In the past five years, nearly 30 new businesses have popped up in downtown Seymour.

That includes four since Becky Schepman took over as executive director of Seymour Main Street in January.

So what has drawn people to set up shop in the downtown?

“I think it has kind of snowballed,” Schepman said. “I also think this is kind of how the culture is right now. I think that people like to buy things from people that they know. They like to eat things from farmers and people that they know. They like shopping downtown because it makes you feel good.

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“Right now, the world is not in that great of a place, but when you shop downtown and you shop local, it’s a good feeling,” she said. “And right now, I think everybody needs a good feeling.”

To keep that trend going, Schepman thought it would be good to have a promotional video to show all that the downtown offers.

On Friday, a three-person crew from LoveWell Productions in Columbus spent about four hours downtown filming segments for a lip dub video, which is a joint effort with Digital AIM Media.

It will debut Sept. 23 during Dancing with the Seymour Stars at Celebrations in Seymour, playing while votes are being tabulated. Then it will be shared on the Facebook pages and websites of Seymour Main Street and the city.

People danced and sang along to Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” which was the perfect song for the direction downtown Seymour is going.

“I wanted something that would kind of show the momentum,” Schepman said. “I feel like we’ve had a lot of momentum downtown lately and kind of show off how excited people are right now about the downtown. It was the perfect fit.”

She said people have been excited about the new stores in the downtown.

“I’ve had a lot of people say they kind of forgot about the downtown, but they feel like the downtown is back on the map,” she said. “That was another reason I thought this video would be really fun.”

Filming started at Steinker Platz on the south end and went north inside and outside downtown businesses.

Schepman had spent a couple of weeks inviting people to show up Friday to participate in the video shoot.

“Everybody has been excited about it,” she said. “Some people have been nervous because they said, ‘I can’t dance’ or ‘I can’t sing,’ but I’m like, ‘You know what? You don’t have to be able to breakdance. You’ve just got to be able to go out there and have fun.’”

Filming drew several onlookers, and they were even invited to join in on the fun — and many of them did.

Beth Veatch, who is in her second year on the Seymour Main Street board, said that added to the fun.

“The most fun for me is watching all of the people drive past and walk past and smile and honk and wave,” she said. “They seem excited about it, too, so that’s really cool to see.”

Momentum during the video shoot started with Mayor Craig Luedeman. He led a group of people through Steinker Platz, Larrison’s Diner, Greemann’s Furniture and Union Hardware.

He even was among the people dancing on top of picnic tables at One Chamber Square.

“The mayor is awesome, and the mayor has been the biggest champion and the biggest fan of the downtown,” Schepman said. “I’m so excited he cares so much about the downtown, and I know he has worked tirelessly on the new park (coming to downtown).”

She said Luedeman’s energy and enthusiasm caught on with others involved.

“I know he’s busy. I know he had ribbon cuttings the moment his feet touched the floor this morning,” Schepman said. “But he took time today to come down and do this, and he was silly and had fun, and it meant the world to all of us. To see him having fun, it made everybody have fun, so it was good.”

Along with people who work downtown, the video shoot included students from several Seymour schools, Seymour Main Street board and committee members and people from other Seymour businesses.

Jessica Ross and Lucy Cooper were among the members of the Trinity Lutheran High School senior class who came to the downtown to dance and have fun together.

“I think we were all excited, mainly because we got to do something with the community, but we got to miss class, too,” Ross said, smiling.

“It’s a good opportunity to promote our small community and our small school,” Cooper said. “It’s a lot of fun. We’re a really close class, and it’s just another great opportunity for us to do something fun together and spend time together. It’s definitely something different and unique.”

Seymour firefighter David Carmichael said Chief Brad Lucas and firefighters Chris Connell and Kaleb McKinney came from department headquarters to Station 2 to pick him up and head to the downtown on a firetruck.

“It’s fun,” he said. “I like dancing, showing off my good dance moves finally.”

He was among a group dancing in front of and on top of the firetruck.

“My feet are sore,” he said, smiling.

But that was OK, he said, because the video will help promote the downtown.

“It’s good to see that everybody came together and had a lot of fun together,” Carmichael said. “Maybe it will catch hold.”

Rachel Mellencamp, manager of Snap Fitness on the west side of Seymour, is in her first year on the Seymour Main Street promotion committee. She said she likes being a part of that group.

“It has been a lot of fun,” she said. “It has been very entertaining, and I love everything that they are bringing to our small town. It’s great. It’s good for the community. It’s good for everybody.”

She also was happy to be involved with the video.

“I love to dance, and dancing, I have always said, is good for the soul,” she said. “It’s just happy. Dancing is fun. It’s good for the soul. It brings a lot of energy. Everybody has had a great time, and they laughed.”

Schepman said she appreciated everyone who participated in the filming.

“It has made my heart swell with pride today,” she said. “I honestly think when it’s all done, I’m probably going to cry because I didn’t sleep last night. You can ask my husband. I tossed and turned all night long because it’s one of those things that when you’re putting it together, everybody is like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll be there,’ but then you don’t know if anybody will actually show up.”

But they did, and that made Schepman smile.

“It was pretty awesome to see that everybody stayed true to their word and showed up and that everybody has been willing to be silly today,” she said. “This has been about as exciting as my wedding day — the same kind of preparation getting ready and exciting.”

Now, Schepman is ready to see people’s reactions to the video when it debuts and is shared on social media and websites.

“I hope that they realize that we are excited about the downtown, that they see all of the people that came out and took time off work today to get involved in it,” she said. “I hope that they see community togetherness and pride because we all love this downtown and we love Seymour and we love the community, and I really hope that’s what this video portrays.”

That’s what Veatch and Mellencamp hope, too.

“My belief is that the downtown is the heart of our community, and it needs to be vibrant and exciting, and hopefully, people, when they look at his video, they see that and they catch that energy and get excited about the great things that are happening in our downtown,” Veatch said.

“I think everything that everybody is doing downtown is just amazing,” Mellencamp said. “This is the heart of our town, and there are a lot of great businesses and great people and everything. The more that they bring, the better. It’s going to benefit everybody in our community, not just downtown.”

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For information about Seymour Main Street, call 812-271-1340, visit seymourmainstreet.org or search for “Seymour Main Street, Indiana” on Facebook.

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