After a year and a half, Friend of Ferrum Park can swing and slide their way onto the 83 acres of land signed into the non-profit’s name.
Director Rebecca Saunders said she feels an incredible amount of relief.
“I think there was a constant fear of something happening after fighting with the county for so long just to get them to agree to sell it to us,” Saunders said. “We know there were some folks at the county who really didn’t want our nonprofit to use this land for a park, so there was always an underlying fear of something happening that would stop the sale from moving forward.”
She added that all of the barriers that were once in place are gone, and now, the FOFP can move forward with their plans.
Those plans are already in motion.
“We’ve got some work coming up late this fall on getting the trails cleaned up and marked out so folks can feel more comfortable using them,” Saunders said. “We are currently waiting to hear back about a grant for improvements to the Farm and Craft Market location, and a group of us will be spending the winter writing more grants to hopefully help fund the market pavilion.”
FOFP is also looking into the cost of an RV site to bring in passive revenue, which will help them pay the monthly land payments.
All of this is now able to take place because FOFP owns the land, and Saunders said she is grateful for the process.
“I think you appreciate the wins more after the losses. It shouldn’t have had to have been as much of a fight as it was, but coming together for something really helped to strengthen our bonds as a community,” she said. “The only thing I would’ve changed was the lack of county-level support. I’m sad that a few folks couldn’t see the benefit of what we are trying to do and ultimately made the whole process a lot harder than necessary.”
Although the county might’ve made the process longer and harder, the Ferrum community continued to show support.
“It cannot be stated enough, without the support of the community, none of this would have been possible. From showing up at the Supervisor meetings to calling, emailing, and bending the Supervisor’s ears every time they saw them out and about,” Saunders said. “We’re a stubborn bunch in the best possible ways.”
The community has also reached into their pocket books to help FOFP.
“In just four months, we were able to raise enough for the down payment, along with a year’s worth of loan payments,” Saunders said. “That kind of support cannot be understated. None of this would have been possible without the Ferrum community’s support, and we will continue to work tirelessly to make sure it all happens.”
Saunders’ goal for the park is to create a space uniquely its own.
“Our hope is that the park will offer the community a place to gather for events, picnics, reunions, and birthdays, or just a nice quiet hike through some beautiful woods,” Saunders said. “For the amenities–from the playground design to the amphitheater to the dog park–(they) are all unique, and we hope folks will be exited to use them. We want to lean into art, history, and environmental education while preserving as much of the habitat as possible.”
To make all of this possible, FOFP is in fundraising mode.
“We’re pretty excited for the events we have coming up next year. We’ll be expanding the Farm and Craft Market a bit. We’re also planning on reviving a monthly flatfoot dance throughout the summer at the Crossroad Ruritan, along with an even bigger Haunted Trail next year,” Saunders said.
She continued that FOFP also has a big event they are planning for spring called the Southwest Virginia Alternative Living Festival.
“We’ll be inviting speakers to talk about various topics related to living alternatively, from building homes, to building van conversions and skoolies,” ashe said.
The park doesn’t have a completion date yet, but FOFP isn’t ruling out any future projects.
“I’m pretty sure our nonprofit board will take a much needed rest, but knowing all of us, we’ll definitely find another project to take on once everything is finally done at the park,” Saunders said.
