GRANTS, N.M. – Families gathered Saturday, April 4, at Fire and Ice Park for a community Easter egg hunt and public celebration marking a major win for the City of Grants, New Mexico: a $50,000 T-Mobile Hometown Grant that local leaders say will help improve the city’s Riverwalk Park amphitheater area and support more free public events in the future.
The event drew a large crowd, with food vendors on site and Chubby’s food truck providing free hot dogs. Children moved quickly through the Easter egg hunt, collecting eggs almost as soon as they were scattered, while families filled the park for what organizers described as a strong show of community turnout.
The grant, announced by T-Mobile in late March, will go toward revitalizing the ramada and amphitheater area at River Walk Park in Grants.
According to information shared at Saturday’s event, the project is expected to include upgraded electrical work, new technology for free movies, concerts and performances, and visual improvements designed to make the space more inviting for community use, including neon and black-light features intended to bring the amphitheater to life at night.
T-Mobile representative Alyssa Ledger, who attended the event, said the Hometown Grants program was created in 2021 to support community development projects in small towns and rural areas.
“The city of Grants actually applied for our T-Mobile Hometown Grants program,” Ledger said. “It is a program that we created in 2021 to give communities funding for community development projects, revitalizing city parks – I mean, you name it, really revamp the towns.”
Ledger said the program is designed to support communities not only through connectivity investments, but also through projects that help make small towns stronger places to live and work. She said Grants was selected from a highly competitive pool.
“We had nearly 900 applications this round,” she said, noting that Grants was one of just 25 communities selected. Farmington was also chosen in New Mexico.
For local officials, the award represents both outside recognition and the result of local preparation.
Grants Mayor Pro Tem George Garcia said the funding will allow the city to move forward on a needed project without relying on local general fund dollars.
“Before, when a lot of this stuff was falling apart, they were looking out of our general fund to get money and do it,” Garcia said. “With [Hanson’s] connections, connecting to them, they’re paying for this — not the city resources. So, this is great.”
Garcia credited Denise Hanson, executive director of the Cibola Communities Economic Development Foundation, for helping push the project forward and said the award reflects the importance of being ready when funding opportunities become available.
“We’ve got to be ready,” Garcia said. “If we want an award, we’ve got to be ready to spend it.”
Hanson, who joined the conversation during the event before being called away for photos, said she spent significant time preparing the application and refining the proposal after an earlier unsuccessful attempt.
She said the work involved telling the story of the current site, the future vision for the project, and gathering quotes, data and supporting material to show the value it could bring to the community. Hanson estimated she put roughly 25 to 30 hours into the application process.
In the end, she said, that effort paid off.
When completed, Hanson said, the project is expected to create a more functional and attractive public venue for free movies, concerts and other performances, while complementing other park improvements with coordinated site features such as tables and trash receptacles.
During remarks after the ceremonial presentation of the $50,000 check, Hanson told attendees the award reflects the pride and momentum she sees in the community.
“I think it’s a real testament to show the community pride that we have and how far we’ve come these last couple years,” Hanson said. “We have so much positive momentum in the community. I keep saying that we’re just getting started.”
She also pointed to collaboration among Grants, Milan and Cibola County as part of that progress.
“From the communication and the collaboration between not only the city, the county, the village – I mean, we’re all one team, and we’re in this together,” Hanson said.
While Saturday’s Easter event celebrated the award itself, it also offered a glimpse of the kind of family- oriented activity local leaders hope the upgraded Riverwalk area will support in the future.