Annual meeting set Thursday, Oct. 11

By Coy O’Neal

The Selma Times-Journal

The Selma-Dallas County Friends of the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail Association will be holding their annual meeting Thursday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Future Interpretive Center building.

The association will receive updates from city officials and National Park Service representatives and report progress on the future site of the center, located at the beginning of the trail on the northeast corner of Broad St. and Water Ave. Officers will be elected and standing committees for the association will be appointed.

The Rev. F.D. Reese, president of the Friends of the Trail Association, said NPS representatives will have information on the terms of national involvement with the park service, state and local entities.

The association will also discuss plans to encourage state and local groups to gather funds for the trail.

The Interpretive Center, which is tentatively scheduled to be complete in 2010, will be the second of three centers along the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. The Lowndes County center, opened in 2006, cost $10 million to complete and has an estimated 160,000 visitors annually. Costs for the Selma location have been estimated to be as much as $40 million.

The meeting will also be an opportunity for new members to join the association. Reese said one of the greatest benefits of membership is sharing in the responsibility of developing the trail and secondary sites important to the trail, scattered around streets in Selma. Membership costs $10.

All citizens are invited to attend the meeting.