Celebration and Dedication
On Sunday, April 27, the public is invited to Valdese Lakeside Park for an afternoon of music, food, fellowship and cake!! Friends of the Valdese Rec is celebrating its 10 year anniversary of serving Valdese with accomplishments that have included a new park, park upgrades, programming and workdays. In addition, the event will serve as the dedication of the new pavilion and open green for…
Litter Sweep 2025
Update: We finished in First Place!
Marti and Val accepting the Big Check
For the second consecutive year, the Burke River Trail Association (BRTA) is proud to participate in the Burke County Chamber of Commerce Litter Sweep being held April 2-9. Over the course of the eight-day event, volunteers will cover all nine trail towns along the Burke River Trail route, working to clean up our…
Touring Hildebran
The Town of Hildebran received its official name from the early Hildebrand family settlers, Jake and Soloman Hildebrand. When the Post Office and Town Charter were applied for, someone mistakenly omitted the “d” from Hildebrand and it has been spelled “Hildebran” ever since.
Building stronger communities through economic development and civic engagement is a core focus for Burke River Trail…
Lovelady Sidewalk
In June 2024, Valdese Council unanimously approved a resolution to apply for grant and committed funds if awarded. In January 2025, Valdese Town Council made NO motion regarding acceptance of $1.14M in DOT Funds for the Lovelady Sidewalk. It is unclear why Council committed to applying for the grant and approving matching funds needed – if it would not accept the final contract. (History of…
Pavilion Funded by Donors
FVR has raised $360,000 for the cost of the project that includes design, engineering, permitting, grading, construction, power, picnic tables and amphitheater seating. The funds came from community donors, local grants and state grants. Donor List
The Pavilion will serve as a “family room,” a gathering space for the community to take part in classes, meals, awards, exercise, meet…
Where is that Shirt
Where in the world is the Burke River Trail T-shirt?
From local spots to far-off places – join the journey! Send us a photo of you in your Burke River Trail t-shirt by a landmark or notable spot. We will post it on social media for followers to guess the location.
Sam Houston – TX
Hawaii
Hawaii
The Alamo – TX
Trail Town Fun
Building stronger communities through economic development and civic engagement is a core focus for Burke River Trail Association (BRTA). To support this, the nonprofit has launched a Trail Town Tour series, which will spotlight the nine local governments along the trail corridor. Each month, a different town will be featured in a lunch meeting with the town’s mayor and manager, offering…
Public Safety Building
The following is intended to summarize some of the milestones in the governance of Valdese that are relevant to the Valdese Public Safety Building Project.
The townofvaldese.com web site has a page dedicated to this project.
Development of this timeline is currently on github:
Lovelady Sidewalk Project – Canceled
Here is a chronological history of the Lovelady Sidewalk Project, as presented in town meetings, as well as memorialized in Western Piedmont Council of Government documents.
BRTA 2024 Report
We are pleased to present our 2024 Annual Report. If you are a BRTA member, the printed report will be coming to your mailbox soon. You can also request a printed report – just send an email to burketrails@gmail.com
BRTA Annual Report for 2024Download
Lovelady Sidewalk Project
Here is a chronological history of the Lovelady Sidewalk Project, as presented in town meetings, as well as memorialized in Western Piedmont Council of Government documents.
Trail Town Tour
Each month, learn about a Town along the Burke River Trail. For January, the focus is on Rutherford College. Thursday, January 23, we will meet at Town Hall at Noon for Lunch and hear updates from Town Officials. This free lunch event from BRTA is open to the first 20 folks who RSVP to BurkeTrails@gmail.com.
Schedule
11:00 Take a walk on the Rutherford College Greenway (optional -…
Helene Impact on Trail Use
Thanks to great partnerships, AllTrails (Trail Guide App) and Piedmont Land Conservancy worked together to see what data was available to help show the impact Helene had on trail use in Western NC.
At a Great Trails State Coalition meeting, it was asked if any member could assist with analyzing the data. Friends of the Valdese Rec Media Specialist and Duke University student Zakk Heile…
Giving Tuesday 2024
For the second year, Burke River Trail Association participated in Burke County United Way’s 1BurkeGives on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
This year, in addition to being one of 40 some nonprofits listed on their Giving Page (giving us great exposure and $220), our Executive Director Beth Heile took part in other events organized by BCUW that day. She helped pack up Toys for Tots and led a…