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December 2021 Newsletter
Happy New Year!
Join us as we recap all of our events and accomplishments throughout 2021!
Became a Supportive Member of Preston County Parks & Rec
Announcing wonderful news for the New Year!



PCPaRC has been awarded a $77,520 grant for the construction of an ADA-compliant platform pavilion at the Kingwood Trailhead Park! Work under this grant includes engineering design & construction oversight, construction materials & labor, electric wiring and hook-up, and an asphalt path. We are excited to build on the recent progress on the West Virginia Northern Rail-Trail and its trailhead parks. Please join us in extending a huge thank you to the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust. They invest locally into WV projects throughout the state and we are honored they chose to fund a WVNRT project for the second year in a row. This investment will truly help efforts to offer more recreational opportunities within our county.


The Dirty Double Gravel Bike Race was a huge success thanks to the many sponsors, volunteers, and racers that turned out to make it possible! Lots of challenging and fun terrain, beautiful weather, riverside camping, music, river floating, kids cruising around on bikes, and delicious food were enjoyed. Best of all, $1,000 was raised for county recreation projects! 
We had 59 racers on the Saturday course, with 1:57:04.24 by Grant Rumble as the men's fastest time and 2:16:03.19 by Traci Judge as the women's fastest time. On Sunday's course, we had 42 racers, with 2:08:51.54 by Chase Poling as the men's fastest time and 2:36:50.56 by Traci Judge as the women's fastest time. Check out the race route and race results at https://www.pcparc.org/dirtydouble.html.
If you weren't able to join us in 2021, stay tuned and check it out in 2022!
 








 
    

Our second year of Wellness in the Park was a great success! Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from April through September our instructors Brooke, Christie, Holly, Jennifer, Samantha, and Talia brought fitness classes to the communities of Bruceton Mills, Masontown, and Terra Alta. And much of the success of this program is owed to our amazing volunteers and community recreation leaders! We've been so fortunate to have these core volunteers: Kristy, Aubrey, Madison, and Luiza at Bruceton Mills; Christina and Faith at Masontown; and Kathy, Jenni, and Linette at Terra Alta. A big and special thank you go out to all our volunteer instructors and recreation assistants! Thank you to our participating Town Parks, Mountains of Hope Cancer Coalition, Preston Memorial Hospital, and the WVU Exercise Physiology Department for making this program possible.






Our first Junior Rangers Summer Camp week was a success! Campers spent an entire week outside learning about different aspects of being a park ranger. Campers enjoyed STEM activities, learning about and engaging in environmental stewardship, bike riding, creek splashing, and more - all at the Masontown Trailhead Park and along the Deckers Creek Rail-Trail. A big thank you to all of our volunteers that made this camp possible, including our counselors Madison, Faith, Luiza, and Audrey; Friends of Deckers Creek; the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, and WVU Science Behind Cycling. 
Show your support with a PCPaRC sticker! 
 
We now have stickers available for $5! These 4" stickers are perfect for showing off your love of Preston County Parks on your water bottle, laptop,  bumper, or wherever! Stickers can be purchased online at the PCPaRC shop. All proceeds benefit the development and maintenance of PCPaRC parks and trails and support of PCPaRC programming county-wide. Stay tuned for more PCPaRC merch coming soon!
Get Your River T-Shirt!



Our love-those-river-days t-shirt is available for purchase!
One of the best things about living in Preston County is having recreational access to rivers like the Cheat and the Big Sandy. Whether for canoeing, kayaking, rafting, SUP boarding, tubing, swimming, or fishing, show your love for our beloved rivers through this Parks & Rec fundraiser tee.
Only 60 shirts available. Visit the PCPaRC shop to purchase.
Masontown Trailhead Park Improvements
 

We're keeping busy with improvements to the park! Next time you visit, see if you can spot the 30 trees planted this past Spring in partnership with Mon River Trails Conservancy, the new wooden bench and freshly painted raised beds thanks to young volunteers, the kiosk featuring activities you and your family can do at the park, the Zach LeMaire Eagle Scout outdoor education classroom, and the board games painted near the raised beds by our Junior Rangers.
Tunnelton Trailhead Park Improvements
 
More progress has been made towards transforming the former pumphouse and maintenance building site into the Tunnelton Trailhead Park! The town of Tunnelton has generously donated the small lot behind the buildings to be a part of the park; wood art panels have been installed, made possible through funding from the WV Department of Arts, Culture, and History (WVDACH) and Friends of the Cheat (FOC); electric was installed through a generous anonymous donation; and security cameras were installed through a FOC Preston Trail Towns Partner Program grant.
Additionally, if you loved the gorgeous log benches that were generously made and donated by Jay Bob of Tunnelton, then you're really going to love the two little free libraries that he has made and donated! One is already out along the Tunnelton end of the trail and the other will be installed here at the trailhead park.
Update on Kingwood Trailhead Park
 


We hope you are enjoying the latest updates to the Kingwood Trailhead Park! If you haven't seen them yet, get out if you can. Improvements made to the Kingwood Trailhead Park this summer were made possible by a generous $64,520 grant from Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust and a $5,000 grant from the WVU Center for Active WV. Funds from the Center for Active WV went towards creating the foundation of the Natural Play Area with the placement of three natural boulders and addition of mulched safety surfacing. Funds from HRMCT went towards grading the half of the park closest to the trail, stormwater drainage improvements, landscaping, a park entrance sign, a log tunnel for the natural playground, surveying, and a 30-car event parking lot. Additional thanks go to Stone Paving, Brown's Mill Excavating, Tathams, and Studio on Stony Run for their hard work towards this project. Please join us in extending a thank you to all those involved and we look forward to future projects at this site!

