Let’s be friends!
It’s February! Love is in the air, snow is on the ground, and if you take Punxsutawney Phil’s word for it, winter is here to stay. Here at Main Street Martinsburg, we’re hard at work thinking about spring, our St. Patrick’s Day Celebration on March 14th, and Wine & Shine festival on May 30th… but before we look too far ahead, let’s look back on 2025!
Last month, we hosted our 2nd Annual Main Event awards dinner. It was a great evening celebrating the community we love so much. In preparing for the event, I was reminded of the importance of celebrating the good that takes place in our community. As a society, we're constantly distracted by the news, our busy schedules, and the constant urge to be "doing more." If you're anything like me, you probably spend more time ruminating on "how to solve" the things that didn't go right, while breezing over what DID go right. The Main Event was a great chance to slow down and celebrate the wins! Because those wins are littered with personal stories and connections.
For example, in 2025, our Ambassadors hosted over 75 "pop-up" events that brought people to our downtown’s unique assets and businesses. That’s hundreds of interactions with locals, and countless transactions at small businesses. We saw record crowds at our four major festivals… that’s worth celebrating! But, we didn’t just have 45,000+ festival attendees… We threw four of the biggest parties in the Eastern Panhandle for residents and visitors to enjoy!
Ten ribbon cuttings? That’s nothing to sneeze at, especially in a year where small businesses confidence was at an all-time low. That doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of the amount of martini’s shaken at the Young American, or the amount of plates shared at Brix27, or the amount of oysters shucked at Stoney’s… and I won’t even try to calculate how many haircuts happened downtown this past year, but you get the picture! This is a place for people to make memories, and share experiences. We’re proud of the positives that happened, and we were honored to be there every step of the way.
You might have noticed the return of the Snowmen this winter… that is entirely thanks to the efforts made by our local high school students through our first ever Junior Main Street Program at Martinsburg High School! More to come from that group in 2026 and beyond!
These are things you might have missed when you doom scrolled Whats Going On In Martinsburg… but real stuff nonetheless! They’re real, tangible moments that we shouldn’t take for granted. If you’re reading this, odds are it’s because you love our downtown. Yes, we know we have work to do, but thats okay! Elbert Hubbard once said “A friend is someone who knows all about you, and still loves you.”
So, back to my original question in this blog’s title… Can we all be friends? Let me explain why I’m asking. When we reflected on both the highlights and challenges that we faced in 2025, one thing is certain: things are better when we all get together. Big festivals, small dog walks… it doesn’t matter! Downtowns were literally built for people to congregate, and while we can’t control the global economy or the weather… we can show up! As an organization, when we’re faced with reports that “small businesses confidence is at an all-time low, nation wide” we must look inward at what we are capable of doing to help. This year, thanks to the support of The City of Martinsburg, and Proctor & Gamble, we are launching our Friends of Main Street program, aimed at getting folks together, with the common goal of supporting our downtown businesses.
The plan is simple:
We’ll rotate downtown restaurants to hang out at every last Thursday of the month
We’ll have incentives like the Shop Small-Win Big program all year long to help support our retail businesses
Friends will get their campaign button and special sticker to show their community pride
As an added perk for friends, we will provide exclusive Main Street gear that showcases just how much you love Downtown Martinsburg
We’ll have discounted Happy Hours at our Fridays at 5 for friends… yes you read that correctly— Fridays at 5 is back for a special DJ Happy Hour before the live music begins at 6pm
Most importantly, we’ll give people more ways to engage and get more involved with Main Street
Please, follow the link at the bottom of this page to let us know how, when, and where you’d like to get involved… and join us on this journey of bolstering community pride. Our first get-together of the Friends will be February 26th at Brix27! We’ll have complimentary drinks, appetizers, and we’ll use that opportunity to lay out the rest of our year. So, go ahead and mark the last Thursday of your month as your Friends of Main Street night. It’s a simple goal, to get friends together to support our small businesses and stay connected, but it’s one that will have a great impact. We all have a part to play in supporting our downtown. We deserve a downtown that reflects our heritage, as well as our ambition for change. We’re a growing community, and if we don’t decide to leave our mark, someone else will.
