The first grants from the Mib and Phil Medford Endowment Fund, established by their family last July, have been announced by The Fund for Haywood County. The Medford endowment supports beautification, streetscape improvements and other public amenities in Waynesville.  

The Town of Waynesville Public Art Commission received $4,000 to help relocate Chasing Tadpoles, a sculpture by Bill Eleazer, a former teacher at Tuscola High School.  The sculpture, consisting of three bronze figures of children playing, was donated by the Biltmore Square Mall and will be installed in the historic Frog Level district.  

The Town of Waynesville received $1,910 to extend the Downtown Waynesville Association’s Millennium Street Lamp Project by installing a new lamppost on Church Street, an area of growing pedestrian traffic during the evenings. Mib Medford was a founding member of the Downtown Waynesville Association.

“Growing up with my mom and dad, we were taught that if you see holes that need plugging, you plug them,” said daughter Philan Medford. “My brother and I are pleased that the first grants have been awarded from the endowment. Dr. Phil grew up near Frog Level, which makes support of Chasing Tadpoles very appropriate. I can imagine him playing with tadpoles in the still waters next to nearby Richland Creek. The funds awarded to the Downtown Association’s decorative light poles honors our mother’s many years of service. Both grants celebrate Waynesville’s ‘sense of place’ and provide a leg-up to folks raising funds to realize their goals for the town.”

To make a tax-deductible donation to help grow the Mib and Phil Medford Endowment Fund, donate online at www.cfwnc.org or by mail to The Fund for Haywood County, P.O. Box 627, Waynesville, N.C., 28786. Please note “Mib and Phil Medford Endowment Fund” in the memo. Contributions of any size are welcome and are tax-deductible. 

www.cfwnc.org.