Wow, how is it already May? It seems like the days go by so fast and things are busy here in Franklin Parish! You may have noticed that it has been a while since I have written. I will now be writing Sam’s Spotlight the first Wednesday of every month, so I hope you will continue to keep up with my monthly updates.
I want to share some great news in today’s spotlight. Our committee, the Winnsboro Main Street Economic Committee, has been working hard this past year on goals and projects. We have written numerous grants and were awarded several of them. Our projects have been pushing forward, and we are excited for the growth of these projects and ultimately approaching completion for many of them.
Parks and recreation has been a huge focus for us as we are striving for that high quality of life aspect of economic development in our parish. You may have seen that we completed the rebuilding of the bridge in Civitan Park. This was such a need for that area in our community and we were privileged to partner with many groups and organizations to get this done. Many thanks to the Franklin Parish Sheriff’s Department, the Deep South Rodeo committee, Winnsboro Lions Club, and Winnsboro Rotary Club for contributing to this project. Working together is key to getting things done!
Another exciting thing we have coming soon is the expansion of our Walking Trail. This project has taken a lot of time and research to get underway. We are almost there though! This project was awarded a grant through the Recreation Trails Program for 175K from the Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser’s office. The total project is approximately $450K; the state grant money and other private donations and grants will allow us to finish the next phase of the project. Hunter White, our Parks and Recreation chair, has been leading this effort and has big plans for this trail for our community. Again, by working together, we can achieve great things. We are hopeful the trail extension will break ground mid to late summer.
Lastly, for today, I want to talk about Davis Park. We are thrilled to say that we have a new revived playground coming to Davis Park at the south end of town in June. We have chosen for this to be a “community build” led by a certified playground installer. So, what that means is we want the community to come together and build this playground. We need everyone, all hands-on deck! This is a time to work together for something good for our community. This will be a place where all can gather and for children to simply play and be outside! It has taken a lot of hard work and planning, so we hope that the community will take pride in building this park together. I am asking for volunteers NOW! You can email me directly if you want to be a part of the community build on June 9-11th. There will also be a link to sign up on our website, www.winnsboromainstreet.org, and on our Facebook page, Franklin Parish Economic Development. There will be more information coming soon on social media about volunteering and the details for those days (June 9th, 10th, and 11th).
Now is the time to get involved, be excited, and be a part of the progress we have going on in our community. None of this would be possible without partnerships and working together. Get ready, summer is coming, and some awesome new things are coming with it!
See you next month for Sam’s Spotlight!
Sam Sheppard
Franklin Parish Economic Development Coordinator/
Winnsboro Main Street Director
318-282-7535/ssheppard.edc@gmail.com
www.winnsboromainstreet.org
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook! @franklinparish.econdev
