In our annual March Madness–style bracket earlier this year, we pitted sixteen of the top main streets in the South against each other in a series of head-to-head matchups. In the final round, Fredericksburg, Virginia’s Caroline Street and Deland, Florida’s Woodland Boulevard had quite the showdown—one of the closest contests in G&G bracket history. Though Fredericksburg ultimately took the title, DeLand held its head high as the cities exchanged congratulations. And proving they’re both long-term winners, Fredericksburg’s mayor, Kerry Devine, and main street planner, Chris Allen, just paid a friendly visit to their one-time adversary.
Mayor Devine was headed to Florida to visit family, saw that she’d be staying relatively near DeLand, and thought she might quietly drop by. “I loved seeing how both of our towns had shown up for their communities, and I wanted to know why so many people love DeLand,” she says. But after she mentioned it to Allen, he declared that of course he’d be coming along too. Emails flew, and representatives from DeLand joined in on the plan. “We were so excited, and we’re always proud to show off our town,” says Stephanie Mullins, the main street director of DeLand.
Devine and Allen arrived to a warm welcome and an itinerary to experience the best of DeLand—including a make-your-own pancake breakfast at Sugar Mill, a boat ride to see manatees at De Leon Springs State Park, and of course, plenty of time wandering downtown.
Over the course of the visit, the ambassadors of both cities discovered they have much in common. Both towns are home to universities; both have historic centers; both have mural and public sculpture programs. They discussed the nitty-gritty of maintaining a downtown—what business hours shops keep, which community programs to offer, and how to find new uses for historic buildings like courthouses. As Mullins puts it: “We are both balancing growth with staying true to who we are.”
Once, not too terribly long ago, before each town underwent a main street revival, DeLand was called Dead Land and Fredericksburg was called Dead Fred because both were empty of visitors and businesses. “We had a good laugh over that,” Mullins says, noting how rewarding it is to see years of community engagement paying off in a populace so proud of their downtowns that they’ll vote in an online bracket till their fingers go numb.
To symbolize the friendship, the mayors exchanged keys to the two cities—plus stuffed animals of their mascots, a river otter for Fredericksburg and a manatee for DeLand. And of course, talk of a reverse visit of DeLand to Fredericksburg is brewing. “Of course, we’d love to host DeLand in return. These days, it’s so important to remember how much we all have in common, and we definitely came away from this visit with that,” Devine says. “Rather than competing against each other, let’s learn from each other.”
Lindsey Liles joined Garden & Gun in 2020 after completing a master’s in literature in Scotland and a Fulbright grant in Brazil. The Arkansas native is G&G’s digital reporter, covering all aspects of the South, and she especially enjoys putting her biology background to use by writing about wildlife and conservation. She lives on Johns Island, South Carolina.