On Thursday, January 27, Ken and Laura Welborn were honored as 2004 Main Street Champions at the North Carolina Main Street Annual Awards Dinner in New Bern, NC. They were selected for this special recognition by Historic Downtown North Wilkesboro in appreciation of their exceptional contributions to the downtown revitalization process. Along with Champions from 36 other communities, they were presented a certificate commemorating their designation by NC Secretary of Commerce Jim Fain and Office of Urban Development Director Rodney L. Swink, FASLA.
Each of the state's active Main Street programs is given the opportunity annually to recognize a local Main Street Champion. The dedication and hard work of countless volunteers is required to make a local Main Street program successful, and the Main Street Champion designation acknowledges the extraordinary efforts of those persons who have played pivotal roles in the revitalization of their downtowns.
''North Carolina's Main Street communities are better today for the leadership provided by these Champions,'' said Swink, regarding 2004's honorees. ''Through their persistence, energy, enthusiasm and passion for their downtowns, they have inspired all of us to work harder to make our communities better places,'' he added.
In nominating the Welborns for this honor, Historic Downtown North Wilkesboro offered the following:
Historic Downtown North Wilkesboro is pleased to name Ken and Laura Welborn as 2004 Main Street Champions. The Welborns have both given lots of time, effort and money to the betterment of our Main Street. While restoring the faüade of their Main Street building, Ken convinced builders to donate materials and time to restore, repair, and paint the front of the building next to him as well. All extra costs for this building came out of his pocket.
The building next to the Welborn's is for Ebenezer's Children's Home, and as a non-profit organization they could not afford to take on a project of this magnitude. Both buildings shared an old metal faüade; Ken realized when he agreed to find a builder who would donate the labor and materials for the Ebenezer's project that he would be responsible for any additional costs of the repairs and any additional damage that was hidden by the old faüade. It certainly was a huge financial gamble when the Welborns agreed to restore the Ebenezer Building along with their own, but it was one that paid off with not only one new faüade improvement but two!
Ken owns a local newspaper and has donated many printing services and advertisements to our organization. During all festivals, both Ken and Laura can be counted on for donations of tables and other supplies, as well as manual labor. Laura currently serves as chair on our merchant committee. She also coordinated and arranged the 2004 Historic Christmas promotions for Main Street.
The Welborns live in a second floor apartment on Main Street and have opened their home to many people to view the beauty of the downtown. The street level floor of their building is dedicated to local history items and antiques for people to wander in and view at their pleasure.
Ken and Laura Welborn should be honored with this recognition as Main Street Champions, because their hearts are and always will be in downtown North Wilkesboro.
Main Street is a downtown revitalization program for smaller towns based on economic development within the context of historic preservation. The North Carolina Main Street Program, which provides technical assistance to its communities, is part of the Office of Urban Development in the Department of Commerce's Division of Community Assistance.
In 1980, North Carolina was one of six original states, selected from 38 that applied, to launch the work of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main Street Center. The North Carolina Main Street Program began working with its five original cities - New Bern, Salisbury, Shelby, Tarboro, and Washington - in September 1980 and has since grown to include 53 communities across the state.
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Wilkes County Cruisers
