Main Spotlight: Connecting, Innovating, and Sustaining a Healthy Main Street Movement
Key takeaways from six sessions at the 2025 Main Street Now Conference.
April is Volunteer Appreciation Month! Volunteers are the mainstay of any local program, and each one is locally driven by caring, concerned people. Most times, the volunteer base is pulled from the local community. Sometimes help can come from outside your local area – and maybe, if you are one of the lucky ones, your State Main Street coordinator and staff will help out when needed!
One of the key components of any successful program is having a robust Volunteer and Leadership Development program. Oklahoma Main Street Director, Buffy Hughes, not only directs the statewide program, leads both the Design Point and the Organization Point, and teaches the local programs how to recruit and retain volunteers, but she also walks the walk and volunteers for many programs across the state!
She, along with her husband Keith (who she always jokes is more voluntold than volunteer), do their part to help local programs to thrive. They have volunteered with:
• Stockyards City Main Street’s Stockyard Stampede
• Historic Greenwood District Main Street’s first ever event – Christmas in Greenwood
• Sapulpa Main Street’s Route 66 Blowout Car Show and Festival, and
• Yukon Main Street’s Cruisin’ for a Cause
And many other events! She has plans to continue her volunteering ways this year and beyond. And her support matters to the local programs.
“Buffy and Keith have readily and graciously volunteered all three years that we have held this event,” said Vicki Davis, Yukon 66 Main Street Executive Director. “Her dedication to our Main Street program throughout our start-up stages as an associate community has meant so much and provided validation to our efforts. Buffy is no stranger to our members and community. She and Keith have been calming yet enthusiastic support for our event, regardless of the challenges from scorching temps, high winds, COVID distancing and safety measures, and even a mid-event gully-washer. Buffy is always eager to jump in wherever she can and by the way, this lady rocks a t-shirt booth and has sold us out every time.”
Volunteers matter in Main Street, and we are proud to count our Oklahoma director among our nationwide roster of amazing volunteers!
Key takeaways from six sessions at the 2025 Main Street Now Conference.
Explore the results of our 2025 Director's Survey!
Learn how to leverage the Main Street Approach during natural disaster recovery.
Learn how to apply your skills with stakeholder communication, fundraising, and volunteer coordination to your disaster response plan.
Three steps you can take to launch the planning process and start preparing your community for natural disasters.
Learn how Main Street Enterprise brought their volunteers to the 2024 Main Street Now Conference.
Iris Peters at Pennsylvania Downtown Center shares how a high school internship inspired her career in the Main Street Movement.
Erin Barnes spoke to Frances Jo Hamilton at Heritage Ohio about the importance of stepping up for our communities.
Learn how to create buy-in, build support, and manage your work plan for successful transformation strategy implementation.
Emporia Main Street is building the next generation of Main Street leaders with their Mini Main Streeter program, which provides opportunities for local youth to get involved in their downtown.
Learn how Main Street America's work with the DOT's Thriving Communities Program is supporting transformative efforts with community partners like the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe.
Using a case study from Altavista, Virginia, Matt Wagner, Ph.D., explains how to implement your chosen market strategies.
In part two of this series, Matt Wagner uses the case study of Galax, Virginia, to explore how data and context can be used to understand your market.
Jackie Swihart spoke with Abby Huff at Indiana Main Street about their recent experience utilizing Main Street America's transformation strategies workshops.
Matt Wagner, Ph.D., breaks down how context and outreach can help you build a stronger market analysis.
Main Street America Program Officer encourages communities to advance equity for women to grow a more inclusive Movement.
Join us in Birmingham, Alabama, May 4-5, 2024, for one of Main Street America Institute’s highest rated and recommended workshops!
Downtown Birmingham, Alabama © Sean Pavone/iStock
Join us in Birmingham, Alabama, May 4-5, 2024, for one of Main Street America Institute’s highest rated and recommended workshops!
Recognize the exceptional Main Street leader in your community with this prestigious award.
Recognize the exceptional Main Street leader in your community with this prestigious award.
Recognize an exception leader in your community with this prestigious Main Street award.
Leaders from a Virginia Main Street program traveled to South Carolina to learn from another award-winning community.
© Jenny Boulware
Are you in the path of totality? Check out these tips from Carbondale's experience in 2017.
Do you want to support the next generation of Main Street leadership! Start a youth board! Learn how Historic Downtown Clinton set theirs up and how your organization can benefit from one.
Sherry Adams and Liz Parham from North Carolina Main Street share their advice for how Main Streets can build, manage, and grow their volunteer programs.
Niantic Main Street's long-time board member Sue Kumro's community work was recognized with a local field named in her honor.
Niantic, CT © Niantic Main Street
Paso Robles Downtown Main Street Association longtime director, Norma Moye was honored downtown with an alley bearing her name.
Paso Robles, CA © Paso Robles Press
Learn how the Main Street Exchange Visits made people think in different ways, interact with peers, forge new relationships, and travel beyond the bounds of their own communities for inspiration.
Missouri Main Street Connection (MMSC) had the opportunity to take Missouri Executive Directors and other community representatives on the Iowa Community Expedition
While there may not be a one-size-fits-all Main Street leader, there are common characteristics among programs and communities leading successful revitalization efforts.
In October 2017, Main Street Ottumwa collaborated with local partners, Main Street Iowa, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Better Block Foundation to stop planning, talking, and wishing, and start doing.
History and architecture play an active role in educating and immersing the next generation of preservationists in Le Mars. From museum visits, scavenger hunts, to "show and tell," involving the youth and senior communities is a priority for this Main Street.
How has your Main Street evolved over the past several years? How will it evolve and grow in the years ahead?
This need for change results from the heavy emphasis on three components of the refreshed Main Street Approach.
The local Main Street organization, Downtown Milford Inc., is trying to address these shifting demographics by creating a more inclusive sense of community.
Most of us have days from time to time when we feel bored, overloaded, or unappreciated. But is it burnout?
This is the third article in a three-part series by street fair expert Bridget Bayer. Be sure to check out her other two articles.
Community assets are not always about land acquisition or infrastructure. They are also the people who are your neighbors, both business and residential.
Given these facts and others about year-end appeals, you should be planning a fundraising campaign during the six weeks of the year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.
The first rule of conducting business is “make it simple.” The easier it is to pay for merchandise, get entertainment or obtain a service, the more likely it is that people will take advantage of those options.
5 questions to understand how to tap into the motivations of your Main Street stakeholders to achieve what you (and they) want.