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Forest Park Main Street manager outlines 2025 events, ambassador program and public-art plans
Summary
The Main Street manager reported on late-2024 activities and proposed a 2025 calendar that includes The Longest Table, Food Truck Fridays, a Food & Wine crawl, a Main Street ambassador program and a public-art initiative; the board discussed timing, sponsorship packaging and joint trainings.
Director Williams presented the Main Street program update for November and December and reviewed 2024 closeout activities and the proposed 2025 events calendar.
Williams said the DDAhosted Small Business Saturday activities that highlighted six local businesses with photo and video promotion and a coupon book; those businesses included Atlas Strength and Conditioning, Miss Jerry's Cafe, Special Rims, 111 Content Studios, Trustee Drugs and People's Janitorial. Williams said the DDA expanded last year's holiday decorating contest to include residential entries citywide and that judges from the DDA, URA and economic development staff selected Hair Embassy at 4893 Jonesboro Road as the best storefront and 6253 Linwood Drive as the best residential display.
For 2025, Williams proposed an events calendar that would include The Longest Table (a community dining event), a Friday-night fiesta/Food Truck Friday at Bill Lee Park on April 4, a Food & Wine crawl (tentatively April 26), breakfast-yoga series on Saturday mornings in spring/summer, Blues on Maine in October and ongoing small-business Saturdays and holiday programming through December. Williams said the Longest Table idea is low-cost and could help launch a Main Street ambassador program; she told the board she had spoken with organizers in New York and found only one Atlanta-area community with a similar event.
Williams said staff is developing a Main Street logo and branded merchandise for ambassadors and is preparing a comprehensive sponsorship package to bundle event opportunities for sponsors. She also reported work on a public-art program and said its rollout depends partly on planning-and-community-development text amendments and district overlay work. Williams said the Georgia Main Street annual materials (self-assessment, MOU, training logs, bylaws, district boundaries) had been completed and submitted.
Board members discussed timing for events, the potential to link the Longest Table with a fiesta or Food Truck Fridays, the need to shift some events to warmer months if they are evening gatherings, and options for joint training and retreats with related boards; Williams said she would return with proposed dates and a sponsorship package at the next meeting. No formal vote was taken on event approvals.
