Howling over Arts & Rec

The town made several improvements to the Arts and Recreation Center on Lee Street including installing air conditioning in the gymnasium. The vents above players practicing recently allow for more comfortable warm-weather programming in the facility.

New dog park, rec center updates among reasons for residents to tail wag

By Donna Marie Williams

Ayden fnally has a park that’s worth barking about.

Ayden Arts and Recreation celebrated the opening of its of leash dog park Oct. 2 — an addition among many tail-wagging developments with the department this year.

Te desire for a dog park in Ayden was “overwhelming” in a survey conducted by Arts and Rec in 2018.

“People wanted it and said they wouldn’t mind driving to the dog park,” Arts and Recreation Director Tommy Duncan said.

With that in mind, town leaders set their sites on establishing a safe site for pups to play at Te Ayden District Park, 3909 Jolly Road.

Te park was large enough and a great location for everyone to hold events and have fun outdoors, especially in the summer when the splash pad opens, said park advocate and Town Commissioner Raymond Langley.

Langley also saw the need for a dog park with many in town having small to no backyards.

“I feel the dog park is an amenity that helps our citizens and visitors — especially those that live in apartments as well as those that don’t have a fenced-in area for the dogs to be safe and be able to exercise and roam around freely and be social with other dogs as permitted by the owners,” Langley said. With ample room to play, the facility is situated in a fenced half acre at the District Park. It lets dogs run freely unleashed. Benches, trash cans and doggy bags are provided to assist canine companions and ensure the park is kept clean.

“It gives the people a place to take their dogs so they can socialize. A lot of people have a small backyard or no backyard at all. Tis gives them a place for their dogs to exercize,” Duncan said.

Te park also gives residents a place to meet fellow dog lovers and like-minded community members.

Tis allows for friendship and a sense of community to evolve in Ayden, Duncan said.

“Tey socialize while the dogs are socializing with other dogs. It’s a good meeting place for people to meet new people and make friends and for people to meet other dog lovers,” Duncan said.

Since opening, Langley has been one to frequent the park taking along his pit bullhound mix Zoey.

“Te frst day of opening we had several people attend to exercise their dogs, we had people from out of state that really enjoyed the fact that Ayden has a dog park. I feel as we continue to let people know that it is available, we will continue to see more people using the park,” Langley said.

Te park was partially funded through a grant from the Pitt County Economic Development Commission.

While the park is modest now, Ayden Arts and Recreation hopes to add fun obstacles for the dogs to interact with, Duncan said.

Tommy Duncan

“It’s closer than the ones in Greenvile and Kinston. We don’t have the amenities these have yet, but we are looking at adding to it,” Duncan said.

Te dog park is just one means of furthering the mission of Ayden Arts and Recreation which seeks to provide the greater Ayden community with a safe place for both adult and youth programming and sports.

With four parks, a recreation complex and special programming and events, the town has something for everyone, Duncan said.

Arts and Recreation Center

Housed in the former Ayden High School, the Ayden Arts Recreation Center serves as the headquarters for department at 4354 Lee St.

Te center is home to the second largest auditorium in Pitt County, with an 850-seat capacity, classrooms and newly completed renovations to the Coach Stuart Tripp Gymnasium.

Completed just this year, the renovations included updating the gym’s 1950s bathrooms by replacing the plumping and tiling, air conditioning the gym, expanding and updating the lobby area complete with a television displaying upcoming events, schedules and standings as well as an updated concessions stand.

Te center is also the home to a sofball feld, skateboard park, outdoor basketball court and a variety of both adult and youth programs.

Four Parks

In the heart of Ayden lies Ayden’s Veteran Park at 495 Snow Hill St. Veteran’s Park is home to an inclusive playground updated in 2015. Along with a zipline, handicap swing, climbing bars and slide set, the park also features a bathroom, picnic shelter and tennis court.

Located at 1110 Hardy St., J.J. Brown Park is a community pocket park featuring play equipment and a swing set. Te park also features a picnic shelter.

Te District Park sits on 52 acres at 3909 Jolly Road. So far it features a quarter-milelong walking trail, playground equipment, two beach volleyball courts, a swing set, picnic shelter and bathrooms. It is home to the Mary Alice Brown Davenport Splashpad, which operates during the summer, an 18-hole disc golf course and two football/soccer felds.

