A group of kids was recognized in Ketchum this week for their part in helping to spruce up an eyesore in town: the massive hole along Main Street dug years ago for a planned hotel.
On Monday, the Visit Sun Valley tourism organization hosted an ice-cream social at Forest Service Park with Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw to thank some of the children who assisted in creating a colorful banner to decorate the fence around the hole at the southern entrance to town.
The initiative started when a concerned Ketchum resident, Tim Mascheroni, reached out to Bradshaw about concealing the hole, Visit Sun Valley reported. Visit Sun Valley installed a mural there during the summer and fall of 2021, but it was taken down after snow fell and it started to show wear.
Bradshaw contacted Visit Sun Valley to ask if it would be interested in being part of a project to cover up the hole once again. Scott Fortner, executive director of Visit Sun Valley, said he thought it was an excellent opportunity to help the town and broaden his organization’s “Stay Sunny” campaign, which is intended to promote positive attitudes and interactions.
Mascheroni and his wife, Cynthia, asked that the project incorporate children’s artwork.
“We loved this idea,” Fortner said. “Stay Sunny has taken several iterations and partnered with various events and businesses around town, but up to that point, we hadn’t involved children from the community.”
Sarah Mansfield, marketing coordinator for Visit Sun Valley, found some willing participants in the city’s youth recreation programs.
Fortner’s wife, Susie, a retired art teacher, helped create a lesson plan, having each child paint their interpretation of what “Stay Sunny” meant to them. Visit Sun Valley provided the supplies for the kids to create artwork over two days after school.
Ketchum business Blueprinting helped scan the kids’ canvasses in high resolution and then passed them off to local graphic designer Kate Elgee to digitally create the banner. Windy City Arts produced the banner and waived the installation cost as a donation to Visit Sun Valley and the city, Visit Sun Valley reported.
The banner project was supported by the hotel developers, who now have a new plan to complete the development. 
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Still less of an eyesore than this paper
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