New Supervisors in Recreation Dept

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 “New Supervisors in Recreation Dept”

FVR Maintains VLP

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!

Girl Scouts Learn About Conservation

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.

Meeting with Doug Knight, Parks and Recreation

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.

Continue reading “Meeting with Doug Knight, Parks and Recreation”

Scorer’s Tables for Ball Field

For his Eagle Scout Project, Luke Blalock with Boy Scout Troop 224 built 2 Scorer’s Tables at Fletcher Ball Park in Valdese.

The project filled a huge need, as there were no scoring tables for the 2 fields. The Athletic Supervisor at the Valdese Recreation Department said about 2000 people come through Fletcher Ball Field during the spring softball/baseball season. There are 8-9 teams of Valdese kids (ages 7-13, boys and girls) that play 4-5 home games. Continue reading “Scorer’s Tables for Ball Field”

VLP Interactive Map

A new mapping system is available to help in your exploration of Valdese Lakeside Park.

At this address – https://friendsofthevaldeserec.org/app/vlp/ – you will find the colored trails – names and mileages. You will have the choice of showing trails on a background of the terrain or the proposed park plan. Most amazing is the “You Are Here” feature. While out on the trails, you can access the maps with your smart phone to show your location in the park. You can even follow along as you move.

To use the map features, click on the icon that looks likes layers or a stack of paper.

This will bring up the choices for background – Park Plan (just the Destination by Design Park Plan with white surround), Hybrid Park Plan (with street surround), photo (shows buildings and roads), Terrain (lines for streets and topographic lines).

Below the background choices (choose one), you can select none or all of what to show on the map.

The colored trails are mapped with ribbon at the park. See Red and Yellow ribbons at the intersection of those trails in picture on right.

The 10 Orange/White Orienteering Markers create a scavenger hunt across the property.

Thanks to Eric Heile for creating this Interactive Map.