ZEPHYRHILLS – Main Street Zephyrhills shared updates with the city council on Sept. 23 as the organization prepares to close out the year with major events like Halloween Howl, Veterans Day Parade and Festival of Lights.
Antwon Gildon, Main Street director and coordinator, said the organization has received great response from promoting its events on water bills.
“I noticed it,” Councilwoman Jodi Wilkeson said. “I wrote a note that said, ‘Whoever thought of this is a genius’ because I never thought about it before. That was great.”
Gildon said he wished he could take credit for the idea.
“Without having a local newspaper, we’re having to be as creative as possible,” Gildon said. “It’s just one of those things where it may not reach everyone but it’s going to reach someone that something else may not reach.”
Main Street Zephyrhills has accumulated 17,000 followers on Facebook with more than 256,000 page views over the past 90 days. The organization also has 1,800 followers on Instagram.
“I just recently found out if you don’t comment or like when you see a post, it will not stay high on your algorithm,” Gildon said, encouraging followers to engage with their content to ensure future updates aren’t buried.
The organization’s promotions committee is trying to get companies along U.S. 301 to promote upcoming Halloween and Christmas events on their signs.
The design committee has been working on the look of 2025 Halloween Howl bags. Gildon said the design will be unveiled in a few weeks on social media. Expect a bag that is a bit smaller than last year’s orange ones.
Gildon told the council to expect some more updates on the Historic Home Theater after Halloween. He said Main Street staff met with architects to review the demo package for the theater.
The venue will be used for Halloween Howl’s Haunted Theater theme. That event takes place from 4 to 9 p.m. Oct. 25 with food trucks, hayrides, games and a haunted area at the theater.
The organization’s economic vitality committee has worked with downtown building owners to fill vacancies. Members have reached out to companies about locating shops and restaurants to downtown.
“It has been a very successful reemergence of downtown,” Gildon said. “There’s only a few spaces that remain available and the majority of those spaces that remain available are due to size and some limitations that the new owners may take over. But every smaller location that can be re-leased has actually been re-leased pretty quickly.”
Main Street Zephyrhills also plans to roll out a community engagement series.
“We’re going to take Main Street outside of the district and go and talk with the community and just see some of the things that they’re looking forward to seeing in the downtown district,” Gildon said.
The organization committee has raised nearly $8,000 for its investor drive. He feels confident Main Street Zephyrhills can reach its $20,000 goal by the end of the year.
Wilkeson recommended anyone wanting to support Main Street Zephyrhills to sign up for its investor program, in which they can get updates on events and other perks. There are investor levels for individuals and businesses.
The organization has also secured more than $8,500 in title sponsors for upcoming events. Gildon expects more to come in once they secure a Festival of Lights title sponsor. The theme of this year’s festival will be “Christmas in Toyland.”
Upcoming Main Street Events
- Oct. 25: Halloween Howl, 4-9 p.m.
- Nov. 8: Veterans Day Parade, 10 a.m.
- Nov. 16: Paulie Palooza, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
- Nov. 24: Christmas Tree Lighting, 7 p.m.
- Dec. 6: Festival of Lights, 4-9 p.m.
- Dec. 6: Christmas Parade, 7 p.m.
