DOWAGIAC — Downtown Dowagiac got a little more green and yellow after students from Southwestern Michigan College shopped and ate local as part of a slew of welcome week activities.

On Monday, Dowagiac’s Dial-A-Ride Transit shuttled students from SMC’s campus to downtown as a way for students to get to know the community of Dowagiac.

Shayla Zech, of Baroda, will be a freshman at SMC this year. Monday was her first trip downtown, and with an overcast sky, she made her first official stop at Baker’s Rhapsody and enjoyed a pastry.

“It’s this very cute with this downtown area,” Zech said. “It also has this historical feel to it. I really like that.

Zech is starting her SMC journey this fall as a freshman and is considering going into criminal justice down the road.

As part of Monday’s festivities, students were able to enjoy discounts downtown.

In July 2018, SMC partnered with the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce to provide students with discounts at downtown businesses. Yarn on Front, 122 S. Front St., is one of the businesses marked with a window sticker. The sticker means the store offers a 10 percent discount to SMC students with a current college ID. Inside Yarn on Front, the owner, June Nemeth, sat inside and worked on projects.

“I try to ask someone if they are a student and buying stuff,” Nemeth said. “I would like to see more [students]. I am thinking of doing some more advertising out at the college to get them down here and to teach them how to hand crochet.”

The store also sells yarn in SMC’s college colors.

Nemeth and her assistant, Sara Essig, also expressed interest in setting up a class if SMC students wanted to learn how to make something specific.

Nemeth, who has offered student perks since SMC approached her business about offering the perks in 2018, plans to continue offering them.

“I will always offer it, whether I get one person a month or a swarm of people,” Nemeth said.