Walking Tour project kicks off March 31 | News

The C. Williams Rush African-American Museum of Arts & Culture has been awarded a $2,200 grant to identify and create a healthy, historical and educational walking tour in downtown Kingstree. Between 2018 and 2020, Eat Smart Move More SC (ESMMSC), a 501©3 non-profit organization funded Let’s Go! 3.0 mini-grants in amounts up to $5,000 to 46 communities across the state. The organization works with community partners to create healthy eating and active living options where we live, learn, work, pray and play.

A kickoff for the project is scheduled for April 13, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. outside the C. Williams Rush Museum at 200 Hampton Ave., Kingstree. Regina Nesmith-Dimery of the Williamsburg County ESMM Coalition and Project Director Cassandra Williams Rush will promote the project. In 2017, Rush was recognized by ESMMSC for her healthy initiatives in Williamsburg County. She also was the Williamsburg County Farmers Markets Director from 2016 to 2018, overseeing four Farmers Markets throughout the county.

The goal of the project is to attract and engage residents, and especially the 65% underserved and minority residents, to take greater responsibility for their health and encourage healthy eating habits and more physical activity. In a press release, Rush said a walking tour/trail will add value to the town and will greatly benefit the citizens and residents of Kingstree and Williamsburg County. The proposed ‘Downtown Walking Tour’ will encompass the most historical buildings and monuments in the Historic District and include the Williamsburg County Courthouse, a Robert Mills design built in 1823. The Courthouse grounds include a Civil War Cannon, the ‘Confederate Yankee’ monument, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. monument, Justice Thurgood Marshall monument, and a monument recognizing the Williamsburg County veterans that sacrificed their lives in the Korean War, World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War.  

According to Rush, everyone can utilize and benefit from using the proposed walking tour. “For the persons already walking downtown, this will be an incentive to expand their existing walking pattern and encourage their friends and coworkers to do the same,” she said in a press release. “The added value of walking downtown will include markers, the recently installed beautiful blue benches, music radiating from pole mounted speakers and beautiful flower baskets hanging from the street light poles. Additionally, the history of the downtown area will develop a feeling of pride and appreciation.”  

Rush said the youth involved on the project will practice their mathematical skills, learn about the Walkability Score, learn the history of downtown Kingstree and the benefits of staying active via walking and eating healthy.

She said the Healthy, Historical and Educational Walking Tour Downtown Kingstree

would be an ongoing and long-term process because it will reach populations with the highest percentage of chronic health concerns and issues. The Town of Kingstree has expressed moral support for the initiative.