Hope Downtown Network: A Celebration of Progress

Pictured: Crowd at Studio and Events

HOPE – Friends and supporters of the Hope Downtown Network assembled Thursday evening at The Studio and Events venue on Elm Street to commemorate recent progress in the downtown area.

Beckie Moore, the Executive Director of HDN, explained to us the purpose for the event, “This event is to bring together our investors, people who have put their time, talents, and money into downtown Hope to make our amazing town a better place. We want to bring them together to thank them and to celebrate them”.

Ms. Moore began the evening by asking several members of the audience the question, “What does downtown revitalization mean to you”? State Senator Steve Crowell answered with, “This group will never get to see the fruits of their labor, but the next generation will”. Hope Mayor Don Still replied by giving credit to John and Sharon Caldwell for starting the ball rolling when they opened Tailgaters. Hope Superintendent Jonathan Crossley responded, “I want our students to fall in love with Hope, I want them to come back home and to have a vibrant, revitalized downtown”. Lastly, Debbie Malek shared her thoughts, “I want downtown to be THE place to live”. Malek also suggested a possibly wonderful idea of creating displays in various parts of downtown celebrating Hope’s other famous citizens besides Clinton and Huckabee.

Next, Moore showed a short slideshow presentation to the audience entitled, “A Year of Progress” focusing on the accomplishments of the Hope Downtown Network this past year.

Steve Harris, President of the Downtown Network Board of Directors, later introduced Greg Phillips and Mark Miller, who were representing the Mainstreet Arkansas Program. Greg Phillips spoke first, stating, “We’re here to congratulate you and your work”. He went on to say that “restored downtowns serve as one of the greatest factors in recruiting new people and industries to a community”. Phillips also mentioned the upcoming retail business incubator and said, “It is going to be a wonderful opportunity for somebody”. Finally, his closing thought was, “Downtowns don’t become revitalized overnight, so don’t get discouraged when things are not happening as fast as you’d like”. Mark Miller, who has worked for this program for 31 years, brought delightful news with a presentation of $12,000 in downtown miniature grants, for use for downtown business buildings. Hope is one of 42 communities across Arkansas collaborating with the Mainstreet Arkansas Program, with Hope being an associate level program at the present.

Near the end of the program, Harris and Moore presented three special awards, first to Brentwood Industries of Hope, who received the Community Partnership Award, second to John and Sharon Caldwell, who were recognized with the Preservation and Progress Award, and finally Toby and Carol Neff, who received the Volunteers of the Year Award.

To end the conference, Twyla Pruden shared an anonymous poem with the words, “The best is yet to come”.