$15,000 still needed
for the bridge to connect Valdese Lakeside Park to McGalliard Falls Park creating a 2-mile greenway.

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Zakk Heile, Charter Member of the trail club for high school students overlooks property for Burke River Trail

In January, Friends of the Valdese Rec started building a sustainable trail at Valdese Lakeside Park. Volunteers learned there was a big difference between existing deer trails and the techniques used to build a lasting trail. A sustainable trail has minimal impact to the natural area, does not adversely affect wildlife, manages water flow and requires little long-term maintenance.

With Draughn High School students joining the trail building workdays, Beth Heile, FVR president, started exploring ways to get trail building classes into Burke County Schools. Continue reading →

Burke River Trail Meeting Attendees: Doug Setzer – BCPS Director of Auxiliary Services, Wendi Craven – BCPS Board of Education, Averi Ritchie – WPCOG Planner, Larry Bragg – Natural Land Alliance, Representative Hugh Blackwell, Scott Carpenter – Deputy Burke County Manager, Doug Knight – Valdese Parks and Recreation Director, Shane Gardner – Principal DHS, Doug Hallyburton – Assistant Principal/Athletic Director. Not pictured: Beth Heile – President, Friends of the Valdese Rec

The foundation was laid today for the first section of the Burke River Trail – 4 miles from McGalliard Falls to Valdese Lakeside Park to Draughn High School to a private development. Continue reading →

Farris Insurance held a “give-back-to-the-community” volunteer workday at Valdese Lakeside Park. 10 Folks, 4 Lawn Mowers, 1 Chain Saw, 1 ATV, Lots of other Tools = A Ton of Work Done!!!

Friends of the Valdese Rec now accepts gifts of stock.

We have a brokerage account with First Citizens Investor Services. Contact us for more information.

In the early days, the Waldenses, who settled Valdese in 1893, enjoyed walking to the Falls on Sunday afternoon – in their church clothes – for a picnic of bread, cheese and fruit. Children would also swim in the area below the Falls.

In 1906, Fred Meytre built a watermill local farmers. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by a flood in 1916. The mill was rebuilt using a turbine and continued operating until 1941. Mr. Meytre was getting older and many workers were being called to serve in WWII. The mill was once again rebuilt in 1982 to get the water wheel turning. The wheel you see today was manufactured onsite to replace the one that was crushed by a tree that fell on the previous wheel in 2016. Continue reading →

Thanks to Ruth Fletcher Gage and Zakk Heile, we are getting a closer look at the wildlife at Valdese Lakeside Park. After Beth Heile commented that she could not get a picture of the otters at the park, Ruth suggested a wildlife camera and that she would fund it. Zakk is in charge of camera operations – camera use, set up, pulling video and pictures.

Several pictures of deer (even 5 at once) have been captured. The picture on the left of the deer is from a video of the deer seemingly checking out the camera.

The video of the Great Blue Heron eating a fish in the cove is incredible. Continue reading →

Starting a Butterfly Kit at the first  Conservation Kids monthly program was the plan for March. The goal was to leave the transforming caterpillars at the library for kids to drop in and watch the cycle. However, the virus put a stop to our first meeting and the caterpillars had to be watched through pictures. See the series of pictures over the three week transformation. The painted lady butterflies have been released into the world to be good pollinators.

Companies and individuals are contributing to the success of Valdese Lakeside Park in ways you would never think.

At this time, Valdese Leasing, LLC and Shuford Development, Inc. own the land that Lake Rhodhiss Drive sits on close to Lovelady Road — making it a private road. Continue reading →