Roseboro atown youwant to visit

Coretta Scott King once said “the greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members…” Those words have perhaps never been more evidenced than just down the road from us in the small western Sampson town of Roseboro.

Despite a highway diversion that took many travelers off the main thoroughfare featuring its main streets and businesses, Roseboro remains a bevy of activity and a place where business growth seems to be on the cusp of a down-right boon.

Where business owners and residents in many small towns would have shook their heads, closed their doors and took down their shingles, accepting the fate that such a clear bypass of its hub might mean, those in Roseboro did the exact opposite.

From the mayor and town commissioners to business and property owners, and residents, alike, their mantra seems to have become: we’ll show you.

And show us they have, in the most positive of ways.

Downtown Roseboro now has myriad shopping and eating options, its own festival, its own live entertainment series and very soon its own outdoor stage.

Local residents are supporting all these events, but, just as importantly, so are other people from Sampson and surrounding counties. Roseboro, it seems, is becoming the place to be.

It could not have happened to a better town nor to a community whose residents have put blood, sweat and tears into making people sit up and take notice of the western Sampson town.

Over the past few years, we’ve watched this community stand shoulder-to-shoulder, arm-in-arm, helping one another build and support businesses. We’ve listened to them outline dreams and then work tenaciously to turn those dreams into a reality.

Last winter, we witnessed neighbors and friends join business folk and town leaders as they worked together to help Donna Reedy reopen The Reedy Mark. Reedy had a nice spot in downtown, but circumstances changed with the sale of the building where her business was located.

She could have packed up and gone home; instead, with the help of local property owners, friends, employees and community members, Reedy found another place, began the revamp and now has opened a bar and restaurant that has quite the draw both at lunch and in the evenings.

Ditto the seafood restaurant just down the street at Earl & Jerry’s, where out-of-towners frequent as much as locals.

The same can be said of Railroad Street Steakhouse a block or so away, where, particularly on Sundays, church-goers from across Sampson and beyond often line up for their fare.

Then there’s the newest business, the Cork & Brew, whose owners took the vacant bank building and turned it into a swanky coffee and wine bar. It’s getting its own share of props these days.

And that just scratches the surface. From the local hardware and downtown gift shop to beauty salons, pet groomers and furniture store to Bloom Fest, aLive in the ‘Boro, a plethora of holiday activities and the Mountain-to-Sea Trail, Roseboro is, indeed, becoming a destination.

None of this could have happened without the vision of town Mayor Alice Butler, a willing group of town commissioners, business leaders and local property owners and residents, all who refused to sit on the sidelines and watch the world — and travelers — simply bypass the town they love and believe in.

Local business and property owner Robby James perhaps said it best during a groundbreaking ceremony for the new outdoor stage in June, when he used a quote from Walt Disney to emphasize his own belief in the town and its citizens: ““There’s a quote that I use, it simply defines this project, and that quote is by Walt Disney. ‘All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.’”

Those in Roseboro have that kind of courage, that kind of vision, and because of it they are seeing their dreams come true.

We tip our hat to every person who has had a hand in making Roseboro somewhere we want to visit.