At the 2025 Main Street Now Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, we announced our 2025 Great American Main Street Awards (GAMSA) winners: Raton MainStreet, Denison Main Street, and Jefferson Matters. I spoke to the executive directors of each program to learn how they celebrated this exciting achievement and the impact that the Great American Main Street Award has had on their work and their communities.

How did your community celebrate the Great American Main Street Awards announcement?

Brenda Ferri, Raton MainStreet: While we were in Philly receiving our award, we set up a phone to do a Facebook Live. Our economic development partners and Mayor Pro Tem hosted a watch party at our Historic Shuler Theater for community members. About 75 people attended. When we were announced as a winner, our hosts threw T‑shirts and swag into the audience. Upon our return, the City Commission recognized our organization with a special proclamation.
Our second celebration will be held on August 30 & 31, 2025, at our 10^th Annual Gate City Music Festival. We will have a special fabric tension banner for selfies during the event. We will also have the GAMSA logo printed on all of our volunteer t‑shirts for this event.

Donna Dow, Denison Main Street: We held a block party on Thursday evening, just minutes after returning from the conference. It featured many of our downtown businesses. From the band to the food to the axe-throwing, everything could be obtained in our downtown. We had a photo booth, a touch-a-truck area, games, and fun activities for the entire family. We gave away goody bags containing challenge coins with the GAMSA logo, ​“We Love Our Businesses” lanyards, cups with the GAMSA logo, and a print by a local artist of our iconic Rialto Theater, featuring ​“Greatness is Born in Denison” on the marquee. We also had T‑shirts available for the first 50 attendees. 

Matt Wetrich, Jefferson Matters: During the opening plenary at the Main Street Now conference in Philly, we livestreamed the awards ceremony on our Facebook page. Leading up to the event, we spread the word to community members, schools, and local businesses to tune in. The local coffee shop hosted a watch party that we decorated for before we left for Philly. The local radio station livestreamed the audio of the event. 

Upon returning from the conference, we hosted a street party for the community on May 9, featuring inflatables, games, t‑shirt sales, and food trucks. We created our first shirts with our new logo and the GAMSA winning logo on the back. We’ve sold them to community members and given several away. They’ve been a fun way to spread the joy and celebrate. 

At a city council meeting on April 28, the mayor of Jefferson read a proclamation declaring 2025 to be the ​“Year of GAMSA” and Friday, May 9, 2025, to be ​“GAMSA Celebration Day.” On April 17, we hosted Senator Chuck Grassley as part of his 99 Counties Tour. This led him to discuss Jefferson and GAMSA and congratulate us on the floor of the United States Senate during the 119^th congressional session. We are now forever on the congressional record. 

What does the Great American Main Street Award mean to your organization? In the coming months and years, what plans do you have to use your award to deepen or expand your work?

Brenda Ferri: The GAMSA means so much to our rural New Mexico community. It has helped us secure another $1.1 million in funding to finish a revitalization project in our downtown. Our Historic Train Depot will be restored and become a welcoming site to our many Amtrak passengers who visit year-round. Secondly, our board of directors is on fire now. It is amazing how recognition like that of the GAMSA will ignite new fires in volunteers and the community. We plan to work even harder to maintain our GAMSA level status for our community and our state.

Donna Dow: The award and all the attention from winning validate that our downtown truly is one of the top in the nation. We were only the third recipient in Texas, and the first in 25 years. Previous winners Georgetown and Denton are still both very much deserving of the award. All this helps us demonstrate perspective and provide relevance. 

Matt Wetrich: This recognition has meant a tremendous amount to our organization. Being a GAMSA winner lets us know that we have been on the right track with our efforts and inspires us to keep going. We plan to use the fact that we are a GAMSA winner to garner support for new projects, reminding folks that the projects and efforts previously put forth garnered the top recognition possible. And we’ve already seen businesses using this award to help them. The hospital talks about it when recruiting prospective doctors; local realtors use it when showing commercial buildings and homes for sale; and Main Street businesses tout it to visitors on a regular basis — especially when visitors express how impressed they are with our downtown. Being a GAMSA winner is now in our DNA.

Learn more about the Great American Main Street Awards >