
Mansfield, Waterville Receive Quality-of-Life Boost
Tens of thousands of grant dollars are flowing to the quaint agrarian towns of Mansfield and Waterville, both located in Douglas County.
The Mansfield and Waterville Community Funds "are managed by the Community Foundation of North Central Washington and provide annual grants to qualified organizations serving their respective communities," according to a press release. Denise Sorom elaborates.
"Mansfield has a lovely little downtown," Sorom says. She manages philanthropic and program services for the Community Foundation. "Over the past several years, the city has worked on building out and refinishing a space called Pioneer Hall, which is just adjacent to City Hall and is the gathering place for weddings, funerals, really any community event." The space is so well-utilized, Sorom says, that it can't accommodate ever-multiplying numbers of comers and goers.

"One of the grants is for purchasing new tables and chairs, which is a really big deal. The other project [in Mansfield] pertains to additional infrastructure for flagpoles along Main Street so the town can do various patriotic and heritage-themed displays throughout the year."
Altogether, Mansfield has $35,000 to spend on these beautification projects. The money is a legacy gift, Sorom says, from the Neil Asmussen Estate. (Asumseen was a Mansfield wheat farmer whose deeply felt kinship with his hometown was self-evident.)
Meanwhile in Waterville, "The food pantry received a grant as well as the fairgrounds," Sorom says. "They have the big fairgrounds that host the North Central Washington Fair. They're trying to renovate the open horse barn so that it has adequate stalls and water supply." Insufficient stall space has proven a challenge, sometimes repelling fair entrants (hog raisers in particular).
Much like Mansfield, Waterville takes extra pride in its downtown corridors.
"They're always doing things to beautify Main Street," Sorom Says. "That includes holiday lights, which is what the Hallmark Christmas initiative is. They've been kind of chipping away at getting the different equipment they need to make it look engaging and beautiful during the holidays." Waterville has a little over $9,000 to spend on its beautification projects.
Bickleton Wheat Field Crop Tour 2024
Gallery Credit: Townsquare Media
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