On Thursday, people in one Central Texas town held a pep-rally to help their chances of landing a game-changing project that could put the city on the map.
It's a TV show that wants to document the revitalization of the city's core, as an example of how to keep downtowns useful and productive.
Folks in Corsicana gathered among marching bands and cheerleaders for a pep rally all to encourage people to get the word out and to vote on a high-stakes project that could forever change the Texas town.
Among them, Carmen Austin, who adopted the town as her own.
"I got re-married and moved down here, and I got to open a business. That's what brought me here,” Austin said.
Corsicana made the short list of cities under consideration for the next season of the TV show "Small Business Revolution: Main Street."
If the city gets the program to shoot here, six of its Main Street area businesses will share in a half-million dollar pot of small business improvement money.
"It's a vibrant downtown,” said Mayor Don Denbow.
Now, he and others want the rest of us to see it so they can win that important business improvement money, through the votes of viewers around the country.
"It's an area of four streets down one direction and six on the other, but the most important, think about it, it's the heartbeat of the city,” Denbow said.
Denbow believes the six businesses that share in the money will help others improve the business climate here.
Part of the rally taught people how to vote for Corsicana once the voting begins.
A camera crew from "Small Business Revolution" will arrive in Corsicana on Monday to document the town's so-called "last pitch" to become the choice of the program's producers.
Denbow believes Corsicana has a good shot at landing "Small Business Revolution," and so does Carmen Austin, who calls Corsicana a "special" place with a charm like no other.
"Really, it's the people. That's all it is. It's very simple, the people. A lot of big hearts when someone's having a rough time or tragedy, everybody comes together for them. I just love that about this town,” said Austin.
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