Almost to Pavilion Goal
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Fundraising is heading into the home stretch for the Pavilion and Amphitheater at Valdese Lakeside Park. The Pavilion will serve as a “family room,” a gathering space for the community to take part in classes, meals, awards, exercise, meet ups, entertainment (movie, music, drama) and shelter (from rain and sun). The flexible design will allow for picnic tables to be placed on…read more ❯
Smart Growth
Because I want protections for the environment and because I want jobs for Burke County residents, I support Conditional Zoning.
Because I support outdoor recreation and because I support a Burke County in which our future generation’s will want to and be able to live in, I support Conditional Zoning.
I have served on the Burke County Planning Board for almost three years. The most…read more ❯
Community Spotlight – Drexel
Picking at the Barber Shop every Thursday-Saturday mornings.
While much has come and gone in Drexel over the years, the Drexel Barber Shop has remained a constant. Lawrence Anthony started it across the railroad tracks in 1949. Most of us older folks can remember sitting in that tiny smoke-filled shop listening to our dads as we patiently—or not—waited for a buzz. If I’m not mistaken,…read more ❯
Litter Sweep
As part of the Burke County Chamber Litter Sweep, Burke River Trail Association held trash pickups in all the towns along the Burke River Trail route during the week of March 20-27. 65 bags of trash were collected in 9 towns over the 8 day event.
Thanks to a grant, gloves, snacks and waters were provided by Burke River Trail Association. BRTA Board Member Melinda Wallrichs applied for…read more ❯
Beth Presents at Tourism Conference
I was happy to share what Friends of the Valdese Rec learned about visitation at the Visit NC Tourism Conference Session – Optimizing Visitor Data for Sustainable Economies. Thanks to lots of help from Zakk Heile, we know most (and least) visited days/times, specific trail usage, that efforts to redirect traffic work, educating visitors on best practices also works, where people go after the…read more ❯
Mill Walk
Burke River Trail Association was granted $2500 from Mountain BizWorks for pre-development work to show how the Burke River Trail will flow between the Old Glory Mill and the Catawba River.
David Harmon Architecture was selected to create four renderings of how a two-story restaurant with outside dining space, the trail and access from inside the building to outside could be combined. The…read more ❯
Riverkeeper
Though Catawba River is prominent in the nonprofit’s name, Catawba Riverkeeper advocates for all waters of the Catawba River Basin
Catawba Riverkeepers Grant and Ryan pictured with Rep Hugh Blackwell
Because of their involvement with our waterways and our work of making connections along the river and creeks, we meet from time to time to keep each other updated on projects. During a…read more ❯
Rails and Trails
Our Trail Towns could also be Rail Towns! In December 2023, the Federal Railroad Administration selected the Salisbury to Asheville rail route as part of the Corridor Identification and Development Program. The route is one of seven NC corridors receiving a $500,000 grant from the Department of Transportation to pay for the feasibility studies to decide the viability of the routes.
Salisbury…read more ❯
We Need a Plan
A parks and recreation master plan is a comprehensive, long-range strategy for the creation, optimization, and maintenance of a community’s assets. It doesn’t focus on one particular park but instead offers a bird’s-eye view of a community’s parks and recreation landscape, both today and beyond. It examines the parks and recreation assets’ ability to meet the needs of the community and…read more ❯
Rhodhiss Workshop
There was an incredible turnout for the Rhodhiss Trail Workshop. Business owners, landowners, aldermen and residents met at the Scout Building to share ideas. Shelly Gref who owns the Copper Penny Grill – Lake Hickory said she would will allow trail between the restaurant and water. She also shared the story of how her Rutherford location and Forest City location are now connected by trail and…read more ❯
Glen Alpine Park
A community park has been on Glen Alpine’s wish list for a long time. Burke River Trail Association Executive Director Beth Heile shared with Glen Alpine Town Aldermen that thanks to a directed state grant from Rep Blackwell, the park is one step closer to becoming a reality.
Glen Alpine Community Park and Trailhead Rendering by Equinox Environmental
The desire for a downtown park was…read more ❯
Sharing Success
BRTA Executive Director Beth Heile shared the story of the economic development opportunities found along the Burke River Trail route with The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s Community Investment Training participants to help others spot worthy projects in their community. BRTA will receive a small grant for Beth’s time.
Beth participated in this investment training as a student last…read more ❯