On a typical Tuesday, you’ll find Karen Beveridge (second from the right in photo) on the second floor of the Soulfull Cafe enjoying an interesting discussion at Food for Thought. She goes every week at noon. The popular Main Street program encourages socialization through meaningful conversation, with topics ranging from community involvement to how to be kinder to yourself. Karen likes how introspective people get. She’s always glad she went. “Everybody’s genuinely kind, and happy to see you,” she says. “You can have good conversations and you don’t think about the noise that’s outside. It’s a relaxing place to be.”
A member of the Board of Directors, Karen’s been with Main Street since the beginning. In fact, she came up with the Main Street name. “She kept emailing me different names and my response was, ‘nah, try again’ or ‘I don’t love it,’ ” says Founder Jillian Copeland. “Then she sent Main Street and voila! That was it! She nailed it!” Karen has pictures on her phone of the steel beams during construction and a crane with the Main Street banner hanging from it. I can’t believe this is really happening, she remembers thinking. Her son, Westin, was the first to move in: “I didn’t think I would cry, but I couldn’t stop myself from crying.”
Among her favorite Main Street memories: Flapjacks & Friends, the ribbon-cutting, and the Angie Kim book discussion. She always leaves Main Street happier than when she arrived. “It’s an inclusive environment where everyone’s welcome,” says Karen, pictured in light gray in the photo above. “There is no pretense other than being connected to one another and learning from one another. [I tell people] ‘just stop in, you’ll have a friend in 30 minutes, just come and see us, you’ll have a good time.’ ”
