- December 20, 2024
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On Nov. 30, the city of Palm Coast honored Shirley Chisholm by renaming the Pine Lakes Trail the Shirley Chisholm Trail.
Agnes Lightfoot, second vice president of the Democratic Women of Flagler County, said the group was thrilled with the turnout and the recognition for Chisholm.
"It recognizes that a national politician lived here," Lightfoot said. "We were terrible please with the turn out."
The city of Palm Coast Parks and Recreation and the Democratic Women's Club of Flagler County worked together to honor Chisholm with the trail renaming. Over 200 hundred people attended the unveiling, Lightfoot said. Several community leaders and friends of Chisholm spoke at the unveiling, including Palm Coast Councilman Nick Klufas and Chisholm's goddaughter Marie Bosely Ford.
Chisholm, who lived in Palm Coast from 1991 until her death in 2005, was the first Black American woman to sit in Congress, and the first Black woman to run for the presidency. She served in congress for seven terms, from 1969 to 1983. Chisholm died Jan. 1, 2005 at 80 years old.
Renaming a trail after her was an intentional choice, Lightfoot said, because that was a part of the theme during Chisholm's campaigns. So when they were looking at locations for a renaming, it was an obvious choice to reflect that theme, Lightfoot said.
"Unlike some other things we could do, this is a permanent marker for the city of Palm Coast," she said. "We were thrilled to be able to recognize a national citizen of Palm Coast."
