BY JOANIE JASPER

Main Street Middlesboro

What’s up, Middlesboro? Are you enjoying the free Levitt AMP Middlesboro Concert Series? Last week Tami Neilson from New Zealand brought soul to downtown. This week the headlining artist will carry concert goers on a music trip to New Orleans. New Breed Brass Band (say that real fast three times) their sound is a fusion of New Orleans jazz, funk, and a sprinkle of hip-hop. Come down to Levitt Park donned in beads and your dancing shoes. This concert is sure to provide lagniappe to our downtown. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Have you noticed the change in direction of the wind lately? Hopefully you caught that reference to Mary Poppins. My favorite nanny, Mary Poppins, brought fun, order, imaginative adventures, and kindness that would melt the hardest of hearts. Jane and Micheal Banks had to be the luckiest kids ever. The story had many examples of how we should live and treat others. Like when times are rough and you just want to quit- you just get a spoonful of sugar, it makes the medicine (rough times) go down. Several of us need to start using supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, instead of saying words that break hearts, crush dreams, and demoralize people. I can hear some of you saying that there is no way we can have a life like in Mary Poppins. You might be right but we can definitely learn a lot of valuable lessons in the story. But, remember that there is change coming.

This past Wednesday I attended a Main Street America webinar – Get Hyped: Turn District Cheerleaders into Social Influencers. This is not a new concept, but it was perfect for what we need in Middlesboro. There is no one that can tell stories that bring people to our area, except for you. Yes, you, the people who live here. Many of you would not mind having company over to your house if there was a little dust on the furniture and/or the floors needed mopped. Some of you might not mind to have people over to your house and they have to move books and papers to just have a place to sit down. I also know that there are some of you that have to have everything perfect in your house before you have anyone over. I mentioned this to you before- we need to look at Middlesboro as our house. We need to work on keeping Middlesboro VIP ready. Just keeping your yard cut and free of trash makes a difference. What if you could adopt a section of sidewalk in downtown to help keep it VIP ready? You could create a team with: your family; your friends; your work crew; your church; or your sports team. August will launch the adopt a sidewalk program. Be on the look out to be a part of this program.

It is time to say – On va se reparler plus tard (We’ll talk later). Remember to be kind to each other.

Reach out to me at letstalk@joanieandjennib.com and let me know your thoughts, concerns and questions.