Maria Bailey is a champion for downtown Henderson. Folks who work, visit and shop in the downtown area no doubt enjoy the result of countless hours she has spent to make the heart of the city more beautiful. Whether serving on boards and committees or getting out and volunteering, Bailey is dedicated to making her community better.

She was recognized for her efforts at the recent statewide Main Street Conference with an official designation of North Carolina Main Street Champion. She is the first person from Henderson to receive this honor.

Downtown Development Director Tracy Madigan, along with City Manager Terrell Blackmon and Mayor Eddie Ellington, issued a joint press release announcing Bailey’s award, presented during the annual conference held in Statesville Mar. 13-17.

She said Monday she didn’t really know what was going to happen at the conference – all she knew was that she and a friend visiting for Bailey’s birthday left early for Statesville to arrive in time to receive the award.

Back in 2014, Bailey accepted an invitation to join the board of the Henderson-Vance Downtown Development Commission. Once on the downtown design committee, she zeroed in on the parking lot beside Sadie’s Coffee Corner and said, “I’d like to design that parking lot and see if we can do something with it,” Bailey recalled on Monday’s TownTalk. There were about a dozen Bradford pears languishing in planters and buckling the nearby sidewalk, and branches were known to fall on parked cars. It was a mess.

Bailey described the collaboration required for the project. Vance-Granville Community College created a 3D rendering. The city agreed to remove trees and replace damaged sidewalks. Civic groups donated money. Schoolchildren helped create the mural on the side of the building.  And Bailey may have been the energy behind the project – planning, designing, raising money, getting volunteers to help keep the garden beds planted and weeded – but she also wanted to create sustainability.

For her, involving young people was the key ingredient. She wanted to schedule different youth groups to come once a month for a botany lesson before turning their new-found knowledge into action by cleaning the gardens, removing weeds and trash.

“The main idea with youth groups was to get them involved,” Bailey said, which means they’re “more likely to stay in Henderson and do other things to make Henderson better.”

Young adults seem to have turned their attention to the leisurely vibe in downtown areas, whether it’s strolling the sidewalks to visit shops or enjoying the slower pace often not experienced in shopping malls.

“As we’re building businesses, little stores are opening,” Bailey said. “A lot of young people are coming in and starting these businesses.”

Bailey was recognized for her commitment to downtown improvements and developing a strong community. Along with the other Champion award recipients, she was honored for contributions to the Main Street program and to downtown. She has been a volunteer and served downtown Henderson for many years.

Over the years, Bailey has been instrumental in getting volunteers to take part in downtown beautification projects. In the past five years she has personally contributed more volunteer hours to downtown than any other volunteer.

The North Carolina conference is recognized as the largest Main Street conference in the country. The Champions Recognition Ceremony celebrated the 2022 Honor Roll of Main Street Champions took place in the Statesville Civic Center in the historic downtown.

Liz Parham, director of the N.C. Main Street & Rural Planning Center at the N.C. Department of Commerce, issued a welcome to the invitation-only group of several hundred in attendance.

“Main Street Champions are the key to success in downtown revitalization,” Parham stated. “They possess courage to move downtown forward; they fight for positive change and do that with creativity and innovation; and they actively get things done, while staying focused on the downtown’s economic development strategies.”

According to Kenny Flowers, assistant secretary of Rural Economic Development at the N.C. Department of Commerce, “There are three common elements that are found in successful communities.  These elements are asset based economic development strategies, public and private partnerships, and local champions.”

Keynote speaker for the event was N.C. Secretary of Commerce Machelle Baker-Sanders, who spoke of growing up in small town North Carolina. The downtown area was the focal point of the community, she said. She cited the national trend of towns and cities revitalizing their downtowns and how once again they are serving as the center for community activities.

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