The Pearl opens for business; Hosts first event.
BY LAFAYETTE SUN STAFF
LAFAYETTE — LaFayette Main Street celebrated the opening of The Pearl, a new event center in downtown LaFayette.
“It is a blessing and a joy to stand here today to welcome you all to the grand opening of The Pearl Event Center,” owner Yolanda Carter said. “This has been a dream in my heart for a long time to have a place where people can come together and celebrate their most precious life memories.”
LaFayette Main Street Director Deanna Hand thanked the Carters for choosing LaFayette.
“I think that it is so important to talk about the power of place,” Hand said. “These streets, these brick pavers, this building have so many memories and have so much history, and that’s one thing that I love about Main Street, is being able to preserve that and also bring new life into these historic buildings and bringing new businesses. So, we are so excited, Mrs. Yolanda, we wish you the most success, and thank you so much for choosing LaFayette and for having your business here.”
Carter said she is thankful for the support and encouragement that she has received.
“I would like to thank all of my family and my friends for coming out to support us, and who have been here the entire time to encourage us,” she said. “We’ll be here; we have whatever you need to make life memories. Whether it is a wedding, reunion, birthday party or just a family gathering, come celebrate with us. We are ready to serve you here in LaFayette, Alabama.”
LaFayette Main Street Annual Membership Event
Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, The Pearl hosted its first event — LaFayette Main Street’s annual membership meeting.
During this meeting, Hand announced the rebranding of LaFayette Main Street and presented its new logo.
“Our new brand logo for LaFayette Main Street still represents the center that Mayor [Kenneth] Vines spoke about,” Hand said. “It also has a lot of unique features as well. If you notice, each color and each block of that color area is an L, so it actually is an L for LaFayette. You have also the different roadways coming in, so it shows you kind of how we’re centered, but there’s, you know, different opportunities even around us. So there’s so many wonderful things with this branding.
“So, we’re going to have a lot more merch, a lot more advertising, a lot of great stuff with our new logo on it, and we hope you all enjoy it again. This is your feedback and your commitment to expressing what you wish to see. I think it fits as well. I think that it is a great rebrand for us to have,” Hand said.
Awards
Also during the meeting, Hand presented awards to some of the members.
• Sandra Holloway was named Volunteer of the Year
• Kendall Williams of Winnie’s L3mmies and Addie Moultrie of Addie’s Crazy Cones were named Young Entrepreneurs of the Year
• Cindy Henderson was given the LaFayette Main Street Hero Award
• Zēk’s 37 was honored with the Business of the Year award
The Blue Button crafted the awards for Main Street.
