HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL PR 2013-04-11 JTHG funding support
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
Leesburg Town Council Provides Funding Support to the
Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership
Leesburg, VA (April 11, 2013) – On Tuesday, April 9, 2013, the Leesburg Town Council adopted
its FY 2014 Budget, for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2013 and ending on June 30, 2014. A
last minute addition to the budget, proposed by Mayor Kristen Umstattd, was $5,104 in funding
for the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership.
“The Town of Leesburg was the first town to join the Journey Through Hallowed Ground
Partnership, a multi‐jurisdictional effort to preserve and promote the history, culture, and
natural beauty of the 180‐mile corridor between Gettysburg and Monticello,” said Mayor
Umstattd. “Leesburg is the eastern gateway to the Journey corridor for national and
international visitors seeking to learn about American democracy. The Journey leadership has
been tireless in its efforts to educate teachers and students about our democracy and to
promote the history and beauty of an area that was home to Native American tribes, several
American presidents and more Civil War battlefields than anywhere else in the country. The
land along the Journey, home to presidents Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, was where
American democracy, as we know it today, came of age.”
“The successful efforts of the Journey's leadership to achieve National Heritage Area status and
National Scenic Byway designation and their successful efforts to promote the Town of
Leesburg, nationally and internationally as the center of the Journey, deserve our support today
and into the future,” she continued.
The Town’s funding, envisioned as an annual contribution (subject to appropriations), will
support heritage tourism and educational programs in the Journey Through Hallowed Ground
National Heritage Area and National Scenic Byway. The amount is based on $0.116 per capita,
as approved by the Partnership’s Council of Elected Officials, an advisory committee comprised
of elected leaders from the municipalities and counties within the National Heritage Area.
Contact:
Betsy Fields
Research & Communications Manager
bfields@leesburgva.gov
703‐771‐2734
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