By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
The Grayson Tourism Commission received a report at their November meeting from Rene Parsons, the executive director of Business Cultivation Foundation in Grayson. Parsons had been working closely with Tourism Director Lana Axtell on the America 250 Grant from the White House, an initiative meant to inspire American citizens for the 250 year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Parsons said the grant was awarded and they were working on a project for that event.
“This is a project that will be watched during America’s Birthday,” Parsons told the commission. “It will be Grayson specific and will be advertised from the White House down. We have decided on doing a Walking Tour through Grayson and seeing all the historical things here.”
Parsons said Kentucky Christian University will also be involved, and Dr. Gerald Dyson’s history class will make the upcoming program their class project.
“We have been talking to them a lot,” Parsons said of the KCU class. “And they have been walking Grayson and learning about the history of Grayson.”
After walking through Grayson and looking at architecture and other notable sights, the students have come up with three potential paths, she said. There is a three hour long path, a shorter path that focuses on the downtown area, and also an accessible path for those with disabilities.
“It has some really cool components,” Parsons told the commission. “You have a passport, it is quilt themed, and will have a geocache component that will pull in an international crowd.”
Parsons also explained to the commission that part of the grant money received was for advertising, so she presented the commission with a check for $1,000 for that.
Grayson Mayor Troy Combs spoke to the tourism commission about grants that had been applied for, but had fallen into ‘limbo’ due to lack of follow-through. The issue was thought to have been caused by lack of updated access to emails after the resignation of the previous sports park manager, Grant Harper.
Combs said that the Department for Local Government had made him aware that those funds could still be made available simply by reapplying. The grants were initially for inclusive playground equipment, a shade area, and a wheelchair accessible swing. Combs assured the commission that he would work with whomever assumed those duties to make sure they got in contact with the proper people.
The current sports park manager, Bert Bayes, reported to the commission that the sports park had finished their ‘season’ in the second weekend of November.
“A gentleman from Louisa held a tournament, which I thought was an interesting idea,” Bayes said. “The entry fee was to bring a toy for each individual that came in, and we didn’t charge them anything for using the field.”
Bayes said over 200 toys were collected that way to go to Project Merry Christmas in Carter County, and an equal amount went to Toys for Tots in Louisa.
Bayes said the sports park finished up the year with 34 events, and a conservative estimate of between 80,000 and 85,000 people coming into the park over a period of about nine months. This yielded a rough estimate of around 3 million dollars infused into the community.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
