Jennifer Rathman lived in Rapid City 20 years ago, she's returned with her family this week for a typical Black Hills summer vacation.

Rathman says, "We've been all over the Black Hills and so Thursday is the first day we've been downtown."

With two kids, Karson and Grace in tow, Rathman was looking for fun and affordability this afternoon. The kids enjoying some time in the Main Street Square fountains, Mom enjoying the ease on her wallet.

Rathman says, "It's really nice to see that there's easy things and it's only cost us about $20 all day, so we're doing pretty good."

It seems to be a typical story at the downtown park, visitors coming down by the thousands at times, enjoying a slew of different events.

Megan Karbowski, Executive Director of Main Street Square says, "Even Wednesday for our Independence Day celebration, we saw 8,000 to 10,000 people come down, so we've had a wild success with our foot traffic."

Karbowski credits the success with support from the community and the Square's ability to cater to community needs. Just Wednesday night, the square had a special showing of the 2008 Mount Rushmore Fireworks after many area fireworks shows were canceled due to the dry weather and fire danger.

Karbowski says, "I think it shows how supportive the community is of what we're doing here at Main Street Square. Being able to come down here and not being able to see the real fireworks, being able to see a past showing of them and enjoy it just as thoroughly, just shows the support we get from the community."

This still being the Square's first year Karbowski says the bar has been set high. With more than 130 events planned since the Square first opened Karbowski says they'll look to maintain this popularity for years to come. It's something that has definitely set well with the Rathman family.

Jennifer Rathman says, "As you can see with the kids there, they're having a lot of fun, it's really nice to see downtown booming and thriving."

Zach Nugent