Friends of the Valdese Rec Annual Meeting was held this afternoon at the  Waldensian Heritage Winery.

Valdese Parks and Rec Director Doug Knight discussed the PARTF grant he will be applying for on behalf of the town for money to purchase the lakeside park land and asked FVR for a letter of support to the grant committee. We voted yes!!

Town Manager Seth Eckard gave an overview of the process once we receive the grant money.

Officers for 2017-2019 were voted in.

President- Beth Heile
Vice President- Roy Sweezy
Secretary- Don Brittain
Treasurer- Andy Byers
Members-at-large: Mark Rostan, Sonni Dyer, Sandy Terrell

At the Valdese Town Council Meeting, FVR President Beth Heile presented an update on the Valdese Lakeside Park. She reported that for the 300 acre land purchase – $1M in state grants are being applied for, $400k in pledges have been committed from the Rostan Family Foundation and Kellex Seating, and fundraising is ongoing for park amenities. Protecting this land has been a 2-year partnership between Town of Valdese, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina and Friends of the Valdese Rec.