Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Malone Works On Recreation Grants

Getting grants is a major part of State Representative Percy Malone's goals for his district.

In fact, Malone made the statement when he first sought office saying he would work to make sure the district got its fair share of grant money to help communities.

"One of the things I said when I ran for office is this part of the state is not getting its fair share of grant to help communities.

"I've made a strong effort to change this," he said.

In Clark County, Malone has done what he could to help the communities of Manchester and Curtis with their park grants.

He said in January 1995, during the General Assembly's session, he asked Manchester native Rick Brumley if he would help get a grant application together for a park in Manchester.

At the same time, however, residents of Curtis were applying for the same grant.

The two communities were able to vie for the grants after Richard Davis, director of the State Parks and Tourism Department, made the grants available again.

Malone said Brumley had experience in dealing with grant applications and working with the Parks and Tourism Department.

Brumley, Malone said, went to Little Rock and visited the necessary agencies for the grant.

He also made plans for a park in the Manchester community.

But the park grant was awarded to Curtis, and construction should begin soon on it.

Malone said the grant program was established on a staggered basis, which means Manchester could apply again.

He said there was some confusion as to whether or not Manchester had a park or community building, but the community has neither.

Malone said Clark County Judge Grady Runyan has pledged to work and help Manchester get a fun park grant this year.

Runyan worked with people in the Curtis community to help it get its grant.

In the meantime, Malone will be working with the Okolona community to get a grant for its annual trail ride. This, he said, has become a major event in the area.

"In smaller areas, churches and volunteer fire departments are the lifeblood of communities, and social activity revolves around them. If we can provide recreation for adults and children, we can improve their quality of life."

In working to help Okolona get a grant, Malone said it would be used to install more hookups for recreational vehicles. He's also working with Arkansas Power and Light Co. to get more utility poles placed in the area so the RVs can have a place to hook up to.

The trail ride, he said, is a big event for Okolona.