LaFayette Main Street shines at Awards of Excellence
BY SAM VISE
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — LaFayette made its mark at the 13th annual Main Street Alabama Awards of Excellence Banquet on Aug. 20, capturing two major program awards, honoring a local leader as a Main Street Hero and providing the handcrafted centerpiece for the entire statewide ceremony.
Held in Enterprise and sponsored by Energy Southeast and the Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area, the annual banquet celebrates outstanding downtown revitalization, historic preservation and community growth across Alabama.
LaFayette Main Street earned honors in two key categories: The Business Promotion Award for its Winston Wednesday initiative and The Public Space Improvements Award for The Spot on the Square.
“Last night was a wonderful reminder of why this work matters,” said Mary Helmer Wirth, president and state coordinator of Main Street Alabama. “It is an honor for me to present the awards, and seeing the pride each community has in its Main Street district was truly inspiring. Our local Main Street programs are doing meaningful work across Alabama, and the Main Street Four-Point Approach continues to help communities build on what makes them special while preserving the places that tell their story.”
Prior to the main banquet, local leaders gathered for the Toast to Heroes Reception, sponsored by Regions Bank, where LaFayette Main Street honored Dr. Butch Busby as its 2026 Main Street Hero for his dedication and positive community impact.
“I thank LaFayette Main Street and Main Street Alabama for my selection as a Main Street Hero. [This is] quite a surprise and, my goodness, what an honor,” Busby said. “I’m just thankful to be a part of the Main Street initiative and foresee great advances for our city moving forward. It’s a pleasure to serve side by side with so many talented and skilled people. I encourage every LaFayette citizen to volunteer for a LaFayette Main Street event, project or committee — the blessings you will receive are tremendous. Thank you again for my recognition, now it’s back to work.”
Beyond LaFayette’s organizational wins, the spotlight shone brightly on local small business owner and textile artist Adee Nelms, owner of The Blue Button quilt shop in downtown LaFayette.
Each year, Main Street Alabama commissions an in-state artist to create the official Awards of Excellence using a distinct medium native to Alabama. For the first time in the organization’s history, cotton was selected as the featured medium — and Nelms was chosen to bring the concept to life.
Nelms created 50 individually handcrafted miniature quilts mounted on custom wooden bases crafted by David Howard of Howard Homebuilders, ensuring each award was a freestanding, three-dimensional work of art.
The opportunity began nearly two years ago during a casual visit to LaFayette by Main Street representatives.
“They actually had people who work with Main Street come through about two years ago... and one of the ladies who was there at the time, she was on the awards committee,” Nelms said. “She [said] every year, they look for a different artist in a different category or an industry that is something produced in Alabama, whether it’s iron or pottery or textiles for cotton... and they’ve never had anyone who is a textile artist to be able to use cotton in the past, because you have that element of it has to be something 3D that can stand up on a desk.”
When committee members returned to her shop the following year, the vision gained momentum. Nelms submitted her initial concept, followed by a formal draft in January, before spending six months handcrafting the 50 awards.
Nelms pulled inspiration directly from Main Street Alabama’s branding and statewide identity.
“The colors I pulled from their website... everything that I kept seeing, red very clearly represented Alabama, and then they had teal blue representing the cities within Alabama, where all of the cities that were designated Main Street cities are marked with a star,” Nelms said.
The stitching tells a deeper story of connection and momentum.
“The background going across the red, which to me represented the state, is in an upward motion from left to right, going upward. For me, that was representing moving these cities forward,” Nelms said. “Surrounding the star, I went back in with the teal thread color and circled all of the stars to show how the communities are coming together. You have all the different points of the Main Street project coming in and going out, and everything surrounds the cities. But then the thread actually swirls up and goes out and extends into Alabama to allow it to connect to the other cities involved.”
At The Blue Button, Nelms specializes in longarm quilting, custom T-shirt and memory quilts, machine embroidery and curated gift items. While Nelms’ quilt commissions already span 11 states and four continents, crafting pieces meant specifically to honor statewide community builders felt especially meaningful.
“That part of it is fun to know that you have little bits of what you have done throughout the state,” Nelms said. “It really was an honor to be chosen and to be trusted to create something for them.”
Between the hardware brought home, a local hero celebrated and handcrafted artwork now displayed across the state, the evening was a powerful testament to LaFayette’s growing momentum and creative spirit on Alabama’s main stage.
About Main Street Alabama
Main Street Alabama is a nonprofit organization which stresses public-private partnerships, broad community engagement and strategies that create jobs, spark new investment, attract visitors and spur growth in core commercial districts. Main Street builds on the authentic history, culture and attributes of specific places, to bring sustainable change.
