Samelsons attend conference

Main Street Thermopolis board members Howie Samelson and Suzanne Samelson attended the Main Street Now national conference May 23-25 in Miliwaukee, Wis.

At the time, Suzanne had not yet been appointed a board member but went to the conference as a substitute for an individual who could not attend.

Suzanne said they went to several presentations, lectures and even visited other Main Street communities.

"We went around to four different Main Street communities in Wisconsin and got to really get shown around by active volunteers," Suzanne said. "It was good to see what the other communities were doing."

Howie said many of the communities were much larger than the Main Street Thermopolis community.

"You have to take the concepts and scale them down to see how we can apply them," he said. "It's a matter of learning how to make the town better at what it does, not necessarily make the town different than what it is."

Suzanne said the conference reinforced the importance of organizations like Main Street Thermopolis.

"Things don't happen overnight," she said. "It takes baby steps to make big changes, and you can't quit after a year."

Howie said these baby steps are the keys to revitalizing our downtown community.

"Try to do things that are visible, but don't expect immediate change," he said. "What you do in the next five years is going to determine the next 50."

At the Main Street Thermopolis meeting on Thursday night, Suzanne said attending the conference was a fabulous experience.

"Main Street is an opportunity to have a support network," she said. "It's an opportunity to revitalize the downtown community. I felt this sense of a broader community, and it feels good to be a part of that."

Suzanne also won a raffle for some free banners, which the local Main Street community could use if they choose to do so.

"It was a nice, substantial, usable prize to win," she said.