09/16/2026
I’d Put the Boots Back On
written by Stephanie Byers
I found a piece of my childhood recently. It was tucked away in a box, yellowed around the edges and small enough that I almost missed it. A newspaper clipping from the Wilderness Trail Festival in downtown Christiansburg. The headline reads, “Kicking up their heels.”
And there I am.
Seven years old, in a floral dress, white socks and white-and-black cowgirl boots, dancing in the street with two other kids.
I have absolutely no memory of the photographer taking the picture.
But I remember the Kiwanis Wilderness Trail Festival.
I remember going downtown with my family. I remember my mom singing at the festival every year. I remember that there was always something going on, and somehow, it felt like everyone knew about it.
Downtown wasn't somewhere you just went. It was somewhere you gathered. There were festivals and music and local shops and restaurants. There were familiar faces. There were people you knew and people you didn't, all occupying the same little piece of town for an afternoon.
As a kid, I didn't think about any of that. I just knew it was fun. And apparently, I had the appropriate footwear for the occasion.
I haven't worn cowgirl boots since third grade. But looking at that picture now, I think I'd put them back on. Because I want today's kids to have their own version of that feeling. Not necessarily the exact downtown I remember. Communities change. Businesses change. People change. Revitalization isn't about turning the clock backward. It's about creating a downtown that feels alive again.
A place where you might come for an event and run into someone you haven't seen in years. Where a kid gets excited because there's music playing in the street. Where a local business gets a new customer because someone decided to spend Saturday afternoon downtown.
A thriving downtown isn't just about buildings or businesses. It's about the memories we make there.
That's why I joined the board of Downtown Christiansburg Incorporated.
We're a nonprofit made up of people who believe downtown has more to offer our community. We're working to build partnerships, create events and opportunities, support local businesses and bring people together in a place that has the potential to be the heart of Christiansburg again.
And we can't do it alone.
A downtown comes alive when businesses take chances, organizations partner together, people volunteer, families show up and the community decides that downtown is worth investing in.
I don't know what today's kids will remember about downtown Christiansburg 30 years from now. But I'd like to give them something to remember.
And that's something all of us can help build.
If you want to be part of it, volunteer with Downtown Christiansburg Incorporated, attend an event, support a local business—or simply say hello to one of our board members when you see us around town. We'd love to meet you, hear your ideas and find out what you hope to see downtown become.
And if bringing that energy back means I have to find a pair of cowgirl boots in my size again... then giddy up!
