Phase 1 of Valdese Lakeside Park will be built leveraging private donations to win grants.
Goal: $200K donations from community
Deadline: December 31, 2018
Amount after donations and grants:
$800K ($400K greenway + $400K amenities) to start building the park in early 2020 (if grants awarded) Continue reading
From now until Christmas (skipping Thanksgiving), group trail runs and walks are going on at Valdese Lakeside Park. Meet at 5:15 pm in the grassy parking area at the end of Lake Rhodhiss Drive to join the fun. For some, this is training to get ready for the January 1 5K or 10K Races and for others, it is just to get out in nature.
Over 100 people attended the event for hot dogs, crafts, education and creek exploration. 
Wildlife Volunteer of the Year Award was presented on Saturday, September 8 at the 55th Annual Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards Banquet. The following statement was read to introduce Beth Heile –
Valdese, North Carolina is a small town of 5,000 folks, about eight miles east of Morganton, out where the Blue Ridge Mountains draw a green curtain across the sky. It’s a gorgeous location, but Valdese has seen more than its fair share of municipal challenges as furniture and manufacturing jobs have moved out. Then, in 2015, a 302-acre parcel on Lake Rhodhiss, just north of town, with 2 miles of waterfront access, was sold to a Colorado Company. To purchase the property for conservation purposes would require $365,000 of private contributions and matching funds to secure Clean Water and Parks & Recreation trust fund grants to save the property for use as a public park. That’s a lot of money for a small town. But among those 5,000 residents was Beth Heile. And Beth Heile sprang into action. Continue reading
January 1, 2019 – 9:00 am
Tackle the Trails
at Valdese Lakeside Park (5K & 10K)
Hosted by
Friends of the Valdese Rec
Valdese Parks and Rec Dept
Draughn High School
Proceeds go to
Amenities at Valdese Lakeside Park
Register: UltraSignup or Mail in Paper Form
FVR sold beer as a fundraiser during the Waldensian Festival. Volunteers were at the Town’s Beer Garden in the Wells Fargo Parking Lot Friday (5-11 pm) and Saturday (Noon-11 pm). They sold $3 – Bud Light, Catawba Brewing White Zombie, Olde Hickory Brewery Ruby Lager.
The summer has brought 2 new energetic employees to the Valdese Parks and Recreation Department. They each have exciting ideas for the department and will report to Director Doug Knight. They are looking at some programs that Friends of the Valdese Rec will be able to help with in terms of volunteering, assisting in planning and maybe some funding. This could be bike rides, fitness programs, informational programs, meetups, equipment for the pool.
Dave Andersen- New Aquatic & Fitness Supervisor
David may be new to his position, but he is not a new face around the pool. He started coaching the Valdese Torpedo Swim Team in 2010. And, as a teacher at EBHS, he coached the school’s swim team. He will be in charge of the pool and fitness room facilities; as well as, the staff and instructors. Dave plans “to continue to improve on what is a great place already.” He will do this with new programs: Mommy and Me swim lessons, HS Swim Prep; looking at shade for the pool deck, more general fitness opportunities, outdoor activities (bike, kayak), maybe inner tube water polo! Continue reading
Once the Town of Valdese took ownership of the 300 acres on Lake Rhodhiss, Friends of the Valdese Rec has been caring for the property. First was the Cove Cleanup, then marking trails with colored ribbon and now trail maintenance. Members are cutting grass at the parking entrance, some of the larger grassy areas and parts of the trails; as well as clearing down branches. Get out and and enjoy their efforts!
This is the FVR Lawn Mower – the Green Machine! Only 20 inches wide – but very powerful. It gets the job done….. after many passes!
About 20 Valdese area girl scouts (daisies, brownies and juniors) spent the afternoon at McGalliard Falls Park learning about being good stewards of the enviroment. Leaders Kate Carter and Kendall Anne organized the event with Friends of the Valdese Rec – to be educational, productive and fun! Conservation was discussed -what it means and what jobs are available in the field – along with how they can help today! After sharing ideas, the girls cleaned the park – including the creek. We are in good hands these young ladies as our future leaders.
Friends of the Valdese Rec members and Valdese Lakeside Park donors were invited to meet with Director Doug Knight to go over the strategy for building amenities at Valdese Lakeside Park and ask any other questions.
The information from Growing Amenities Money was covered in detail. This lists the FVR fundraising goal and grants that will be applied for to build the greenway and a few amenities.
FVR will kick off the next fundraising round at the Waldensian Festival. They will be selling beer as a fundraiser and have materials available about the organization and VLP. FVR member help will be needed to man the booth. We hope to do park tours on Saturday of the festival.