By Elisabeth Strillacci

SPENCER — The town kicked off a program of neighborhood walks this spring and the third and final one for this season was Thursday night, with plans to restart in the fall when the weather begins to cool again.

Town Manager Peter Franzese and Special Projects Director Joe Morris have been joined on the walks by several town officials, and this week was no exception, as Alderman Pat Sledge and Mayor Jonathan Williams joined in the stroll.

The walks typically last about an hour, from 6-7 p.m., and each one has been along streets through different neighborhoods. Thursday night the group of just shy of a dozen started at the 8th Street ball park, where a baseball game was ongoing, and up 8th to South Carolina Avenue.

The walk went down and up the big hill on South Carolina, taking note of the water levels of the creek as the group passed by and commenting on a few pieces of furniture that had been tossed in the beautiful wooded area along the way.

“You know, the town will pick up things like that if you just call us,” said Williams.

The group paused by the Fred and Alice Stanback Educational Forest across the street from the former Carter House, which has now been deeded to the town and will be used for a community building and classroom space at the trailhead entrance on 11th Street.

While the previous walk had gone into more detail on the project, Morris told those in attendance that the town has applied for a Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant (PARTF) and has received a $250,000 matching donation for that grant as well.

Franzese said that overall the town anticipates all changes, upfits, landscaping and redesign to the property will be about $2 million, but between the grant and the donation, it would allow the town to begin phase one of the project.

The walk continued up 11th to South Yadkin Avenue and back up 8th Street to the ball park.

One of the neighbors who lives in the walk area said he and his wife had, over the years, walked up to the concession stand at the ball park to have hot dogs for dinner.

Jim Gobbel, a former alderman and mayor for the town, and his wife, who live almost next door to the ball park, also joined in for the walk. The couple have lived in their home for decades, raising children there, some of whom played on that field.

Gobbel said he is often frustrated by code enforcement in the town, feeling it is not always active enough. An example he cited included noting a car that had apparently been sitting in the driveway of a property for a number of years. But during the walk, Williams also took note of the car for follow up.

Gobbel said he would like to see things like trash along the edges of streets cleaned up, along with leaves and natural debris that can sometimes narrow roadways.

The walk also involved pleasant conversation about events and activities in the town along with memories of the past, but the concerns raised are part of the purpose of the walks.

The idea came out of conversations in November of 2024 among town officials and staff, and is designed to both build connections between town officials and residents and to identify opportunities for improvement throughout neighborhoods.

“It’s been great to have some of the same people join us on each walk and share thoughts, and we appreciate you all coming,” said Franzese. “This will be our last one for this season since we don’t want everyone walking in the heat of summer. So we’ll start these again in the fall.”

As more people become aware of the walks, Franzese is hopeful more will participate.

“They are absolutely open to the public and we will continue to look at more neighborhoods to include,” he said.