Trunk or Treat Saturday, Fall Festival announced

Come on out to John Tarleton Park this Saturday for our first-ever Trunk or Treat event, which will feature an afternoon of fun-filled treats, games and classic automobiles. The Halloween event, which is free and open to the public, takes place from noon to 5 p.m. at John Tarleton Park, 2487 Sutherland Ave. All ages are welcome, and costumes are encouraged.

“This should be a great event for families,” said Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs. “Creative ideas like this show how much our Parks & Recreation Department cares about Knox County kids.”

Joe Mack, senior director of the Knox County Parks and Recreation Department, agreed.

“We have been looking for fun ways to give back to the community and we feel that the Trunk-or-Treat event is just one of those ways,” he said. “We hope this becomes an annual event.”

The event will feature a number of lawn games including tic-tac-toe, cone-ring toss, sack races, pumpkin decorating contests, and a scare-crow toss. In addition, sponsors will set up a photo booth and children can trunk-or-treat for candy and prizes from several hundred classic cars, hot rods and trucks. The Parks and Recreation Department is working with various local businesses, including Fierlis Enterprises, to fund the event through donations and sponsorships.

Speaking of John Tarleton Park, we had a crew out there this week removing dead trees. According to Jason Halliburton, who is over maintenance for the department, the crew will spread out across the parks system in the coming week to take care of other dead tree and overgrowth that runs across property lines.

Our one-man machine Frank Christian continues to operate everywhere. This week he was at John Tarleton Park, re-painting the parking lot and helping to trim trees. He also helped haul rocks over to Three Ridges Golf Course to help with a water leak that some of our other folks were fixing. He also updated signs at Tommy Schumpert Park and then hit Corryton Park and the Ten Mile Greenway to begin cleaning up graffiti from some idiot jacklegs.

Our Concord Park crew also was busy this past week. We had folks out repairing cracks on the tennis courts at Carl Cowan Park and Concord Park. They also pressure washed the fence at The Cove. Next week, the crew – along with our electricians – will begin setting up the lights at The Cove for the annual Holiday Festival of Lights, which kicks off Dec. 1.

That said, we’ve got another event wedged in between this Saturday’s Trunk or Treat and next month’s Festival of Lights. On Nov. 14, the department will host the Fall Festival at Tommy Schumpert Park and already our carpenters are hard at work, building the outdoor games, including cornhole, balloon pop, fishbowl toss and ring toss! The event also will feature a tractor hayride, and the Knox County Library will provide story time and crafts.

On the recreation side, we have football championships tonight in 6U & 9U age groups and the remainder of the championships on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Youth Softball also ends on Nov. 2.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the great work done this past week by the Knox County Engineering and Public Works Department. Here’s a snapshot:

Northshore Greenway Paving: Crew placing “E” mix for the new greenway
Crimson Lane Pipe Install: Crew installing 24” aluminized pipe and catch basin for drainage issue at Crimson Lane

Enjoy these photos of work crews across the county: