GALENA, Ill. — The sign on Highway 20 and Franklin reads "Welcome to Galena." This city of approximately 3,500 people has plenty to offer.
"Galena Main Street, historic downtown, which has over 140 independently-owned businesses, boutiques, antique stores, candy shops, hot sauce shops," Thomas Rynott, communications director of Galena Country Tourism said.
Every weekend, the city grows exponentially.
"It's 30,000 people. It's 300 times the amount of people that actually live here," Rynott said.
And according to Rynott, the small town is in the running for a statewide title.
"We really look at visitor spending, and that's what allows us to say that we're the second-largest tourism destination in the state of Illinois," Rynott said.
But many of the city's visitors might not be cashing in on one of the town's biggest draws — the success of the Galena girls basketball team.
"The thing that people tell me all the time about this team, about the last couple of teams is 'Man, you guys are fun to watch,'" Galena girls basketball coach Jamie Watson said. "There's certainly some pressure that comes with that, and I think at times the kids feel it, but we've talked about pressure being a privilege."
And there are plenty of things popping up in Galena.
"Sports is a huge thing. People love to come watch us play, and that definitely motivates us and helps us a lot too," Galena junior Gracie Furlong said.
Because of their success, many players feel like they've helped put Galena on the map.
"I didn't honestly realize how many people actually knew where Galena was, us being such a small town. You don't really realize how many people are like 'Oh, I know where that is when they say where they're from. I have no idea," Galena senior Addie Hefel said.
"It just shows that Galena is not only a tourism area and places where you can go for fun, but also somewhere where you could bring your family back to raise. The community's good," Galena senior Taylor Burcham said.
Just like how the stores all work together on Main Street, Galena's players strive to do the same on the court.
"We work extremely, extremely hard, individually and together to get better each day," Hefel said.
"Me, Addie and Grace, we've been playing together since we were in third grade," Burcham said.
While the school and downtown are separated by three miles, the players still understand how they all work together.
"That's what makes it a big thing, businesses wanting to give back to us and come to watch us play and just grow the programs more every single day," Furlong said.
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