Marie

Wallace

Seventy-five-year-old Marie Wallace has been the initiator of several community projects to promote tourism and historic preservation in the City of Rushville. She is known around town as someone who always jumps into a project head first and gives a ?200 percent? effort to everything she does. Ms. Wallace was Rushville's Main Street coordinator and was largely responsible for establishing the city as a Main Street Community. She started the Junior Main Street Committee, working with local youth to promote tourism and preserve the history of the community. She led the committee in developing ?Rushopoly,? a game based on the popular Monopoly game. Ms. Wallace also established the annual Festival of Trees more than 5 years ago. Organizations and citizens volunteer to decorate Christmas trees, which are displayed at local landmarks. The city holds an open house each year and auctions off the trees to the highest bidder. All proceeds go to the Economic Development Board. Clearly Ms. Wallace's accomplishments are many. She is especially recognized for her work on behalf of Rushville's historic Princess Theatre, where she is manager. She led local representatives in forming the Princess Theatre Corporation, which purchased the theatre?by selling shares to local residents?and renovated the structure. The theatre is now open to the public every weekend, and shareholders volunteer to sell tickets, operate the concession stand, and run the projector. Through her tireless efforts, Ms. Wallace has helped to preserve and important piece of Rushville's history while at the same time creating a space of which all city residents can be proud.