Much like Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams is Roseboro’s vision of a bustling downtown — if you go after it, it will come.

The proof comes in an announcement Thursday night (see today’s front page story) that a Wallace businessman will open a pharmacy in the downtown area, likely in July, and that plans are in the works for a furniture store and an upscale restaurant.

It is unlikely any of this would have happened, particularly at the accelerated rate things are going, were it not for a determined and visionary group of folks determined to breath new life into a downtown district where businesses have done a virtual vanishing act over the past few years.

And that has left Roseboro’s main business corridor a virtual ghost town.

But to the credit of the town’s Main Street committee, mayor Roland Hall, town commissioners and visionary businessmen, such as Randy James and John Holland, they didn’t sit back and just allow the downtown area to wither away.

Instead they took action, firstly by forming this very active committee; secondly by going after potential businesses, trying to lure them to the western Sampson County town; and finally by investing their own money into a plan to rebuild the district.

The key has been their tenacity.

That’s how the pharmacy became a reality. Holland and others did some research, liked what they saw at the Wallace pharmacy and sought a meeting with Graham Pharmacy owner Kevin Wilson.

The discussions led Wilson to believe opening a store in Roseboro would be a good fit for his operation, one that will obviously be beneficial for the town as well. As will a furniture that looks like a real possibility and the not-as solid, yet much sought after, restaurant that committee members discussed.

But James is correct in his assessment — as good as all this sounds, it cannot happen without the help and support of the Roseboro community.

Thinking it cannot happen in a small town is short-sighted; not supporting it when it does, absolutely nonsensical.

Nothing happens until someone has a vision and then takes that vision to the next level. One must go after the dreams in order for them to become a reality.

Many in Roseboro understand this and are putting action behind their vision. We applaud their efforts.