FERRIDAY — The presentation has been made, and now it’s just a matter of waiting to find out if Ferriday will be added to the Louisiana Main Street program.

The decision will be made by the end of October.

“It’s going to be a long month,” said the Rev. Louis Sklar, a member of the Ferriday Downtown Revitalization Foundation.

Last Friday, foundation members and town officials made the presentation to the main street committee, which will ultimately decide if the town is added into the program.

Ferriday’s presentation was in competition with Thibodeaux, Leesville, Monroe, West Monroe, Old Algiers and Mamou.

“We had a very good presentation based on an assembly of knowledge that was put together hastily to meet the deadline,” Sklar said. “We did an exceptional job on a 45-day run.”

Though those present at the foundation’s meeting Wednesday agreed that the presentation was well done, they said they would like more communication with the community and the involvement of community youth in the future.

“We need more young people — high school students — on board,” Sklar said. “We received an exceptional letter (of support) from the Huntington School Student Government Association. There are young people who want to see the town come back.”

Being a participating member of the main street program will allow the town to apply for certain grants, which would be used primarily to enhance and attract business to its historic area.

To even apply for the designation, the town had to become a certified local government, a designation that the town recently received from the federal government.

Becoming a certified local community includes passing and enforcing certain historic preservation ordinances.

At the time that the foundation decided to apply for main street status, the town was only provisionally recognized as a certified local government, because, though they had taken all of the appropriate steps, the National Park Service had not officially signed off on the designation.

That designation brings with it a $124,000 grant for downtown revitalization.

The main street committee will award main street status to two communities this year.

Foundation member Carol Tomko said that, even if the town is not accepted into the main street program this year, she would like to see the foundation go ahead and take some steps to have certain committees already in place if the town has to try for the program again.

Sklar agreed.

“If we get bucked off, then we know how to ride next year,” he said.