Parks & Trails July 2018 Newsletter

City of Hot Springs July 2018 Newsletter

L-R: Mary Zunick, Giuseppe Percivati, Takuya
Onozaki, and Jean Wallace enjoying lunch on the
Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail.

111 Opera Street  7/3
P.O. Box 700 Trail Watch Volunteer Training
111 Opera Street, 5 PM (by appointment only)
Hot Springs, AR 71902
 7/4 HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!
Call: 501-321-6871
Email: [email protected]  7/10
Arts Advisory Committee,
Visit: www.cityhs.net 111 Opera Street
12:00 pm
Like us on Facebook:
Hot Springs Parks & Trails  7/16
Fresh Spinach Day!
Growing Healthy
Communities-Hot Springs  7/18
National Hot Dog Day!

 7/19
Parks & Trails Advisory Committee
111 Opera Street
5:00 pm

 7/26
Friends of the Parks, Chamber of Commerce
659 Ouachita Ave
11:30 am

 7/30
International Day of Friendship

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The official hashtag for this year’s Park and Recreation Month is #DISCOVERJULY! Use it
to let us know how you'll be celebrating and playing this July. Follow us to stay up to date on
the latest about Park and Recreation Month and get tips, ideas and more!

National Picnic Month
National Blueberry Month

Renting a city park pavilion is quick and easy.
Cost is minimal and clean up will be, too!
 Birthday Parties
 Family Reunions
 Wedding Receptions
 Baby Showers
 Retirement Farewells
 Fishing Derbies

Cost to reserve pavilions:
$10 per hour for city resdents
$20 per hour for non-city residents

Additional fees may apply for large groups
and special events. Please refer to our
Reservation Policy for fee schedules or call the
Parks and Trails Department at 501-321-6871 for more information.

To make your reservation, call or come by the Parks and Trails Department at 111 Opera
Street, or fill out an interactive online form at www.cityhs.net. Reservations must be made a
least two (2) weeks prior to your event date. Postings in the information kiosks of each park
reflect who has a pavilion reserved and when each week (Monday - Sunday).

Please Remember…. The City of Hot Springs
Motorized Vehicles Noise Ordinance is
are NOT allowed on Trails.
enforced from 10:00 PM
For your protection please be aware of the to 7:00 AM in all city parks.
presence of FIRE ANTS. Although treated on a
regular basis, fire ants are particularly prone to Fireworks are NOT
be active in parks and especially after a rain allowed in any
shower. Please be alert!
of the City Parks.
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Hot Springs Parks & Trails would like to thank the FourTwelve Middle School
Ministry from New Life Church for their great work at Hill Wheatley Park this
morning. This group of about 70 5th-8th graders replenished the gravel and
removed brush along the trails and cleaned up trash throughout the park. The
FourTwelve Summer Road Trip consisted of a total of 160 people from around
the state serving 9 communities over 4 days. Thank you for your hard work!

Parks & Trails employees installed a shade kite and picnic
tables at the Webb Community Center as part of a
Community Development Block Grant project approved
for 2018.

We want to remind all of our park and trail users about
the importance of hydrating before, during, and after
any recreational activities!

Craig Posney of Hot Springs stands with the 15-pound blue
catfish he caught at Entergy Park, 530 Lakepark Drive,
while fishing in the pond. He said he used six-pound test
and chicken liver as bait. Baxter Land Company Fish Farm
of Arkansas City donated more than 12,000 lbs. of catfish
that Arkansas Game & Fish used to stock local fishing areas
throughout Arkansas as a way to encourage families and
individuals to go fishing! The fish are tagged with a
number to contact the AG&F who have partnered with
local businesses to offer prizes to those who participate.
“We strive to make fishing an enjoyable and accessible
activity for all park visitors,” said Parks & Trails Director
Jean Wallace. “The Baxter Land Company’s generous
donation, in addition to our longtime support from AG&F, makes fishing even more memorable and
fun.” For information, call the AG&F stocking hotline at 1-866-540-FISH (3474) or visit www.agfc.com.

