Main Street Association Starts The Year With A Busy Agenda
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By David Howell
Editor
WATER VALLEY – The Water Valley Main Street Association will start the year with a impressive lineup of events including the Casey Jones Blues Festival. Planning has been underway for months for the music festival, scheduled Saturday, March 27, on Main Street. The festival will feature grammy-nominated artists. The festival line-up includes live music all day, vendor booths, food trucks, a kid zone, a 5-K race, corn hole tournament.
The Water Valley Main Street Association’s spring open house and Water Valley Wine Down is also scheduled Friday night, March 26, preceding the festival. Main Street Director Alyssa Benedict shared details about the festival and other activity during her monthly report to city officials during the January alderman meeting.
Other upcoming events reported by Benedict include:
• A Rails to Trails meeting is scheduled Feb. 8 in the Hendricks Building in Water Valley as preliminary work continues in the effort to create a biking and walking trail on the former railroad line from Water Valley to Oxford. Benedict reported attendees will include key stakeholders from Taylor and Oxford.
“Because the trail will ultimately connect us to that area,” she told aldermen.
State senators and representatives will also be invited as information is shared about what needs to be done during the next year to get the project started.
• The Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area Alliance Meeting and Awards Ceremony will be held in Water Valley on Tuesday, March 19. The Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area (MHNHA) was designated by Congress in 2009 and covers 19 full counties and portions of 11 others in the northeastern part of the Magnolia State with a goal to collaborate with communities to determine how to make heritage relevant to local interests and needs.
Benedict said that 15 MHNHA board members from across the north and central parts of the state will attend. The day will start with at Everest on Central Street. A luncheon will follow at the Hendricks building at noon.
“I found out in December that they are going to have this event in Water Valley this year,” Benedict said. “This is big for Water Valley.”
• Benedict reported that poles and signs have been ordered as work starts on a downtown streetscape project that will include crosswalks, bump outs, street signage and wayfinding signing. The project is funded through a $100,000 Revitalization Grant awarded to the Water Valley Main Street Association after the Mississippi Main Street Association received legislative funding for accredited Main Street communities in the state.
The Water Valley Main Street Association was founded in 2007 and is a partnership that includes business owners, civic leaders, elected officials and residents in the community.
