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Village of Hillman Applies for New Grants for Emerick Park

After the first round of winners of the Michigan DNR Spark Grant were announced at the end of January, the village of Hillman found themselves unlucky, as they were not one of the 21 winners.

They now plan on applying for the second round of the Spark Grant, as well as a Recreation Passport Grant.

“It is far past time to get some of this going,” says Hillman Village Trustee Johnathon Smith. “Like I’ve previously stated, this is stuff I’ve seen ever since I was a toddler, and I would like to see something new now, and I would like to be a part of it.”

Hillman was one of 462 departments that applied for the Spark Grant in the first round, and only 21 departments were awarded the grant. They aren’t sure why they weren’t selected, but feel it may have something to do with the size of the village.

“It makes a lot of things more challenging; being underprivileged doesn’t help either as in the financial department,” said Smith.

The village is applying to two more grants to update Emerick Park, a place they hope they can turn into a larger community gathering point.

“Ever since I started getting more involved with the village, I was very surprised to see how much that park got used, and with what little is there, and I think it would just be great to see more,” said Smith.

The next round of the spark grant awarding hasn’t been announced yet, but the village of Hillman is hoping they have better luck this time around.

“We just hope that our grant application lands on the right desk and someone has a connection to Hillman or something,” said Smith.

The village is unsure of an announcement date for the Recreation Passport Grant as well, but expects it to be soon.