Coming of Age in Green Valley

Green Valley Park has recently marked important rites of passage. 

It has paid off its mortgage, despite the recession, and construction starts this week for a restroom facility (with running water) to facilitate use of the excellent new playground and of the large, handsome picnic shelter, both of which have an awesome view of the New River, of North Carolina’s champion pitch pine, and of our mountains. 

Also, the new bandstand overlooking the main recreational field is nearing completion.  This bandstand will be the site of live music from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, when Mountain ValleyFest returns.  

The acts scheduled for this kid-friendly event are: Folk & Dagger, Lost Faculties, Forget-Me-Nots, Amantha Mill, Surefire, and Echo Park.  Mountain ValleyFest is once again co-hosted by the Green Valley Park and the Mountain Pathways Montessori School and sponsored by many local firms.  In addition to the bands there will be food, airwalks, a climbing wall, face painting, birding activities, craft vendors, and more.Green Valley Community Park is multipurpose community park in Watauga County on Big Hill Road between the Green Valley School and Todd. In addition to the picnic shelter, playground and bandstand, the park offers multipurpose playing fields, hiking trails, and a canoe ramp. Its unofficial motto could well be: “Where neighbors become friends,” because a group of neighbors made a daring leap in 1999 and founded the Green Valley Community Park Association as a nonprofit. The following year the Association purchased three tracts of land from the Blackburn family. 

On June 2, 2001, the first Green Valley Community Park Celebration on the New River was held in Todd. On July 30th, 2004, seven acres of adjoining property were purchased using a grant from the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund, obtained by the National Committee for the New River. This additional land provided dramatically improved access to the playing fields, wetland and the canoe ramp. In July 2005, the gable ends of the picnic shelter were closed in.  The Audubon Society has recently approved the park as a site on its N.C. Birding Trails.

The park’s Web site is www.greenvalleypark.org. Park amenities can be reserved by contacting board member Dan Norris at (828) 264-6866.

Over the years the Green Valley Park has benefited from the contributions of many generous private donors, parents, students and teachers of the Green Valley Elementary School, the Janirve Foundation in Asheville, the National Committee for the New River, the N.C. Adopt-A-Trail program of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Watauga County commissioners, individual Eagle Scouts, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, local businesses, the Farm Service Agency, and many other individuals and corporations. As a member of the board of directors remarked recently, “We couldn’t have done it without all of you.”