Mowing season begins, Beverly Dog Park nears opening

Spring started, and so we officially kick off mowing season. Our Parks and Recreation crews will mow, weed eat and pick up trash at least once a week at all the parks (barring any bad weather). If the grass looks overgrown, don’t worry. We’ll get to it!

We had our folks out again along the Knox County Water Trail, the 44-mile stretch of navigable water along Beaver Creek that touches five communities between Clayton Park in Halls and Melton Hill Park in Hardin Valley. Last week, alone, our contractors picked up another 16 tons of debris.

“It’s going well,” said Jason Halliburton, who is over maintenance for the Parks and Recreation Department.

Our Concord Park crew has spent the past week putting down dirt at the Ball Camp Park ball fields, repairing vandalized gates at Cherokee Park and finishing the fence at Beverly Park for the county’s latest dog park. As it stands, the park should be complete and ready for the opening soon. We’re waiting on trash bins and some park features to arrive.

Our carpenters repaired a walking bridge that’s over a drainage ditch at Forks of the River Park and installed new posts and cables at Gibbs Park. Then they met up with another crew at McBee Ferry Landing Park where they removed docks, stumps and brush.

Once complete, McBee Ferry will look amazing. It’s a three-acre site along the upper Holston River that will feature water access. The Legacy Parks Foundation secured the land some years back and donated it to the county. It’s located on Old Strawberry Plains Pike off Andrew Johnson Highway.

Also, we have a pretty cool Parks and Recreation related event coming up soon. It will be called “Walk with the Mayor” and we hope to turn it into an annual event. I don’t have all the details yet, but Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and Joe Mack, the senior director of the Parks and Recreation Department, will pick a county greenway to walk on early Saturday mornings. The idea is to showcase the greenways and encourage healthy activity. The first one is planned for Ijams Nature Center (We have a relationship with Ijams even though it’s in the city, since we oversee the quarry and parking area there and lease them some of the property.). The first Walk with the Mayor is scheduled for some time in April, and we also will have their library on hand with a portable story trail. Libraries and parks are perfect partners. You can download a book or music from the library and then take a walk in the park and listen to them.

It wouldn’t be a column if I didn’t mention our one-man machine Frank Christian. In a text, he said:

“Repainting doors at Forks of the River Park, graffiti cleanup (every week somewhere) seeding and straw work at Beverly Dog Park. (Also) several new park entrance signs ordered, I try to get a few each week ordered and installed, J.D. McDaniel (who is over our mowing crews) is doing mulch work at Halls Park while the crew mows there.”

On the recreation side, we also are in the process of putting together a youth advisory committee with more details coming soon. The idea is to get a representative from each sport in each community to help make decisions and ensure that the operations run smoothly.

Additionally, next month we have our men’s and women’s softball homerun derby. Entry fee is $10 cash and $10 to buy back in. We will collect the payment at the Sportpark in Karns (where the event will be held). You won’t want to miss this! The women’s competition is set for 6:30 p.m. on April 27, and the men’s is set for 6:30 p.m. on April 28. This week, we started adult softball on Mondays and Tuesdays at the Sportpark and that will run until the end of May.

Middle school baseball is playing at the Sportspark on Mondays through Thursday until the end of April. Youth Soccer will take place at US Cell and Tommy Schumpert parks. Youth Lacrosse is playing at John Tarleton Park. Additionally, Adult Coed Kickball will play for the first time at the Sportspark on Wednesdays until the end of April.

For more information, contact jennifer.gentry@knoxcounty.org.

Enjoy these photos from work around the county: