Murals to enhance dowtown landscape

By Staff
Melissa Cason
With the Watermelon Festival just weeks away, businesses have teamed up with the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce to get the city ready for this year's visitors as a mural is being painted for the upcoming festival.
The mural, located on Franklin Street, will feature a red barn with watermelons and a welcome to Russellville sign being towed by an airplane in the sky.
"The big red barn symbolizes that the Watermelon Festival is the single largest event in Franklin County," Executive Director Cheryl Bradford said.
Bradford said the project is getting support from the community including businesses, and the Russellville City Council.
"We have volunteers from the Russellville Dream Center helping prepare the building for the mural," Bradford said.
Bradford said Andy Gault with Gault Signs provided the lift to prepare the wall, and Doug Green with Green's Dependable Hardware provided the pressure washer and paint for the project.
Bradford said Ned Storey and Stuart Thompson from Redhawk Technical Services in Russellville are sponsoring the project by covering expenses not donated from local businesses.
Bradford said local artist Lynette White from Spruce Pine is the artist for the project, which will begin in a few weeks.
"We are in the preparation stage of the project," Bradford said. "The volunteers from the Dream Center cleaned the wall and painted the top blue and the bottom green to get ready for the other artwork from Lynette."
Bradford said the project will be complete by the start of the Watermelon Festival, which is Aug. 14-15.