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There are no winter doldrums at the Valdese Parks and Recreation Department. Our fitness classes are in full swing, the fitness center is busy, and the kids are really digging our second season of volleyball! Bowling has been a big success, with great turnouts for our Saturday night Rock N Bowls and increasing numbers for our Wednesday Senior Bowling. We are currently signing up participants for youth baseball, softball, and T-Ball programs through March 11. Registration is online, and participants do not have to attend Valdese Elementary or a local school to be a part of the program. For more information on any of these programs, give us a call or visit our website.
At the beginning of February, the department welcomed Mr. Chipper McGinnis to our team of full-time staff as an athletic supervisor. He hit the ground running, taking the reins of the indoor soccer program currently participating with Burke County Parks and Recreation. Chipper is a recent graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne University, where he played baseball for the Bears and obtained a degree in Sports Management. He has already been a tremendous asset to the team here. You can find him in the gym with soccer currently, or on the diamond this spring as he heads up our baseball programming.
Out in the parks, the Friends of the Valdese Rec have been busy continuing to improve the park experience for our visitors. Volunteers have been busy working on mountain bike trails at Valdese Lakeside Park that we hope to have available by mid-summer. FVR has also been raising funds for a multi-purpose pavilion to be built at the site of the open green. For more information on either of these projects, please check out the FVR facebook page and website. You can also check them out for information on how to get involved as a volunteer or donor and help keep our parks amazing.
If you think you want to host a gathering at one of our picnic shelters, give us a call in the office at 828-879-2132. Any of our full time staff can complete a reservation for you. We are currently booking shelters for spring and summer, and our shelters fill up quickly. Beginning in April, we will be offering Sunday reservations from 1-5pm this year, and we know those will be popular time slots.
There are many exciting things on the horizon for the Valdese Parks and Recreation Department. In coming months, we will be hosting our annual Fun Fish event, with this year’s event taking place on May 11 with a May 18 rain date. This fantastic community event is free for children 4-12 to try their hand at catching trout released into McGalliard Creek by North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission staff. There will be online pre-registration, as well as day of registration. Our summer swim team, the Valdese Torpedo Swim Team, will also be starting online registration on April 8. We are looking forward to an excellent season at the pool, culminating in a championship swim meet on August 3 in Shelby. Be on the lookout for more information about these programs in coming weeks.
There have been a lot of questions regarding the pool at this time. The pool remains closed until further notice, but we do hope to offer open air swimming as soon as possible. The Bubble failed at the end of January, and it would have required time and expense to potentially be permitted to reopen for only a few weeks. The town council has tasked the Parks and Recreation Commission with recommending a replacement option. Staff, council members, and commissioners have been visiting other facilities and speaking with contractors and designers to get a feel for what will be the best fit for our patrons and programming. Patrons with aquatics memberships have their memberships paused, and once we know the length of the closure, combination aquatics/fitness members will have time added to their membership for time the pool was not open. If you have questions about your membership, please call the pool/fitness counter at 828-874-6737.
We always welcome feedback and citizen input at the Valdese Parks and Recreation Department. We will be providing some organized opportunities in coming weeks for our patrons and citizens to give us some input on where we are and what we are currently doing, as well as where they would like for us to head. Please keep an eye out on the town facebook page for opportunities to have your voice heard as we plan for the future.
We look forward to having you at your Valdese Parks and Recreation Department!
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