On 'Main Street' Alabama, Independence Day reconnects community

This story is part of a partnership between the Montgomery Advertiser and the Living Democracy program at Auburn University. Now in its 13th year, the program disperses students across rural Alabama to spend 10 weeks learning more about the inner workings of the community and writing about what they observe.

ELBA − Elba’s annual Fourth of July celebration, Let Freedom Ring, is an annual event described as a “party with a purpose," according to Mary Helmer Wirth, president and state coordinator for Main Street Alabama .

Wirth said events like Let Freedom Ring are an opportunity to reintroduce the community to locals, businesses and investors.

The party in Elba started when Linda Hodge, editor of the Elba Clipper newspaper, decided to start a Fourth of July celebration. “Patriotism runs deep here and in me,” Hodge said.

As the then-president of the Elba Chamber of Commerce, Hodge said she “wanted to give something back to the community.” She said the first “Let Freedom Ring” event resembled a small-town festival with local live music, fireworks and food vendors.

Since then, the event continues to grow each year, drawing visitors from around the area. Many people come to Elba’s Let Freedom Ring to escape crowds that are found in larger towns on the Fourth of July.

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Hodge said she believes Elba is in a central location between Andalusia, Troy and Dothan for those who want something smaller. “You can come here and feel like you’re at a backyard barbecue,” she said.

Many people in Elba, like Hodge, the daughter of a Vietnam veteran, have a deep connection to the Fourth of July. Fort Novosel is less than 30 miles away.

Hodge said she believes the “sense of pride, country and community” and the impressive fireworks are what keeps Let Freedom Ring growing.

Pulling the party together is a long process that begins as soon as the Fourth of July event is over. Sandy Bynum Williams, Elba Chamber of Commerce director, said she enjoys the yearlong setup for the event as they plan to gather musicians, vendors and sponsors. “I get to host a big party,” she said.

Sponsors help make the event a success. Williams said Troy Bank & Trust provided this year’s bouncy houses, and the Masonic Lodge provided free watermelon. Hodge envisioned an event that cost families nothing to attend. Williams works with sponsors to continue this tradition. “A person could come and bring their entire family and have a fun evening and not spend any money,” Williams said.

“I love seeing them enjoy the evening," she said. "They usually don’t know who did it or how it came to be, but they are having a good time. That’s the reward.”

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Besides low costs, seeing family and friends brings people downtown for the celebration. “They love family and friends, they enjoy visiting and talking to their neighbors, and they love celebrating our country,” Williams said.

Williams said she believes none of it would have been possible without the designation as a Main Street community through Main Street Alabama, a nonprofit organization that is part of a larger nonprofit, Main Street America . The organization focuses on revitalization of historic downtown districts across America.

In 2015, Elba became a designated Main Street community. According to Williams, they were the smallest community to achieve designation. “We wouldn’t have started this if we had not gotten that designation,” she said.

Becoming a designated community can be difficult. “It’s competitive,” according to Main Street’s Wirth.

“The goal is to help a community grow and work with local businesses first," Wirth said. "Main Street Alabama meets communities where they are and does not compare community to community because each one is different.

“Economic vitality, design, organization and promotion are the four points we work in. In Elba’s case, they are a very traditional downtown district. Our job is to work with them and understand their market, economy, and help local businesses be more successful.”

Let Freedom Ring is an event that continues to bring people to downtown Elba and drive economic growth.  “We have got to have things downtown. That gives them a reason to come,” Williams said.

Downtown districts play an important role in communities overall.

“Sometimes you need to bring people back to what I call the ‘living room’ of your town,” Wirth said. “... It’s the place everyone can call home. Everyone gets a piece of that.”

Elisha Oyola , a Living Democracy student at Auburn University, is living and learning this summer in Elba, Alabama, as a Jean O'Connor Snyder Intern with the David Mathews Center for Civic Life. The nonprofit program, coordinated by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts, prepares undergraduate college students for civic life through living-learning experiences in the summer .

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: On 'Main Street' Alabama, Independence Day reconnects community