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Nola Sizemore

Staff Writer

Connecting Harlan and Letcher counties through a correlation of trails may still be a dream, but it is closer to reality as a result of the near completion of the horse trail at Putney.

Members of the Cumberland Tourist and Convention Commission met Tuesday to discuss plans for applying for grants which they hope will allow for the Putney trail to be connected to the Tri-City area.

“The Putney Horse Trail will actually run into Kingdom Come State Park. We’re trying to figure out a way to either run parallel with the horse trail or have a potential bike trail. It could be used for both,” said Commission Director Tracy Bailey.

“This will be a good tourist attraction,” she said, noting “It potentially could all link together. This could be one of the longest miles of horse trails in this part of the United States.”

Bailey said a field trip is being planned to visit Damascus, Va., to view bike trails. She said that trip will be Oct. 1. Anyone interested in participating should contact her.

“It will be an opportunity to ride their trails and just go into their community and ask how these bike trails have affected their economy,” said Bailey. “There is a Rails to Trails grant coming up and if we can obtain that it will help us with maintenance and things like that. We could get up to $100,000. The deadline for that grant is in March.”

In other commission action:

*Voted to recognize volunteers who installed Little Tykes playground equipment at the Black Bear City Park with a pizza party;

*Noted the fall decorating contest will be judged on Sept. 27, and commission members will decorate the city for the fall season;

*Obtained a $10,000 grant for the Black Bear City Park. A meeting will be held on Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. at the Senior Citizens Center about this grant;

*Approved a $1,500 donation for the annual Kingdom Come Swappin’ Meetin’;

*Approved a $100 donation for the Trick or Treat on Main Street event and also a sponsorship of one table at the Tri-City Chamber of Commerce Banquet;

*Learned the Cumberland Christmas Parade will be held Dec. 7;

*Heard that a countywide economic impact study had been conducted on the Safety Days three-day event held in July, with $49,923 additionally being spent in the county during that time;

*Approved obtaining a quote to replace four windows and guttering on the tourism office;

*Commission member Cleon Cornett suggested selling a bus that belongs to the commission because it is not being utilized;

*Approved a $25 allotment per month to Bailey for use of her personal cell phone for tourism business.

Reach Nola Sizemore at 606-573-4510 or at nsizemore@heartlandpublications.com