Peabody Main Street represented at conference
By KRISTEN HOOPER
Peabody Main Street Association director
The 23rd annual National Main Street Conference was held March 25-28 in Seattle, Wash., with more than 1,600 people in attendance. The 2007 theme was "building a sustainable future," and focused on maintaining both the revitalization organization and the community the organization serves.
Beth Eldridge, Peabody Main Street Association board member and promotion chairman, and Kristen Hooper represented Peabody and the Main Street association.
Before the opening session, a slide show of pictures from about 50 chosen communities was shown. A photo of the Boy Scouts on their float at the Western Wonderland parade was included in the show.
Doug Loescher, director of the National Trust Main Street Center, delivered the annual "State of the Main Street" address reporting the impact of the Main Street Movement. He said that from 1980-2006, 250 communities have participated in the National Main Street program. Though the utilization of the Main Street four-point approach and assistance offered through Main Street programs, 187,000 buildings have been renovated; 78,000 businesses have been retained; 34,900 jobs have been created bringing a total of $41.6 billion total reinvestment across the nation.
The keynote speaker was Timothy Egan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and New York Times national enterprise reporter. He addressed the issue of sustainability and who will become the next leaders of Main Street. He ended the session with a quote by Winston Churchill, "We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us."
The conference hosted numerous speakers and workshops, filling each day with education and ideas to utilize on the local level.
