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ENTERPRISE, Washington County — Every mayor brags about their town.
When Lee Bracken starts talking about Enterprise, though, you'd better grab a seat.
"We're a community of dedicated, hard-working people. A true volunteer spirit, said Bracken. “It's a place people want to raise their children and have a family."
There is still that good, old fashioned, hometown feeling in this small Washington County community.
"The people here, there are just great people,” said Shalyn Nelson, who is on the City Council.
So when residents started talking about finally building their very first city park, it seems like everyone jumped in to help. Currently, a bunch of bulldozers are working on a patch of dirt.
"We don't have a city park. Nor do we have a community building. It would be great to have something where we can meet and gather and have fun as a community," the mayor said. “We often borrow from the school or church, but it’s time we get our own place.”
The only problem is paying for it.
The park that city leaders are planning is estimated to cost roughly $3.5 million. With all the volunteer work, that cost is down to about $2.7 million.
However, for such a small community, that’s still a lot of money.
"The biggest difficulty is a town of about 1,800 people, trying to put in a $3 million project. That's a big hill to climb,” Nelson said.
Donations have helped, but it’s not nearly enough.
Recently, though, city leaders heard about a USA Today contest.
The national newspaper is calling it their “Thriving Community” grant and is offering six $50,000 prizes and three $100,000 prizes to communities across the country.
All communities have to do is explain why the money is needed, what will be done with it, and make a video about it. Anyone can get online and vote once a day.
"The video with the most votes wins a prize, so we're looking at every opportunity we've got to try and raise money for this park,” Bracken said.
High school students helped make the video, explaining how a city park would benefit the community.
Residents, and city leaders, are hoping it's enough to win.
"It was designed to showcase what we're trying to do here,” said Nelson.
And if Enterprise wins, you can bet Mayor Bracken will be talking about it.
"This park is going to offer a lot of opportunities for our community,” he said.
