Angelica Ramos
Contributing Writer
CHRISTIANSBURG- Christiansburg celebrated the beginning of summer with a plaque unveiling and the Spring into Summer event.
Christiansburg Parks and Recreation Department along with Mayor Mike Barber and other community affiliates, hosted the Spring into Summer Event this past Thursday, May 23, 2024 at the new Huckleberry Park. The festivities opened with a speech by Parks and Recreation Director Brad Epperley, a presentation of the new water-resistant wheelchairs, and a plaque unveiling by Barber. Residents and community members were offered plenty of activities and recreational fun from 11 a.m. into the evening hours with the sun setting as residents played ultimate frisbee.
Huckleberry Park was built in the fall of 2023. The park sits on approximately 50 acres of land, including the popular Splash Pad where residents can be seen enjoying the water works all day long and the field complex where local sports groups come out to play and practice sports like soccer, frisbee, lacrosse, and hopefully a kickball team.
The water-resistant wheelchairs presented are part of Huckleberry Park’s mission to provide an inclusive space for citizens to enjoy, giving everyone the opportunity to play and recreate regardless of ability. Epperley said accessibility and inclusivity are important, and the water-resistant wheelchairs are meant to be used in the splash pad area so that residents with disabilities do not have to risk water damage to their devices.
“In designing the park, we wanted a splash pad and the popularity of it has grown since the first day we opened,” Epperley said. “With the splash pad, we also wanted to make sure we could provide the opportunity of enjoyment to individuals in mobility devices. Obviously, everyone deserves the opportunity to play in the splash pad and now, with these water-resistant devices, we are able to provide that opportunity to people for free. My hope is that with this inclusive play opportunity and equipment, it will allow everyone to enjoy this wonderful splash pad without worry of water destruction to their own devices.”
The Spring into Summer event had so much for residents to enjoy, from food trucks like Wang’s Food, Bull n Bones and Aloha Eddies to yoga atop the hill and bingo in the pavilion. There was sliced watermelon for all to enjoy and dogs from the Montgomery County Animal Care and Adoption Center for the community to meet and play with. Later in the evening, the fields were open for ultimate frisbee, soccer and kickball. If those events were not speaking to you, the splash pad, the green spaces, the playground and so much more were abuzz with activity and opportunities to play. With this being the first Spring into Summer event, Epperly said the department cannot wait to see how it grows over the years. There are hopes for a petting zoo next year, and they hope to continue to provide a mix of structured recreational events as well as passive recreation during Spring into Summer events in the future.
“We are building something that is much deeper than just recreation,” Epperley said. “We are building an environment that is inclusive and one that we can strive to make it an everyday occurrence to provide opportunities for individuals of all abilities. When we started this journey of developing the park, we had a vision of what we wanted. We wanted a balance of active and passive recreation. We wanted inclusive play. We wanted a balance of athletic events and games. We wanted locations that families and organizations could come and fellowship.”
