The right track: Promised Land takes step forward with walking path
BRADLEY — A plethora of pennies can help a community take some big steps forward.
Promised Land residents came out and took quite a few of those literal steps this past weekend during the grand opening of a walking track that surrounds the ballfields behind the old schoolhouse.
It was a celebration of a dream realized in this tight-knit Greenwood County community along McCormick Highway in Bradley.
In 2016, Greenwood County voters approved a one-penny capital project sales tax initiative that eventually would fund the $66,326 for the track’s construction.
The pedestrian trail is 1,340 feet. Four laps is about a mile. The track will be used for health and fitness, particularly for seniors, the application for funding said.
Promised Land Community Association President Jan Williams applied for the grant. It is the first time CPST funds have been used for a project in Promised Land.
“To have this track in the community is a vital part of the community, being that persons can walk here and not have to go to Greenwood for health reasons and to just get a breath of fresh air,” Williams said.
Greenwood County Council member Edith Childs was joined by state Rep. Anne Parks, Mary Woodiwiss of the Greenwood County Community Foundation, and Rick Green from Upper Savannah Council of Governments. They each spoke, with Childs noting that Williams worked hard to obtain the grant.
Williams said the ballfields will serve as a staging ground for future community events, and the track will be a big plus.
“While there are activities in the field, hopefully there are persons who would walk around the track,” Williams said. “As a community association, we’re trying to get more people involved in doing things, and, hopefully, by us initiating activities, more people will get involved in the community.”
Williams said she thinks a lot of people in Promised Land will use the track.
Resident Pamela Austin said a lot of people in the community want to exercise but can’t get to Uptown Greenwood to walk.
“By having this here in the neighborhood, it’s making it more accessible for those that want to but can’t get to the other places,” she said.
Austin said the track is a start of returning Promised Land to what it used to be years ago.
“We would all come together, no matter what the occasion was, just to come out and fellowship and have a good time with each other,” she said. “When I was growing up as a child, we would have summer events out here under the supervision of adults. On top of that, on the weekends, when it was warm, we’d have the baseball games. It was just a part of a big community gathering.”
Community resident Douglas Norman has been in Promised Land for more than 60 years. He calls the area where the track is located his former “running ground.” He went to the former Promised Land school, which is in front of the track, from first through fourth grade. He played baseball on the ballfields when he was growing up.
“I’ve got a lot of memories here, and this is definitely an upgrade,” Norman said. “It’s a wonderful thing for the community. It’s been a long time coming, and we need that. This just brings the community back together like we used to be. We all care about each other, and we all know each other.”
Resident Jeanette Austin said the track means a lot to her because there is too much traffic for her to walk where she lives in the community.
“Having a designated place where you know where you don’t have to worry about traffic is a godsend to me,” Jeanette said. “I walk a lot.”
Jeanette said the track is especially a blessing for the many seniors who live in Promised Land.
“Having a place where seniors can walk will improve their health,” she said.
Resident Linda Hill said the track project is an example of “togetherness.”
“It means we’re trying to lay something for the adults, as well as the children,” Hill said. “We’re trying to bring together unity in the community so we can be as one. We’re trying to make the community better so everybody can be proud of it.”
Childs said the track is “so very important to this community.”
“All the years when we’ve had the capital campaign, this is the first time I’ve had something in the Promised Land community,” Childs said. “Not just that, but, this whole year we’ve been able to get things in District 1 that make me so proud. Troy got their walking trail. So proud. Promised Land got their walking trail. So proud. Then Foundry Road will soon get their park for their children. So happy. Then they will renovate Magnolia Park. All this came from our one-cent sales tax. I’m just so grateful. Today, I can see where my one cent has gone.”
Parks said God has blessed the community and allowed it to persevere through hard times.
“Sometimes when people start projects, they think it ought to be finished overnight,” Parks said. “It takes time. It takes dedication. It takes people working together to get things accomplished. I have seen that the Promised Land community can accomplish anything they want to.”
Woodiwiss works with grants processing through the community foundation.
“Unlike many grant applications, they (Promised Land) received funding on the very first attempt,” she said. “Often, smaller and newer nonprofits are not successful in their first pass. But this group was successful. That is particularly noteworthy because it was an especially competitive grant cycle. That really speaks to the good work that Jan and others did in putting that grant application together to request funding in support of this walking track.”
Green said it was “a special day for a very special community.”
“I’m very happy to see this track in place,” Green said. “I know we’ve got some plans for the future.”
Those plans include rubberizing the track surface.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Apr 25, 2022
By GREG K. DEAL gdeal@indexjournal.com