The auditorium of the YWCO was filled with folks meeting each other for the first time and others rekindling old friendships. The YWCO Board of Directors hosted a “Welcome to Laurel” luncheon on Thursday, January 23 with a homemade soup and salad lunch.
Mallorie Rasberry was the keynote speaker and spoke about Laurel Main Street and the restoration of downtown Laurel. A number of people raised their hands when Rasberry asked the group how many have lived in Laurel for five years or less.
Addressing the Laurel old-timers, Rasberry said, “The rest of you have a recollection of what downtown Laurel was like ten to twelve years ago. It was pretty sad.”
The Rasberry family has been involved in the community for many years. She and her husband, Jim, moved to Laurel when they were newlyweds and had just graduated from college. They were the first to live in loft apartments in downtown.
“It was all we could afford,” explained Rasberry, noting that many of the old, cold buildings in downtown Laurel were incredibly inexpensive.
The Rasberrys were among several young couples around town that were interested in making Laurel a better place. She explained that they asked themselves the questions, “How do we make Laurel what we want it to be? How do we make it a place that we are proud to call home?”
Laurel Main Street was started around 2008, and that is when Rasberry started really getting involved in the revitalization of Laurel.
“I didn’t know anybody besides Ben, Erin and Jim,” exclaimed Rasberry. “That was my key to really getting to know folks. I was immediately placed on the board. I was right out of college and a new CPA. So, they said, ‘here you can do the books for us.’”
“I started volunteering and telling the story of Laurel from what I could see,” remembered Rasberry.
Rasberry said that the main message she would give to those new to Laurel is to get involved in the community. New people to a town usually bring with them new ideas.
“I think the most valuable people in a downtown comeback story are the new folks, because you bring a fresh perspective, energy, enthusiasm and passion,” said Rasberry.
“I had spent the last five years in Oxford,” explained Rasberry. “I had traveled and seen things that were done in other places. So, I would ask why can’t we do that here. Laurel Main Street is where it all got started.”
She mentioned the events that have been established by Laurel Main Street, including the Chili Cook-Off, which is coming up on February 8. Other events include the Crawfest, Loblolly Festival, Touch A Truck, Wine Down Downtown, Farmers Market, and new last year was the Pine Cone Drop on New Year’s eve. In addition Laurel Main Street offers a facade grant to help business owners keep a fresh look to the front of their buildings. They also offer incentives for new business owners.
Rasberry mentioned a new event being added this year called the Laurel League, which is a basketball tournament that is going to be downtown.
She said anyone could become a member of Laurel Main Street and get involved. It is not exclusive to the merchants and owners of downtown businesses.
When asked about her favorite project, Rasberry said the Airbnb projects. Airbnb is short for air-bed and breakfast. In the studies that Laurel Main Street did, one of the issues of concern for Laurel was places for people to stay when visiting Laurel and opportunities for them to experience Laurel in a unique way. An Airbnb allows people to experience Laurel as if they lived here.
“We don’t have the Pinehurst Hotel anymore,” said Rasberry. “My stomach hurts just thinking about how beautiful that building was.”
The Pinehurst Hotel was a historic old hotel and restaurant that was located next door to the Arabian Theatre directly across from City Hall in downtown. In the 1980s, the building was torn down. Pinehurst Park is in its place now and has a gazebo and a water fountain.
Rasberry said they tried to recruit hotel developers and get someone to build a downtown hotel.
“We just weren’t getting anywhere,” exclaimed Rasberry.
In 2014 she and Jim lived in a house on 4th Avenue which had a carriage house in the backyard. Many homes in Laurel have carriage houses and garage apartments that property owners rent out. The Rasberrys didn’t really care for the idea of having someone permanently living in their backyard. Airbnb was growing in popularity across the country, so they decided to put their property on Airbnb.
“We were actually the first property in Laurel on Airbnb,” recollected Rasberry. “And we love it. We have people coming from all over the world.”
Among their first guests were people from Switzerland. The Rasberrys now have three properties listed on Airbnb, and one is an Airstream trailer.
“Today there are thirty properties listed on Airbnb in Laurel,” said Rasberry. “It’s a great way to have folks visit Laurel and have a great experience.”
Visitors to Laurel who stay in the Airbnbs have an opportunity to experience Laurel as if they lived here.
“It’s a great way to mend the gap between our hotel situation,” said Rasberry. “It’s been an incredible grassroots way of offering a place to stay without having a multi-million-dollar hotel project come into town. It’s also a way to have other folks be invested in the community. It’s been my favorite project.”
She said that with the success of Home Town and the revitalization of downtown, many towns across the nation have wanted to know how it was done. She and Jim, along with Ben, Erin and Josh Nowell, have traveled to other small towns to lend them advice.
Rasberry said the main link she feels small towns are missing when addressing economic development is hospitality. They need to ask the questions, “How are visitors seeing our town? How do visitors find out what is going on in town, where to stay, shop, and eat?”
“Are we doing a good job welcoming folks from outside of Laurel, but also in Laurel?” asked Rasberry. “There are a lot of folks in Jones County that still don’t know what’s going on in downtown Laurel. How do we improve on that? How do we help people visiting Laurel enjoy themselves and want to come back?”
She said a lot of the comments from visitors to Laurel have been positive. Many have commented on how nice and helpful everyone is and say they will return. Rasberry pointed out the need for the community to continue to focus on hospitality and communication.
Her final advice for newcomers is they don’t need permission to get involved . . . whatever your talent or interest is, don’t hesitate to get involved in organizations and activities around town. To keep up with upcoming events, check out the Impact in both print and digital, as well as the Chamber of Commerce, Laurel Main Street, and The Laurel Mercantile social media platforms.