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Ned Skoog Your Hot Springs Friends of the Parks’
President, board of directors wants to take this
Friends of the Parks opportunity to celebrate the work of a
To renew your great bunch of volunteers, in collaboration
membership with the support of wonderful sponsors,
or become a who made the 19th annual Du for the Parks
“Park Friend” duathlon, Du It 2 It, and Kid-Du possible on Memorial Day weekend.
mail your annual Many participants went out of the way to tell us how much they
membership fee appreciated the event and how good the volunteers were. We only
Family-$35 wish that all of our sponsors and volunteers could have heard those
Adult-$25 comments first hand. An event like this, made up of several events,
Youth-$10 necessitates volunteers at wide spread locations to take ownership of
Business-$50 what needs to happen at their given spot and sometimes to react on
Organization-$50 short notice to an unexpected occurrence. Even though we can’t list all
to: Friends of the Parks, of our volunteers, we would like to use some of this space to
P.O. Box 996, Hot Springs, acknowledge our generous sponsors for not only making this event
AR 71902-0996 possible, but also, by extension, for their support of the continued
efforts to complete the Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail. Please join us
www.hsfriendsoftheparks.org in thanking these sponsors: Window Mart, Levi Hospital, Arkansas Spa
Pacers, First Baptist Fitness, Family Care Chiropractic Center (Brian
Reilly, D.C.), Bennett’s Plumbing (Jordan Bennett), Parkside Cycle, Barry
Horner, Joe Howe M.D.,MAX-Angel-FBF, Shane’s Central City
Barbershop, Bodycote K-TECH, Burroughs Eye Clinic (Dale R. Burroughs
O.D.), Life Net, Doug Arnold, Hotel Hot Springs, Bruce Smith M.D. and
Cindy Smith, Merrill Lynch (The Comstock-Poole Group), Ned and Kay
Skoog, Spa City Cycling, Rev’d Up Ink,
The Pet Clinic (Michael Whatley
D.V.M.), VAULT, Mountain Man Nut
& Fruit Co., Pro Copy & Mail, Spa
Amateur Radio Association.

It is with mixed emotions that we
congratulate Jean Wallace, Director,
Hot Springs Parks and Trails
Department, upon her retirement
on June 29, 2018. Of course we are
happy for her, and so appreciative of
the focus and leadership she has
shown during her tenure as Director.
Jean has served as liaison between the City and Friends of the Parks
board of directors, but, more than that, she has been a true “friend” to
Friends of the Parks. Her creativity, expertise, positive attitude, and
dedication to creating quality of place for the residents and visitors of
Hot Springs will be sorely missed. We plan on keeping her as involved in
our continuing projects as she has time to share with us. Thank you,
Jean, and we look forward to you being with us as we get ever closer
“TO THE LAKE!

Ken Freeman, aka “The Trail Guy”
Trails Coordinator

City Public Information Director Terry Payne
snapped a photo of The Trail Guy as he spoke
with her about the latest construction project
along the Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail
(HSCGT), while taping a “City News” segment
recently. My thanks to her for the beautiful pho-
tos she took of the project and the creek while
we were there! If you would like to watch the en-
tire video please go to the https://
www.youtube.com/CityofHotSprings,Arkansas
Government and click on the June 22, 2018
Greenway Update video.
Now to give all you trail watchers a quick
update on where the project stands! Due to
extended engineering coordination between the
subcontractors for the elevated boardwalk, the
end date for the project has been extended to
September 11, 2018.
I know you would rather be running and biking
this portion of the trail sooner but let me
explain. Rain in April, May and June of last year
set the project back from the start and
unlike most of the other portions of the
greenway this section is dependent on multiple
subcontractors coordinating and working
together on various pieces making this one of
the more complicated (think IKEA furniture pro-
ject with no instructions) portions of the HSCGT
to complete.
Foundation Specialties, Inc. has worked very
hard to find solutions to challenges they have
met in manufacturing the piling caps and side
bracing to complete their work. Once their work
was complete contractor Ricky Cate of Cate,
Inc. began laying the rest of the stringers and
boardwalk decking.
We appreciate the diligence with which these
contractors have met the challenge and look for-
ward to admiring the finished product!
Until then, keep watching here and on the P&T
Facebook page for further updates.

