“Hayrides with Santa” will help the Frisco-Buxton Pathway Committee get closer to their $95,000 goal

The Frisco-Buxton Pathway Committee has a longstanding objective to raise $95,000 for a new multi-use pathway by the end of 2022, and an upcoming holiday-themed fundraiser will hopefully inch the committee closer to the goal line.

The 2^nd Annual “Hayrides with Santa” event, which will be held December 3 at the Frisco Woods Campground, will feature bounce houses, live music, food, and pictures with the big man himself, and is one of many festivals held over the past year to raise awareness and donations for the new pathway.

The pathway project is spearheaded by the Frisco-Buxton Pathway Committee and the Outer Banks National Scenic Byway Committee for Dare County, which was instrumental in creating similar pathways in the island’s five other villages: Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, and Hatteras.

The Hatteras Island community got its first look at the proposed Frisco-Buxton pathway at a 2019 open house, which provided detailed plans of a proposed 7.6-mile pathway for pedestrians and cyclists. The pathway will run parallel to N.C. Highway 12, and will eventually extend from the Valero Gas Station in Buxton to the Frisco Bathhouse Beach Access, just south of Frisco village’s borders.

The Frisco-Buxton pathway project has been in the works for years, but it gained momentum in 2022, thanks to the introduction of a new potential grant from the National Scenic Byway program.

Mary Helen Goodloe-Murphy, (who has been instrumental in garnering grants for the previous Hatteras Island pathway projects), told the Dare County Board of Commissioners in a spring 2022 meeting that – for the first time in nine years – the National Scenic Byway program had introduced a new grant, which is similar to the grant that funded the Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo and Avon pathways in 2010.

The National Scenic Byway grant for the Frisco-Buxton pathway would fund the bulk of the first two phases of the project, for a total cost of roughly $2.48 million. This would cover a 4.41-mile stretch of roadway from the Cape Hatters Secondary School in Buxton to Piney Ridge Road in Frisco, and if awarded, the National Scenic Byway grant program would provide 80% of the funding for the project, but would also require 20% in matching funds.

The Dare County Tourism Board is expected to provide roughly $400,000 of this remaining 20%, but that still leaves more than $83,800 to complete the project funding, (which doesn’t include extra funds for the future maintenance of the pathway.)

This deficit is where fundraising events and donation solicitations come in.

As of November 21, the Frisco-Buxton Pathway Committee has raised an estimated $60,000 for the project, (a milestone that is publicly marked on a sign outside the Frisco Woods Campground), but this still leaves $35,000 that needs to be generated in roughly a month’s time.

“The [$95,000] is the amount that we will need to satisfy a requirement for the grant,” said Stacey Saunders of the committee in an earlier interview. “Should we raise more than that, there are two things to keep in mind: First, this is only for phase one of the project, and second, we still have to pay to maintain these sidewalks when we’re done.”

“The pathway is important to us, because Frisco and Buxton are the only two villages that don’t have pathways, and just in the past year we have seen multiple bike accidents or near-misses,” said Saunders. “There is no safe place to ride bikes in our area.”

While the upcoming Hayrides with Santa event is free to the public, donations will be accepted throughout the evening’s festivities.

In addition, the Frisco Woods Campground will be open to the community every evening from December 4-15, (and from 5-9 p.m.), for car rides and walks through the holiday path for a donation per vehicle.

The National Scenic Byway Grant has not been awarded yet, and a decision and announcement are expected sometime in late 2022. While it’s not guaranteed that the Frisco-Buxton pathway will receive the approximate $2 million dollar grant, precedence and community support make the grant award a very real possibility.

In the meantime, the imminent Hayrides with Santa fundraising event – and more fundraisers to come – will help put a big dent in the $95,000 that the island needs to raise to make the pathway come to fruition

For More Information:

• Hayrides with Santa will take place Saturday, December 3, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Frisco Woods Campground. The holiday path will then be open every night from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. until December 15. Click here for more information.
• To make a donation to the Frisco-Buxton pathway, click here. All donations are 100% tax deductible.
• To follow the progress of the Frisco-Buxton pathway, follow the Frisco-Buxton Pathway Committee’s Facebook page.