out when you're doing all these things for a certain organization, but I've never felt it enough to want to leave. I always know it is going to pass and I can't imagine ever leaving the board. I've been the board president for six years now I think and if anyone thinks I'm doing a bad job, or if someone else wants to do it, that's great. But if you're fine with me continuing to do it, I'm happy to do it.
All the events have their own merits, but based on the amount of involvement I have, Salty Summer Sounds and Oktoberfest are my two favorite events for different reasons. The Thursday night free concerts are a fun event that I’ve managed since we took that over from the City back in 2012. It’s free, and it’s music and I love live music. It brings people together. Before we took the concerts over, I didn’t know they were going on right outside my doorstep. My office closed at five, and I went home, and just stayed at home. After taking it on, I realized the value, the fun you can have, kids drawing on the road with sidewalk chalk, and blowing bubbles. You’ve got people walking around eating ice cream. It’s a fun, old time event that you have in your hometown to bring people together. Like I said, I love live music. I like being a facilitator for live music, and bringing something that cool to Saline. It brings joy to people.
Oktoberfest, I personally have the most fun at because I run the beer tent volunteers and who doesn’t like selling beer and hanging out with friends? So it’s more of a personal enjoyment type of thing because I don’t have to run the entire event, I just do a part of it and show up, have fun and raise money for the organization. The whole Oktoberfest team is fantastic and I love how we each have a small part to organize, but when the event weekend comes, we all support each other with whatever needs to get done.
If you are new to Saline, I would say go to a concert or special event. If you want to help, figure out where your interests lie and what volunteer opportunities align with them. Even if it isn't Saline Main Street, maybe you're interested in things a service club does. Just get involved. There's so many great people in Saline, and there's great things you can do that can help other people or, support your downtown or simply go shopping anywhere in town. You don’t have to join a Board or take it over, just kind of try different things, talk to people as you're walking around. Call me! I know a lot of people after being here for so long I can point you in the right direction as to what might fit your interests. I know if I ever moved to a new place, I'd be nervous about where to go and how to get involved. But people here in Saline are so open and welcoming. Just don't be afraid to ask anybody.
People have asked me why I do what I do. Simple Answer: I like it. I just don't have any other explanation for it. I get joy out of doing things for other people and with other people. I can't ever imagine going back to where I was before I was involved where I would go home at five o'clock at night and then come back into town to work the next day. Like I said, I can't imagine living anywhere else. And I don't know exactly how to articulate it the best, but I recommend anybody move here and stay here for generations.
