Column: Conference is a coup for Clayton

North Carolina's Main Street program may be one of the state's best-kept secrets. Most folks don't realize the program exists, even when it is at work right in their own hometown.

But once the results of being a Main Street participant are obvious, residents in those communities are left with a gem.

And, now, Clayton has the chance to show off a little bit of its succès. The Main Street program includes an annual conference, held in various Main Street communities.

As we've reported earlier, this year's conference will be held this week, here in Clayton.

Hundreds of bright, inquisitive people will descend on Clayton for a few days to learn about how they can make their own hometowns a little bit stronger, a little more vibrant.

They will have a chance to see Claytons biggest reclamation project, which is now the Clayton Center. They'll be able to see how the town has combined open space and retail to make downtown a more welcoming place where young parents would be willing to spend time with their children.

And they'll see how the town of Clayton has successfully wooed restaurants and other nighttime businesses into the downtown, which gives every merchant in the area greater exposure, even if they aren't open.

But here's what I hope those 400 or so people will leave Clayton with at the end of the conference: a sense of how nice people in Clayton can be. I can promise the visitors will get lost at some point and ask for directions. They will surely have lists of local eateries and want suggestions for the best place to go. They might even take some of their free time and wander around downtown, stopping in at businesses or even talking to people on a downtown sidewalk to get their impressions of the strengths and weaknesses of downtown Clayton.

Hopefully, if you're the person they chat up, you'll take the time to visit with them, welcome them to Clayton and share with them a sense of what it's like to live in Clayton all the year long.

The people hosting the conference will undoubtedly be helpful and friendly to our visitors. But that's to be expected. After all, they are playing the role of host.

But the true test of Clayton's friendliness comes in those chance exchanges with people who don't have any skin in the conference.

No matter how we treat our visitors this week, Clayton will remain an active participant in the Main Street program with access to all the resources that program can bring to bear.

But we are much better served in the long run if we roll out the proverbial red carpet for our visitors and welcome them with open arms.

As small as the chances are, you never quite know when a kindness shown to a stranger might reap some reward. Perhaps some business person from western North Carolina visits Clayton, gets turned on to the business foundation he finds, then gets bowled over by the friendlness of the people he encounters.

Then, a few years down the road, as he's thinking about growing his business, he remembers his Clayton experience and decides to set up shop here. Everybody wins in a case like that. All because somebody in Clayton was kind to a stranger.

Besides, it's nice to be able to brag, just a little.