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On to other trail news, while on the
greenway The Trail Guy snapped a
photo of Mary and Larry Wittnebert
who were spending time on the trail to
recover from airline travel before going
back to work the following day.
They live in the Southern Hills area of
Hot Springs, and are really looking for-
ward to being able to access the
HSCGT from Television Hill Road
when it makes that connection. Until
then, though, they will continue
driving to where they can access the
multiuse pathway that they enjoy so
much.

It’s that time of year! With the temperatures rising we need
to be much more careful about hydrating before, during,
and after recreational activities. Our bodies depend on
water to survive. Every cell, tissue, and organ in our bodies
need water to work properly. Water helps us to maintain
temperature and keep our joints working properly. That’s
important for us trail users!

The Spa Pacers will be hosting their Pace for the Race
(P4TR) Clinic again this Fall (September 11—November 15).
Participants will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays
beginning at 5:45 pm at the Transportation Plaza, 100 Broad-
way Terrace.
P4TR Team Leaders will help train participants in their goal
to complete the race distance of their choice (5k, 10k, or Half
Marathon). There are plenty of categories for everyone to
join: Half Marathon Runners, 10k Runners Beginners, 10k
Runners Intermediate, 5k Runners Beginners, 5k Runners
Intermediate, 5k Walkers beginners, and 5k Walkers Intermediate. Participants will gain
knowledge on safety, nutrition, exercising, injury prevention, and proper gear selection.
Ultimately, the goal during the 10-week clinic is to prepare all participants to reach the finish
line at the Spa Running Festival in November. For more information about the Spa Running
Festival go to www.sparunningfestival.com.
Clinic Leaders Contact Information:
Erin Scott - (501) 282-4948 and Jason Armitage - (501) 318-3088

Park Name and Location Surface Type ADA Length

Baseball Trail Park - 1201 Whittington Ave Asphalt Yes 1/6 Mile
Chattanooga Park - 530 Chattanooga St Asphalt Yes 1/4 Mile

Desoto Park - 1700 Park Ave Asphalt Yes 1/5 Mile

Family Park - 215 Family Park Rd Asphalt Yes 1/5 mile

Entergy Park - 530 Lakepark Dr Asphalt Yes 1/4 Mile
North Loop Trail Asphalt Yes 2/10 Mile
Wildlife Observation Trail 3/4 Mile
Natural Surface No
Water Tower Loop Trail 1/5 Mile

Lakefront Trail Natural Surface No 1/2 Mile
1/10 Mile
Fenceline Trail Natural Surface No 1/10 Mile
1/10 Mile
Eagle Scout Trail Natural Surface No 3/10 Mile
Playground Connector Trail Asphalt Yes 1 Mile
Pavilion on the Point Asphalt No 1/2 Mile
Sunnybrook Connector Trail Asphalt Yes 1/4 Mile
Hill Wheatley Park - 688 Majestic Lodge Rd Natural Surface No
1/4 Mile
Hinsley Park - Kingsway and Meadowlake Natural Surface No 1/2 Mile
Wade Street Park - 300 Wade St Asphalt Yes 2/3 Mile
1/2 Mile
Hot Springs Creek Greenway- Concrete Yes 1/4 Mile
Transportation Plaza Trail Asphalt Yes 1/4 Mile
Valley Street Creekwalk Concrete Yes
Jaycee Trail and Friendship Park Trail Asphalt Yes
Hollywood Trail Asphalt Yes
Blue Heron Trail
Asphalt Yes
Utility Service Center Trail

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More and more Hot Springs residents and visitors are flocking to parks and trails for fitness and
fun! Whether you are on the Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail or a city park trail, it’s good to
follow these simple etiquette rules so everyone has a safe and enjoyable time on the trails.
Be Safe

Always wear a helmet when riding a bicycle
Use bicycle lights and reflectors after dusk/before dawn
Wear bright or light colored clothing so you’re easily seen
Be aware of your surroundings
Carry a charged cell phone and proper identification
Communicate to family and friends where you’re going
Carry water
Utilize the buddy system when possible
Observe posted park rules and hours
Keep an eye on children
Travel at a safe speed
Slow down on curves
Do not ride on wet or muddy nature trails
Dismount and walk you bike on steep nature trails to avoid locking your breaking or skidding
Stay to right and pass with care

