More than $20,000 raised for Frisco-Buxton Pathway at Fall Festival

October 24, 2023 | Local News | By: Joy Crist

Saturday’s Fall Festival at the Frisco Woods Campground raised $20,455.50 for the Frisco-Buxton Pathway, which brings the total of funds raised from the site’s annual spring and fall events to $110,500.

Photo by Frisco-Buxton Pathway Committee

“That $110,500 is how much we have raised from [festivals] like these since 2021,” said Frisco-Buxton Pathway Committee member Stacey Saunders. “Last year, we raised [around $15,800] during the Fall Festival, so the turnout and support this year was amazing.”

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 7.6-mile pathway for pedestrians and cyclists. The pathway will run parallel to N.C. Highway 12, will eventually extend from the Valero Gas Station in Buxton to the Frisco Bathhouse Beach Access, just south of Frisco village’s borders.

Stakeholders had hoped that the project would receive a hefty grant from the National Scenic Byway program, which would have funded roughly 80% of the estimated $2.48 million required for the first 4.41-mile phase of the project.

Although that major grant did not come to fruition, the Committee is researching other grants and avenues to get the project started, which includes an upcoming Halloween Party that will also be held on the grounds of the Frisco Woods Campground on Saturday, October 28.

The event will feature live music, concessions, carnival games, and a costume contest with prizes – open to people, campsites, and pets. The Halloween Party is open to both campers as well as the community at large, and more information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/FriscoWoods/.

“All proceeds from the concessions at the Halloween Party will also go towards the pathway,” said Saunders. “We will not stop fundraising until Frisco and Buxton has multi-use pathways like all the other villages… If we have to do it one square at a time, we will.”

Although the Fall Festival exceeded expectations for attendees and organizers alike, funds are still needed for the project, and the public can make a donation to the Frisco-Buxton pathway online. All donations are 100% tax deductible.