Te newest and smallest park in Ayden is the Pocket Park in an alley just of Lee Street. It transforms the vacant alley into a green space designed for walkability and as a shortcut between downtown businesses and as a gathering spot. It is equipped with benches and a scenic mural created by Ayden native Mark Brown featuring Lt. Col. Sammy A. Pierce of the United States Air Force.

Programs For All

Arts and Recreation hosts a variety of programs for adults and youth. Recently, the department has added adult kickboxing to its roster. Te class is taught by world-class champion Demetrius “Oaktree” Edwards who has boxed with Mike Tyson.

Te department is also slated to host a line dancing class beginning in January.

Te department ofers a variety of recreational sports programming for youth including soccer, football, volleyball and basketball.

Adults volleyball and kickball are also hosted by the department. Also for adults, the department ofers pottery, yoga classes and more.

Visit www.ayden.com/departments/arts-recreation for more information.

Special Programs

Te department ofers summer camps and special summer programs ranging in topics each week. From specialty sports camps — including basketball, soccer, cheerleading, twirl, sofball, volleyball and football, to cooking, art, rocket camp to its own police academy and outdoor adventure camp, the camps ofer something for all ages.

It hosts special events throughout the year, including its Kite Festival in April, springtime Mother & Son and Father & Daughter dances and Easter Egg Hunt.

Trough partnerships with other organizations, Arts and Rec hosts Family Splash Day at the splashpad, a Halloween celebration and Breakfast with Santa.

“It’s good to have partnerships. It lessens the load on each department. Tere is a lot of planning and a lot more things that go into planning events than people realize. When you have someone to help share the load — especially since our department is only comprised of three people — it really helps out,” Duncan said.

Looking Ahead In his soon-to-be 11 years as director, Duncan has been pleased with the growth and progress of the department.

Ayden Town Commissioner Raymond Langley plays with his dogs at the new off leash dog facility at the District Park on Jolly Road. Langley advocated for the facility so people who don’t have backyards have a place to play with their pups.

“Every year we were growing as far as the number of people that are using our facilities or using our programs. We got to a point where it was a steady incline,” Duncan said.

“We were steadily growing by 100 year afer year.”

He expects the trend will continue as more than 700 homes are expected in the near future.

“We are hoping more to grow more in our programming and looking at more programs for adults. We have a really good pottery class now and we would like to see more of those programs established. We’d like to see the staf expand to handle some more of the maintenance loads of the building. Tere are also a couple of new sports — like handball — I’d like to try,” Duncan said.

Duncan is also grateful for his staf and coaches and parents who volunteer their time and skills for the department.

“All of our youth sports are coached by volunteer parents or community members that love the sport and want to teach young kids how to play it,” Duncan said.

“Coaches are the backbone of the whole program. If we don’t get the volunteer coaches we can’t run the program. We have to have them to run the teams so the kids can play. Tey are very critical and if it won’t for these people taking time out of their lives to do that, people don’t realize the dedication it takes to coach a time, a lot of time and energy comes into it. We have a lot of respect for our coaches and really thank them for the unthankful job they have. We have a lot of respect and thank our parents for bringing the kids to practice. It takes a lot of efort from everybody.”

Te department is working with community members to restart the Arts and Recreation Foundation.

“It’s like a booster club for arts and recreation. Tey will help with fundraising and raising money to complete the Ayden District Park as well as raising funds for under-

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privileged kids so they can participate in recreation programs,” Duncan said.

While programming and oferings may change, the Arts and Rec staf remain committed to their mission, Duncan said.

“We work when other people play, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time while you are working. Te most critical part of our job is to make sure other people are having a fun and safe time. It’s our job to make sure they are enjoying what they are doing,” Duncan said.

He said a good recreation department improves quality of life when it ofers a variety of programs and facilities to keep everybody engaged.

“It keeps kids active and doing things. We also have high school kids that work for us as recreation leaders,” Duncan said, adding some of the recreation leaders discovered a passion for arts and recreation through the program.

“Tey grew up playing here, went of to college and received a job in the feld.”

For more information about Ayden Arts and Recreation or to learn more or register for programs and oferings visit aydenartsandrec.recdesk.com.

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