Staff Corner: Gina

Little River Regional Park’s resident caretaker is Gina.  She and her husband, Mark live in the residence on along the park’s driveway.  Gina joins us with 10 years of service in the field of Parks and Recreation. 

         Gina’s duties include assisting visitors, maintaining the park’s appearance and responding to emergencies that may occur in the park.  Gina is also the editor of the Little River Park Newsletter.  The resident caretaker also provides a presence in the park outside of regular park hours.   

         Gina and her dog Cindi Lou enjoy hikes in the park on warm sunny days.  Cindi Lou’s favorite past-times are “kissing” kids and greeting other dogs. 

 

Trail Run Wrap-up

The second annual trail run sponsored by Trailheads  was held on Saturday, January 13, 2007.  More than 400 runners registered for the events of the day, a grueling nine miler and a 5k that was “admittedly a little long”.  Congratulations to all of the runners who participated in this years event which raised a sizeable donation for the park. 

Runners lining up for the start of the Little River Trail Run

Brent Ferrell finished the nine miler in 56:21 besting the old course record of 59:30 by nearly three minutes.  Caroline Blatti also set a new course record by 15 seconds in the women’s nine miler with a finish of 107:20. 

15 year old Taylor Gilland completed the men’s 5k in 21:26, more than two minutes faster than his course record of last year.  Chris Tommerdahl finished first in the women’s 5k with a time of 27:13. 

Little River Park staff greatly appreciates the hard work put in by the Trail Heads and the volunteers in coordinating another great event. 

 

LRP Calendar: March-May 2007

March

Park Hours: 8:00 am - 6:00 pm

19     It Still Could Be a Tree, Tiny Trekkers (ages 2 - 4) accompanied by an adult.  10:00 - 11:00 am

24     Tree-mendous Trees Arbor Day Celebration (all ages). 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

 

April   

Park Hours: 8:00 am - 7:00 pm

16     Are You My Mother, Tiny Trekkers (ages 2 - 4) accompanied by an adult.  10:00 - 11:00 am

21     Volunteer Workday (ages 12 and up). 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

28     At Rest in a Nest, Discovery Club (ages 5 and up).  2:00 - 4:00 pm

 

             May                  

Park Hours: 8:00 am - 8:00 pm

21 In a small, small pond, Tiny Trekkers (age 2 - 4) accompanied  by an adult. 10:00 - 11:00 am

22 Tracks and Scat, Discovery Club (age 5 and up). 10:00 - 11:30 am

 

History of the Park





Little River Regional Park and Natural Area successfully opened in December 2004 after a portion of the property was considered as a site for a construction/demolition landfill.  Residents of Orange and Durham Counties opposed the thought of the land being used for this purpose.  Durham County Commissioners were also unhappy with the proposal.  It was determined that the Little River Reservoir feeds Durham’s water supply and in order to protect the Little River Watershed the 179 acre parcel was removed from consideration.

The Corn Crib - one of the original farm buildings being relocated.

The Orange County commissioners voted unanimously to accept a proposal to establish a joint regional park with Durham County in March of 2000.  Purchase of the land was made possible through two grants and support from private organizations.  The park area includes 136 acres of land in Orange County and 255 acres of land in Durham County.  In order to complete the installation of the park from a mostly wooded area with rough logging roads to a facility with hiking trails and other amenities such as a parking area, picnic shelter, restrooms and signage additional grant funding was needed.  A $262,000 grant from the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund allowed the two counties to complete the park.  The park is jointly owned and managed by Durham and Orange Counties through an inter-local agreement.

 

Eagles Fly Over Little River Park

We could not have asked for better weather on the two Saturdays in February. The days were sunny, the mornings cool and the afternoons were terrific; it was perfect for a Life Scout to earn his Eagle Scout ranking.  Alex Griffis of Troop 400 conducted his Eagle Scout project of building and installing five designated tent pad sites in the new group campground here at the park.  The project consisted of using 6x6x12 foot lumber as frames for the pads, using 10 inch lag screws and washers to secure and tighten the corners and then setting them in place and filling them with rock dust.  His first order of business was to put his father to work on making sure all the corners of each tent pad were fastened together neatly – this was a tough job that kept him busy all day.  The hard part of the project was on day one when Alex had his group dig and trench out the site where the tent pads would be placed, setting the frames and leveling them off.  The first day lasted until 1:30pm when he had lunch set up for his crew; a good meal of pizza after a hard day of work was well appreciated.   Day two proved to be much easier due to all the hard work completed on day one.  The installation of approximately twelve yards of rock dust for filling the tent pad frames finished ahead of schedule due to Alex’s ability to keep his help moving and motivated.

With the help of his father (Mike), mother (Mona), grandfather (Ken) and a bunch of friends from his troop, Alex successfully completed the largest Eagle Scout project at Little River Regional Park.  Alex demonstrated all the attributes of what a good Eagle Scout can be.   He listened, planned, worked and communicated with park staff, kept people busy and most of all made sure everyone involved had a fun time while successfully completing his project. 

The installation of a group campground is a large undertaking. Little River Park is happy to be able to work with local scouts and troops in order to complete projects and create a relationship where both sides can benefit from some good work.   The Park seems to attract potential Eagle Scouts, as Alex will be the seventh Life Scout to earn his Eagle Scout rank on a project completed in the park.  So on behalf of Durham and Orange Counties, Little River Regional Park would like to thank Alex for all his work in making the park a better place for all to enjoy.

 

By the numbers: January-February 2007

The Little River Regional Park staff take daily recordings of rain fall, water usage and vehicle traffic.

Vehicle Count
Month		Year-to-date
Jan-07	Feb-07	2006	YTD
1824	1012	19,119	2854
Rain Totals
Jan-07	Feb-07	2006	YTD
3.706 in	2.837	49.035 in	6.43
Visitor Estimate
Jan-07	Feb-07	2006	YTD
2736	1518	28,678.5	4281

 

Newsletter Naming Contest

          We hope that this newsletter finds you all well and enjoying the new year.  The Little River Park Staff has created this newsletter to share news, tidbits and other noteworthy information about the park.  However, we need a name for the newsletter.  Please send your entry to Little River Park, 301 Little River Park Way, Rougemont, NC 27572 or email your entry to Little River Park.  The person who submits the winning entry will receive a Little River Park Tee-Shirt.  Entries must be received by April 30, 2007.

 

Lost & Found

Have you left something at the park?

§ Biking Gloves

§ Bike Computer

§ Tee-shirt

§ Carolina Baseball Cap

§ Toyota Key and Remote

§ House Keys

Check with park staff to see if your lost item was brought to the office.