Conger-ing up cash
Hernando park boosters bubbling over Coca-Cola $15,000 grant contest
Seeking to score a recreational grant from Coca-Cola, the Hernando Parks and Recreation Department is asking park users to cast as many votes as possible for Conger Park.
The city is in the running for a $15,000 “wild card” prize for recreational use.
“We’ve moved up to 26th nationally, with 1,129 votes as of June 25,” Dolly Brechin, parks program coordinator, said of the online contest that began two weeks ago. “We’re really pleased with all the support from the people; they’re really stepping it up.”
Placing anywhere from 25th to fourth place by the end of voting July 15 would make Hernando eligible for the wild card prize in Coke’s “Take It To the Park” contest.
The contest seeks to promote restoration, rebuilding and enhancement of favorite local parks. The top vote-getter gets $100,000; second place fetches $50,000; third place $25,000 and there’s the “wild card” drawing for $15,000, according to the Coke website, parks.livepositively.com.
“I’ll definitely vote for it,” said Bryan Riley, 26, of Southaven.
The youth pastor at Riverbend Baptist Church in Hernando was getting ready for some early evening track laps at the park with pal and church worship pastor Stephen Wright, 24, a Brandon native who lives in Hernando.
“This is a good track because it’s up and down,” said Riley, the son of Hernando Police Chief Mike Riley.
Wright said he and a men’s group enjoy the tennis courts too.
Conger Park, off U.S. 51 along West Oak Grove south of the downtown courthouse square, is a longtime area favorite with its play sets and pavilion, tennis courts and track/trail. There are plans by the Hernando Young Women’s Club to construct an amphitheater into a hillside.
Recent activities at the park included the annual Plant Camp, sponsored the Mississippi State Extension Service and DeSoto Master Gardeners, that attracted dozens of DeSoto youths and volunteers.
“It’s a busy park, and not just for the people of Hernando,” said Shelly Johnstone, city community development director. “People come from all over to play and relax, hold a family reunion or just walk the path.”
And as much as the park offers, “we’d love to make it better,” Johnstone said. “We need the help; grants are hard to come by, so if we can get that money, it would really help us improve our recreational resources.”
Jo Nicholson, a Plant Camp volunteer, was at the play set area with her daughter, Nancy Gailey, who brought her two daughters — 6-year-old Faith and 3-yearold Lauren — for some outdoor frolic. Both women plan to add their votes for Conger and hope if any money’s won, it means more park amenities — not just here.
“I’d like to see something for shade and bathrooms” at Church Park on East Commerce Street, site of some well-used tennis courts, said Gailey, a Hernando native.
Brechin said that as of this week, about 9,300 parks have registered for the contest, with the front-runner the park in Moore, Okla., devastated May 20 by a deadly tornado.
“Moore has gotten about 47,000 votes, and we’re happy for them,” she said.