(ABC 6 News) — Many years ago, downtown Rochester business owners saw a problem: downtown was dying.

“Way back then, we had just had Apache Mall open, and all the big stores were downtown,” Walter Hanson, CEO at the Nordic Shop said. “It left it kind of barren and empty.”

So, they came up with a plan.

“We put together what was called the Downtown Business Association. It was all volunteer, but we had everybody from Mayo Clinic to the one-man shoeshine shop,” Hanson said.

Still — they needed an idea to draw people back downtown. That’s when a representative from HGA Architects suggested a novel idea — an outdoor weekday party.

“Okay, let’s do it during the heart of the day and make them pay for parking,” Hanson said. “And it worked.”

“We opened the stages to anybody that was a local band,” Hanson said. “Basically, the requirement was that you had to sound kind of good.”

HGA said they’d help — but only if everyone could agree on a day they’d be able to volunteer.

“So, there was no magic to Thursdays,” Hanson said. “It was the one day HGA could dedicate people to do Thursdays on First.”

And so, Thursdays on First — which eventually became known as Thursdays Downtown — was born.

In the early days, it was a major group effort.

“It was a lot of camaraderie. If someone ran out of something, they’d ask their neighbor and they’d get you something,” Hanson said.

“Talked us into coming out and helping with some food, so we jumped in, and it grew and grew and grew,” David Currie, owner at Creative Cuisine and longtime vendor said.

And – a major success.

“Their friends told their friends, and pretty soon we had more people than we knew what to do with,” Hanson said.

And twenty-something years later, it’s still a celebration and a reunion for Rochester.

All because Thursdays worked.

“It was a great event,” Hanson said. “We throw the greatest party in downtown’s history, and people will show up.”