Time to lock in your love

There is now a way to announce your love permanently for all of San Marcos to see. The Leadership San Marcos class of 2024 raised the funds for the “Love Lock” statue, made by Pure Design Build, that is in front of Zelick’s Icehouse. The design spells out SMTX with a woven pattern in the metal, which allows for the securing of a lock with the lovers’ names engraved on it. As of Feb. 16, locks can now be attached to the statue.

“Love is everywhere,” Heather Demere of the Leadership Class of 2024 said. “Don’t forget that.”

Leadership San Marcos is an organization that promotes community awareness, personal and professional growth and civic involvement. Each year’s class will raise money for a project to give back to the community in some way. Kristin Wingard, who was in a former Leadership San Marcos class, said that each leadership class will take various courses about San Marcos with subjects that include history, manufacturing and educational institutions, among others. The leaders will also do projects that are intended to beautify San Marcos.

Brooke Spruiell of Leadership Class of 2024 said the organization makes for better community leaders.

“I think it’s very important for current leaders in the community toentrench themselves [in] and understand all of the different facets of the community,” Spruiell said. “I’m a military brat that’s moved all over. But a lot of people in the class are born and bred in San Marcos, and they still learned something new about this city by going through the program. So it’s just important to understand the community that you live and work in.”

Heather Demere of the Leadership Class of 2024 said that participating in the program gives leaders a chance to see the “intricacies of how things work” in San Marcos, including city processes, the Hays Caldwell Women’s Center and other nonprofit organizations, as well as flight simulation at the San Marcos Regional Airport.

“The program basically ends with a project,” Demere said. “We raised money to do this thinking that it would actually be a tourist attraction. So not only is the San Marcos community going to enjoy it, but it will attract tourists.”

Demere said she wanted to thank the title sponsors for the Love Lock project: Dos Gatos Kolache Bakery, Pie Society, North Street Beer Bar and Zelick’s Icehouse. After Demere gave a speech, the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce did a ribbon cutting in front of the statue. Then it was time to start attaching locks. Seth Katz, co-owner of the title sponsor businesses, and Monica Katz put the first lock on the sculpture. All of the proceeds from the locks sold on opening day went to the Greater San Marcos Youth Council, a nonprofit children’s shelter.