Always pass on the left
Ring a bell or give clear, verbal warning to nearby trail users before passing
Yield to oncoming traffic when passing
Bikes yield to pedestrians
Single file in groups
Motorized vehicles are prohibited on trails except motorized wheelchairs

Be Courteous

Stay on the trails to protect vegetation and minimize erosion
“Leave No Trace”- carry out what’s carried in
Do not disturb wildlife
Keep to the edge when stopped to allow others to pass
Be Responsible with pets

Keep all pets on a short leash

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There are two kinds of people in the world: summer lovers and the rest of
the world! Do you know what the phrase “Dog Days of Summer” means? It
means you are in the hottest and steamiest part of summertime. The
effects of the hot, muggy, sultry atmosphere can leave you feeling as if
you are wearing the weather. It’s during these days that you will long for
the hammock, the lake or the pool, a cool breeze before a thunderstorm.
Many of us will be out making great memories at city parks and along local
trails! We encourage you to go see a softball game, laze under a shady
tree, enjoy a frozen summer drink and be sure to take lots of pictures!

Do you know that the third week of July is Capture the Sunset week? We
want to challenge all of our readers to visit their favorite city park or trail
with camera in hand and capture a beautiful Hot Springs sunset! We have
two gorgeous parks on the lake too so start collecting those pics and then
share your best with us on Facebook at Hot Springs Parks & Trails and
use #HSSUNSET. See how many LIKES, LOVES, and WOWS your photo
receives!

Believe it or not July is also National Anti-Boredom Month! We hope you
find lots of ways to alleviate your boredom with picnics, cook-outs, playing
or watching softball, basketball, and soccer, bike rides along the
greenway, concerts in the park, skateboarding, walking or running the
trails, swimming, boating, fishing, geo-caching, making new friends, and
capturing beautiful sunsets all while snapping great photos and sharing
them with us on Facebook!

WOW! How could you ever get bored in July?

Enjoy the Dog Days of Summer while you can because as of June 21,
2018 the days have already started to shorten! Catch all the rays you can
and have fun at your city parks and trails

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Summertime is here and the boats are on all of the three beautiful lakes in our area.
Before you head out to play in the water take a moment to go over some boating
safety tips to be best prepared.
According to the American Boating Association’s 2018 report, 85% of boating
accidents that resulted in death, the victim was not wearing a life jacket. Be sure to
buckle up! One size does not fit all so try it on and check the fit. Be sure to replace
any life jackets that have mildew or rot and check jackets for flotation each year.
Be sure you have all of the supplies and equipment you need to have the best
boating experience for you and your passengers. First aid kits, life jackets, radios,
charts, gps, tool kits, weather forecasting equipment, towels, flares, fire extinguish-
ers, and more are listed on the American Boating Association’s website.
You should also have proper boating and safety education classes under your belt.
Be sure to service your boat regularly and check all equipment and batteries for
erosion or other damage.
Check your weather conditions and forecast! Know what kind of day you will be
facing. Don’t be caught unprepared on the water.
The U.S. Coast Guard provides great boating safety videos online at https://
www.uscgboating.org/multimedia/videos.php.

Improve the quality of life in Hot Springs by providing
and modeling proper trail etiquette and safety as
well as assisting users in trail navigation.

A 30 minute information class where you will receive
a vest and supplies will take place on the second
Tuesday of each month, March-September.

To sign-up call Kathleen at 501-321-6871 or
email [email protected]. For more information about
the Trail Watch program and proper trail etiquette go
to www.cityhs.net and look under the Parks & Trails

Department for Trail Watch.

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To volunteer on a Growing Healthy Hot Springs
committees contact one of the committee chairs below.

Community Gardens:

Jodie Sprague - President of the HS Area CG Network
Phone: 501-802-3469
Email: [email protected]
Dave Reagan - Volunteer, Park Haven CG
Phone: 501-538-8283
Email: [email protected]

Walkability:

Jean Wallace - Director, City of Hot Springs Parks & Trails
Phone: 501-321-6870
Email: [email protected]

Nutrition Education:

Alisha Chatman, Levi Hospital, Director of Community Health
Phone: 501-622-3325
Email: [email protected]

Worksite Wellness:

Minnie Lenox - Director, City of Hot Springs Human Resources
Phone: 501-321-6840
Email: [email protected]

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