Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Kids In Parks topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Spanish Moss Trail named a Kids in Parks Track Trail as county, city and partners mark grand opening
Summary
Friends of the Spanish Moss Trail, Beaufort County and the city of Beaufort celebrated a ribbon cutting marking the downtown connector and the trail’s designation as a Kids in Parks Track Trail; organizers said the program encourages children to explore the trail network and earn mailed prizes.
Dean Moss, executive director of the Friends of the Spanish Moss Trail, and Teddy Garrick, South Carolina program manager for Kids in Parks, announced that the Spanish Moss Trail has been designated a Kids in Parks Track Trail and celebrated the site’s ribbon cutting. The designation joins the trail to a national network of roughly 350 Kids in Parks locations, about 75 of them in South Carolina, organizers said.
Teddy Garrick said Kids in Parks uses printed brochures and signage to encourage children to learn about local nature, complete activities such as ‘Birds of the Spanish Moss Trail’ and ‘animal athletes,’ and register their visits at kidsandparks.com to receive a prize by mail. “We hope that the kids in parks program here on the Spanish Moss Trail is something that kids enjoy for years and years and years to come,” Garrick said.
Organizers emphasized accessibility: the trail runs close to schools and neighborhoods, enabling elementary classes and families to walk to the track-trail features. Dean Moss noted that Beaufort Elementary students and teachers walked the new downtown connector to take part in the celebration and thanked the Beaufort County Library and volunteers for story-walk pages and two small lending libraries installed near the trailhead.
Garrick and Friends leaders said the local Kids in Parks installation was funded through a grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina Foundation, via its Diabetes Free SC program, which provided support for three track-trail sites in the county. The program manager said community stakeholders selected the Spanish Moss Trail for its accessibility and potential to engage children, and that registered participants receive a mailed prize to reinforce repeat visits.
Organizers urged families to visit the trail, use the brochures, and register online to participate. The event concluded with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and instructions to visit the new signage and children’s lending libraries located near the Depot Road trailhead.
