Celebrate the Earth and Its Resources: Earth Day Celebration on the Salisbury Greenway Offers Education Through Interaction
April 20, 2007
By: Laura Porter

Spacious and beautiful, the Salisbury Greenway greets its guests with vibrant colors and easy access. The Greenway is a linear park found within cities and towns and Salisbury boasts over 12,000 feet of open space preserved for wildlife and natural areas. On April 20, the Salisbury Greenway was used for something other than biking, walking or running – Salisbury Parks and Recreation in conjunction with Rowan County Parks and Recreation, Horizon’s Unlimited, Rowan County Health Department and the Salisbury Master Gardeners presented an Earth Day Celebration for children in third and fourth grade from Overton Elementary. For a quarter of a mile along the Greenway that starts at Overton Elementary School and ends at Prescott Drive in Eagle Heights, seven educational stations were available.

Laura Porter, Recreation Aide at City Park Center ran an educational session on bats and how they help the environment but also cleared up some common misconceptions regarding the nocturnal mammals. Steve Clark, Recreation Coordinator at Hall Gym conducted a session entitled “Oh Deer” where students learned about deer habitats and their dwindling population. Vivian Koontz, Recreation Programmer at City Park talked about tobacco and its effects on health and the environment. The Salisbury Master Gardeners presented, “Off the Path” an educational talk about the various micro-organisms that one might normally find on the Greenway. They explained how worms, spiders and bees help maintain the ecological environment.

Tim Pittman, Recreation Programmer for Hall Gym talked with the children about animal tracks. He wanted to teach them how to identify certain wildlife and even taught them how to walk like ‘wild things’ on all fours. During their session, he gave them two sets of animal tracks and asked them to make up a short story about them, some were quite amusing. Bob Pendergrass from Rowan County Parks and Recreation showed the children reptiles and raptors with a live bird of prey and even a slimy snake to compliment his demonstration on the life cycle: mice feed on grass, snakes feed on mice, birds feed on snakes; thus eliminating certain pests and micro-organisms that can be harmful. The last presentation for the youth was from Salisbury/Rowan Utilities called, “Water World”. Students learned how the water from streams becomes the water we drink, along with the various chemicals and means to treat the water so that it is safe for us. They also learned first hand about the organisms used to break down sewage.

With over 150 children to occupy staff, each child walked away with new knowledge and a better understanding of why it is important to protect the environment. With fifteen volunteers this celebration of the earth was not only successful but exciting to all those involved.

To find out more about Earth Day and how you can get involved with future events, please contact Paul Moore, Recreation Coordinator for City Park Center by email or at (704) 638-5295.

Click here to view photos from the Earth Day celebration!

The day of celebration began with a 5K fundraiser with proceeds to benefit the Centennial Park, located at the corner of Wiley Avenue and Stanley Street. Free activities for children were offered throughout the day, including face painting, sidewalk chalk, building activities, bubble fun and a giant slide. Demonstrations included a K-9 demo by the Salisbury Police Department and a demo by the Salisbury Fire Department, a Smart Start Rowan booth, singing, musical entertainment, dancing and more. Complimentary trolley rides, courtesy of F&M Bank offered residents and visitors to the event, the opportunity to take a historic tour of the Fulton Heights area. Hap's hot dogs, lemonade, water, Cheerwine and Frost Bite snow cones were available for purchase.

The 11 a.m. groundbreaking ceremony, emceed by Maggie Blackwell, offered a history of the Centennial Park Project, which is the City's first partnership with a neighborhood to raise its own money for a park.  Residents have held fundraisers and sold pavers to raise funds for park embellishments.

A panel of local children from the area, were introduced and recognized for serving as liaisons to the City for serving as the Playground Planners for the Centennial Park Project. Salisbury Mayor Susan Kluttz and Salisbury Parks & Recreation Director Gail Elder White assisted Fulton Heights residents in the ground breaking ceremony. Mayor Pro Tem Paul Woodson was also in attendance for the ground breaking and celebration.

For more information regarding the Centennial Park project, to purchase a engraved brick in support of Centennial Park, or to find out more about creating a neighborhood park in your community, please call 704-216-PLAY.

For additional photos of the ground breaking ceremony at Centennial Park click here to visit our photo gallery!

Miss Dot & Miss Peggy's Playground Dedication
September 26, 2004

The Salisbury Parks and Recreation Department celebrated with the dedication of “Miss Dot & Miss Peggy’s Playground” on Friday, September 26, 2006 at 3:00 p.m. The dedication service recognized Dot Miller and Peggy Smith, “Miss Dot & Miss Peggy”, for their 36 years of providing morning preschool for three, four and five year-olds at the City Park Center.

The playground, located within the Salisbury City Park, features a large play structure, swings, picnic area, a bench and signage acknowledging Miller and Smith. Parks & Recreation Director, Gail Elder White, paid tribute to the duo during the dedication, which was attended by family, friends and co-workers. Children from the City Park’s After-School Program sang “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” for attendees.

The ladies officially opened the playground structure to the public with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and christened the playground slide by taking the first two rides down. Punch and cookies were served following the dedication. The playground was made possible through funding from friends, neighbors, relatives and the Salisbury Parks & Recreation Department.

Master Gardener's Enabling Gardens Dedication at West End Community Park
September 12, 2003

The West End Community Park, Brenner Avenue, celebrated with a Master Gardener's Enabling Gardens Dedication on Friday, September 12, 2003 at 11:00 a.m.

The project was made possible by grants from James and Gerry Hurley, through the Hurley Foundation, and the Salisbury Civitans. The Rowan County Master Gardeners coordinated and implemented the project.

Enabling Gardens involve ways to make gardening possible for people who would be unable to garden otherwise. Master Gardeners will utilize the West End facility to schedule therapeutic horticulture activities for those with physical or mental disabilities, the elderly and children.

Raised beds enable those who can not work at ground level to still enjoy gardening. Cement padding allows those in wheel-chairs with accessibility to the raised beds as well as a five-foot padded cement area for direction change. The cement walkway is designed for safe wheelchair access and does not exceed a five percent slope. An overhead trellis shields participants from the harsh sun while permitting rain water to nourish the plants below. Stools, at a 24" height, allow gardeners to sit and a 6-8" outside ledge on the raised planting beds is useful for various horticultural activities or sitting at the lower beds. The West End Community Park is a Salisbury Parks & Recreation facility and serves as a horticultural demonstration site.

Lake fishing is now available to the public daily until 8:00 p.m. Access to the lake may be obtained by parking in the gravel parking lot near the flagpole and taking the .4 mile path back to the lake. Regular state fishing rules apply at the lake.