If you are interested in supporting park development projects, we are actively seeking funding for an event market pavilion, skatepark, and mountain bike skills park at this location. Contact prestoncountyparks@gmail.com for more information.
Join the PCPaRC Trail & Park Crews! 


 
PCPaRC is looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join our Parks and Trail Crew! We have a lot of projects planned throughout the year, and any interested volunteers or groups can contact us at prestoncountyparks@gmail.com to get involved! Follow us on Facebook to get updates on scheduled work days at Masontown Trailhead Park, Tunnelton Trailhead Park, Kingwood Trailhead Park, and along the WV Northern Rail-Trail. 
The WV Northern Rail-Trail is up for Adoption!

Interested in helping us improve and maintain the WVNRT?
We're looking for dedicated trail stewards! This can be for individuals, families, businesses, community organizations, faith groups, or anyone else.  Trail stewards routinely monitor their sections and report on issues that need to be addressed as well as pick up trash and help clear brush as needed. 
If you're interested check out the following sections available and contact prestoncountyparks@gmail.com:
 
1)  Tunnelton Street (Civic Center) to Sisler Street (Kingwood Trailhead Park)
2)  Sisler Street to Tunnelton Street
3)  Tunnelton Street to Preston Concrete Plant
4)  Preston Concrete Plant to Snider Loop
5)  Snider Loop to Company House Road
6)  Company House Road to Borgman Crossing Road
7)  Borgman Crossing Road to Company House Road
8)  Company House Road to Birds Creek Road
9)  Birds Creek Road to Mountain View Road
10)  Mountain View Road to Smokeless
11)  Smokeless to Tunnelton Pumphouse Trailhead Park
12)  Pumphouse to Campground Road
Country Kids 4-H Volunteers
 
4-H youth helped bring needed improvements to the Masontown Trailhead Park! Kaylee Weimer, a young woodworker, used her skills to give back to her community. After coming up with a project plan and writing a grant application to fund the materials, she received the good news that her grant application was selected and awarded funding. Her friend and fellow 4-Her, Sophia Saurino, volunteered to help and together they built a lovely park bench. Later, with help from Kaylee's parents, they installed it at the park, close to the rail-trail. It's the perfect location to sit and listen to the sound of Deckers Creek as it meanders by. Thank you to Kaylee, Sophia, and funders- "My Hands to Larger Service” 4-H grant!
While bench installation was taking place, Gabrielle Saurino and Maddie Funk volunteered to stain the park flower boxes AND as part of a community service project for Gabrielle's 4-H project, they prepared and served cookies and iced tea refreshments to all volunteers that day.  Thank you to Gabrielle and Maddie!
Kids' Art Day

A special thanks to all the families and kids that came out to the Kids' Art Day to be a part of the art making for the Tunnelton Trailhead Park! The artwork created was beyond our wildest imagination! Together we are transforming this space into a community park for everyone to enjoy and we hope you all will come out and see these amazing art pieces installed at their new home. Thank you Preston Trail Towns, Friends of the Cheat, Eddie Spaghetti Art, all the artists involved, and the WV Department of Arts, History, and Culture for making this possible!
Preston Rambles
 
Kick off the New Year & follow our Trail of the Week program through the winter season! Each Sunday throughout the winter we will announce a Preston County trail for you to explore that week. Grab your friends & family, bundle up, and get outside! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for additional event details.
Thank you to our RUN FOR IT team and the Preston County Commission for their annual financial support to this fundraiser!
We raised over $1,000!
PCPaRC float in the Buckwheat Festival Parade. This year we were proud to help sponsor the Buckwheat Mile and Irish Road Bowling events. If you missed out on these events, be sure to join us next year!
PCPaRC was a proud sponsor of Blueprint Communities Kingwood's Ugly Sweater Sweater Fun Run that took place just before the Christmas Parade, Tree Lighting Ceremony, and pictures with and gifts given by Santa and Ms. Claus. There were a lot of amazingly awesome ugly sweaters and tons of happy kids! Looking forward to this as an annual holiday tradition!
Upcoming Events

Love Bug Fun Run - 2/12/2022
Dirty Double Gravel Bike Race - 6/4-5/2022
Wellness in the Park - 5/30-9/2/2022
Junior Rangers Camp - 6/6-10/2022
Visit our website for events and recreation resources
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Copyright © *2020*, All rights reserved.
*www.pcparc.org*

Our mailing address is:
*PO Box 594 Kingwood WV 26537* 
Our email address is:
*prestoncountyparks@gmail.com* 

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