Newkirk's Junior Main Street program was organized on March 27, 1997, by four middle school students—Michael Bannister, Jed Hartley, Sarah Speanburg, and Crystal Robinson—with adult sponsors Jana Shafer and Karen Dye, becoming the first Junior Main Street program in the nation. Michael, Sarah, and Crystal were eighth grade students in Laura Ross's social studies class, and Jed was a seventh grade student. Meghan Hutchason, then a fifth grader, wrote the slogan, "Living in the future to repair the past," and the group's mission was "To improve and preserve the future of Newkirk's downtown heritage and keep the pride the town has developed in the last 100 years." As younger siblings joined, the group expanded to students from fifth through eighth grade, and its rapid growth led membership to be limited to twenty students. From the beginning, the group focused on reducing downtown litter, then expanded to directing the community-wide spring clean-up each year. Its work also included participating in Save Outdoor Sculpture, washing and waxing the Land of Hope and the Kay County War Memorial, folding table tent calendars, distributing business newsletters and flyers, wrapping presents at the Children's Christmas Shop, assisting with the annual banquet, weeding pocket parks, helping with Charlie Adams Day, folding brochures, preparing a coloring book for fourth grade students, writing Fun and Almost Free Things to Do in Newkirk, and presenting a puppet show on character development for elementary students. The group supported local business, understood the importance of preserving the historical district, volunteered more than 17,000 hours for Newkirk between 1997 and 2007, and received many state and national awards for its community work.