KAREN SINGLETARY, standing, Sylvester Main Street director, and Sherri Nix, third from right, with the City of Thomasville, met with Cairo leaders Tuesday to share their experiences with planning downtown events.
Downtown Cairo will be hosting an outdoor music event in June, and organizers met Tuesday with planners of similar activities in neighboring communities to learn from their experiences. The workshop included the Cairo Downtown Development Authority and Main Street along with officials from Thomasville and Sylvester. Also on hand were Cairo Mayor Booker Gainor, two members of the city council and representatives of the Cairo-Grady County Chamber of Commerce.
‘I wanted to bring some close outsiders in, and let them tell what they do and then open it up for answers and questions,” says Celeste Tyler, Cairo Main Street director.
Sherri Nix with the City of Thomasville, talked about the logistics of their First Friday Sip and Stroll events and Karen Singletary, Sylvester Main Street director, explained how they handle their Sip N’ Stroll, concerts and food vendors.
“These two cities do this successfully, but they don’t do them exactly alike,” Tyler explained.
Tyler says based on the feedback she received from those who attended Tuesday’s workshop, local officials want to make a Cairo event unique. “They don’t want to be identical to the others; we want to find out what Cairo’s niche is,” she says. “We’re trying to move forward and see what works. The first one will be a modified event.” Details of the June music event will be forthcoming as plans are finalized, Tyler says.
