From the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway:
Four heritage tourism projects in the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway Heritage Area have been awarded a total of $231,000 in matching grants from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.
Two of the grants ($100,000, $40,000, respectively) will be used by Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway for management and marketing efforts. The third grant, $57,000 to the Town of Perryville, will be used toward Phase III of the Rodgers Tavern Readiness Project. The fourth grant, $34,000 to the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum, will be used for a schools-based oral history project, a scale model of a War of 1812-era town and a traveling exhibition.
Fifty-five matching grants totaling $2.6 million were awarded to nonprofits, museums and governments for heritage tourism projects and activities that expand economic development through Maryland. All four projects submitted by Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway for funding consideration were approved, representing 9 percent of the overall amount awarded by the state.
“The funding from Maryland Heritage Areas Authority is significant for our projects,” said Mary Ann Lisanti, executive director of Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway. “The grants will help us in Harford and Cecil counties to promote economic development while also respecting and preserving our area’s historical assets.”
Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, an independent unit in the executive branch of Maryland government, is administered by the Maryland Department of Planning. It helps strengthen and revitalize communities by combining heritage tourism and small business development with historic preservation, conservation of cultural traditions, natural resource protection, recreation and marketing of Maryland’s unique history, culture and landscapes.
Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway is a nonprofit organization based in Darlington whose mission is to stimulate local economic activity by developing a linkage to natural, historic and cultural resources through land and water recreational trails. To date, 22 miles of continuous public recreation trails connecting Harford and Cecil counties have been constructed. The organization’s goal is 40 miles of trails.
For more information about Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, visit http://mht.maryland.gov/heritageareas_program.html. For more information about Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway, visit www.hitourtrails.com.
You have got to be kidding! More than half of the grant money is going to pay for operating expenses of the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway, not benefiting projects in the area. Could you imagine if another non-profit (like the United Way) used over 50% of its donations to pay for its staff. Someone (Brian I am referring to you) should look very closely into this organization and determine whether the grants are legitimate or merely a pass through to pay politically connected staff.
Another Stab: http://www.daggerpress.com/2010/07/30/another-stab-lisanti-addresses-fundingspending-practices-of-heritage-greenway/
Little do the masses understand the complexities involved in making important things happen!