Take a walk in the park with Glenn Jacobs

On Thursday, we kicked off the New Harvest Farmers Market with Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs ringing the opening bell. The market will be open every Thursday from 3-6 p.m. through Sept. 29.

Other big events on the horizon: The 5th annual Beaver Creek Flotilla on the Knox County Water Trail. This year, the event will launch from the Powell High Landing and offer take out from two locations. It also will have onsite food trucks, information booths and family fun activities. You do have to register, but you can find more information about the event here. The flotilla will be held Saturday, May 14, and our Knox County Parks and Recreation team members have spent a long time in the creek, making sure the route is clear.

“We have a crew out there clearing it now as we speak,” said Jason Halliburton, who is over maintenance for the department. “In fact, last week contractors removed more than 30 tons of debris from the area.”

Oh, and speaking of events – don’t forget that this Saturday Mayor Jacobs will be joined by Parks and Recreation Senior Director Joe Mack to host the first ever Walk with the Mayor event. The two plan to walk roughly a mile on the Pink Marble Trail as a way to showcase local greenways and encourage a healthy lifestyle. Knox County Library will set up story trail signs along the route. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, click on this video.

By the way, this year’s budget includes funding for some permanent Storybook Trails. Knox County Public Library is working with Parks and Rec and some community organizations to bring picture books to life for families and their kids. Through public/private partnerships, the library will install three trails this year. They are the first Storybook Trails in Knox County and will help advance our Read City challenge to make Knox County the best-read community in America.

In other Parks and Rec news, our crews started tearing out the playground surface at Mascot Park and should be done in a week or so. Then the contractor will come in and repour the surface and reinstall it. Apparently, it wasn’t very level. We hope to have it back open soon.

We’ve also had crews working on the kayak launch at Roy Arthur Stormwater Park and at the one near Powell High School. From there, crews will begin building adaptive docks, which will be funded from the generous donation by Aubrey’s restaurant founder Randy Burleson.

Our Concord Park team members also were busy. They worked on the fishing pier, replacing broken flooring, installed a new net at one of the baseball fields and replaced some bad breakers at another. And, of course, they – along with our other crews – have done a ton of weed eating, and they’re mowing and going!

All that said, it wouldn’t be a weekly column without a mention of our one-man machine Frank Christian. Here’s a text he sent to me: “Fence repairs at Roy Arthur Stormwater Park, working on drainage problem at Spring Place Park, Mascot Park playground repairs; John Tarleton Park crew tree trimming. Also new sign at Sportspark in Karns and equipment repairs.”

That’s all for now, folks – see you next week!

Enjoy these photos from work around the county: