Dickens of a Christmas receives award money

The City of Hernando has received one of several community grants from the Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Alliance. The $5,000 grant to the city is to support the “cultural and heritage components” of the Dickens of a Christmas holiday event that was held on the Courthouse Square for the first time last December.  

The Hernando award is part of more than $115,000 in community matching grants handed out during the Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Alliance’s quarterly meeting earlier in March. Thirteen grants among nine counties in the area were approved.  

Mary Cates Williams, executive director of the Alliance, said, “We are very excited to have another successful grant round and we look forward to working with each of these organizations on their projects.”

In addition, the board also awarded $40,000 in special project funding, half of which is for the restoration of the Tennessee Williams Home and the other half to Rust College’s Virtual Ida B. Wells-Barnett Social Justice Distinguished Lecture Series.  

Since the Community Grant Program was initiated in 2016, over $1.1 million in grants and designated special projects has been awarded in area communities.