Lunch and Learn Program
Friends of the Valdese Rec, Inc (FVR) hosts a free monthly Lunch and Learn Program for the Young at Hearts in the community. Every third Thursday of the month at Noon, FVR provides lunch, time to socialize and a 20-minute…
Friends of the Valdese Rec
all-volunteer 501c3 nonprofit supporting Valdese Parks & Recreation
Beth
Mountain Bike Trail Open!!
Planned to be at Valdese Lakeside Park from the very beginning, a 4.2 mile Mountain Bike Optimized Trail is now open to bikers (and hikers). From a 2018 Master Plan to a 2023 Specific Design Plan to 4 months of…
Volunteers – Mountain Bike
928 hours so far!! Our volunteers have gone above and beyond building the mountain bike trail at VLP to save money. Round 2 of the Mountain Bike Trail Building Process – Cutting Roots – 280 volunteer hours over 16 workdays…
Almost to Pavilion Goal
Fundraising is heading into the home stretch for the Pavilion and Amphitheater at Valdese Lakeside Park. The Pavilion will serve as a “family room,” a gathering space for the community to take part in classes, meals, awards, exercise, meet ups,…
Addition to Children’s Park
In 2022, Beth Heile started working with landowner Dennis Jaschob on how to protect his six acres on Micol Creek on the north side of Children’s Park. The town was not in a position to purchase the property. However, with…
WNC Gateway
Did you know that from I-40 Exit 111, you are just 1.5 hours from seven state parks and six state trails?!? This location is truly the Gateway to Western North Carolina. With NCDOT plans to rework the exit ramps, it…
We Need a Plan
A parks and recreation master plan is a comprehensive, long-range strategy for the creation, optimization, and maintenance of a community’s assets. It doesn’t focus on one particular park but instead offers a bird’s-eye view of a community’s parks and recreation…
Greenway Designated WGST
The 2-mile Valdese Greenway has been designated as official Wilderness Gateway State Trail. Friends of the Valdese Rec completed the paperwork in September 2023 that was submitted to NC State Trails. From there the public had to be notified of…
Gather at the Table
In October, the Community Foundation of Burke County awarded FVR a $9327 grant to purchase 12 picnic tables (2 ADA) for the Open Green. FVR funds of $984.03 were used to cover the small overage for a price increase and shipping. The…
1000 Mile Challenge
Saturday, October 21 was Great Trails State Day across NC as part of NC Year of the Trail 2023. We set a goal to collectively bike, hike, paddle 1000 miles at Valdese Lakeside Park during the day. We blew that…