Where One Thing Has Led To Another: The Mainstreet Blog Now Has 2000 Followers

Thank you for joining me on my Main Street Bench

Two thousand followers have now found their way to the Main Street blog………

Or as I like to think of it, my Main Street Bench. Some arrive quietly, some leave a note, some simply pause for a moment before walking on, but each one has become part of a conversation about place, memory, and the future of Rocky Mount, NC.

When this blog began, one thing led to another. Someone would say, “Have you met so and so? You need to talk to them.” Front doors opened when I knocked. I made new friends who let me wander through rooms and yards with a camera in hand.

People stopped me on the street, curious about what I was up to, then took my hand and shared a story. Some worried over me in the fading light, gently reminding me, “It’s getting dark now, you need to get along home.”

A workman high on a roof waved when he noticed I was watching. A crew on Howard Street laughed as one man called out, “Look busy, you’re getting your picture taken.” And once, on Main Street, the steady arm of a kind gentleman walked me back to my car.

One lady rolled down her window and said, “What you doing, honey?” After I explained she said, “You got to meet my aunties.” I wrote a blog about this wonderful experience.

These moments were never planned, yet they became the heart of my writing. They reminded me that preservation is not only brick and mortar, it is relationship, it is the way a town gathers around the simple act of caring.

A few years ago I titled a novel, Repairers of the Breach, a name meant to honor those who have cared for the past through preservation, restoration, and repurposing, while building a future. I have tried to offer this blog in that same spirit, a dedication to the people who believe Rocky Mount can still be restored with care, patience, and imagination.

So today I pause with gratitude. Two thousand followers, two thousand reminders that Main Street is not just a place, it is a shared promise. Whether you have spoken to me in person, waved from across the street, opened a door, or simply read along from afar, you have helped shape the voice that sits here on this bench.

And as long as there are stories waiting to be told, I will keep returning, notebook in hand, trusting that one step will always lead to another.

This post is dedicated to John Jesso, once the Downtown Development Manager, who I first approached about writing a blog. He encouraged me and said, “Help me change the narrative of Rocky Mount.” And for Evan Covington Chavez, Development Manager of Capital Broadcasting Company, who was the subject of the first blog.