Department Happenings.........................................................3

Department Happenings

National Parks and Recreation Month

Special thanks to High Point Mayor Jay Wagner and members of the High Point City Council for their declaration of July 2022 as National Parks and Recreation Month in our city! We profiled volunteers and staff and shared how and why they “rise up” for parks and recreation - why it matters in our community! Marshall Newsome, Chairman of the High Point Parks & Recreation Commission said in part, “I rise up for Parks and Recreation as the volunteer chair of the High Point Parks & Recreation Commission because I am a community advocate, and the services provided by Parks & Recreation are so important to the health and resilience of our community.”

Marshall Newsome, Chairman of the High Point Parks & Recreation Commission Pictured with Mayor Wagner (center) are High Point Parks & Recreation Director, Lee Tillery, left, and Assistant Director, Tracy Pegram.

Welcome Kaylee Mayhew!

Please join us in welcoming Kaylee Mayhew, recreation attendant, to the High Point Parks & Recreation team! Kaylee, who will work primarily as part of our ASPIRE staff, grew up in Charlotte and recently graduated from UNC-Greensboro with a degree in parks and recreation management with a concentration in recreation therapy. She loves animals, yoga, food, coffee, interacting with people and learning new skills and hobbies.

When asked what drew her to choosing a career in parks and recreation, Kaylee said, “I have a younger sister who is in high school and has cerebral palsy. When she was born, I immediately became invested in helping my mom provide the best quality of life for her. Eventually, it became my passion to do the same for others through recreation.”

ASPIRE provides the Adaptive Sports, Programs & Inclusive Recreation programs offered by High Point Parks & Recreation for people with disabilities and their families. For more information on ASPIRE, including volunteer opportunities, please visit www.highpointnc.gov/pr or call 336.883.3477.

"There were a lot of great activities for a great price. It was a great experience and my son had an awesome time." – Parent of participant in Adventure Spring Break Camp @ Allen Jay Recreation Center

Focus On

Celebrating High Point City Lake Park: Past, Present and Future

Everyone in the Triad, and especially in High Point and Jamestown, knows High Point City Lake Park. Nearly everyone has a story about spending time here, whether it’s about riding the train, celebrating a birthday or family reunion, swimming in the iconic pool or attending a community event.

Maybe you’ve fished in the beautiful waters of the Arnold J. Koonce, Jr. Lake, or ridden on the pontoon boat for a Fall Leaf Tour. Remember smelling the unmistakable aroma of hot dogs and hamburgers cooking on a nearby grill as you rode the train and screamed – as loudly as possible – as you traveled through that spooky, dark tunnel?

City Lake, now known as the Arnold J. Koonce, Jr. City Lake, or High Point City Lake was created in 1927 when the City of High Point built a dam across the Deep River. In addition to serving as a water source for the city, the lake quickly became popular with boaters and fishermen and still is.

The park currently encompasses 243 acres of park land, with 10 picnic shelters of varying sizes. High Point City Lake Park has served as a community gathering place and a cultural hub for community events, large and small, since it opened in the 1930s.

The park’s first expansion in 1935 featured a large pool, thought by many to be the largest pool between Atlanta and New York, an open air pavilion and amphitheater. With funding from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the project was extremely labor-intensive and employed over 700 local men, providing much-needed income to families during the Great Depression.

Swimming exhibitions took place every week, and hundreds of people swam every day during the warm weather months of the 1940s. Swimming lessons were popular, and swimming teams formed that became a huge part of life for High Point’s youth for decades. On hot summer days, you can still find hundreds of people enjoying the cool blue waters of the High Point City Lake pool.

The park’s gymnasium was added in 1960. It was notable for hosting many athletic competitions, including amateur boxing matches. Some amateur boxers who competed here would go on to box or coach on the professional level and in the Olympics, including Leon Spinks and Michael Spinks, Sarge Johnson and Ken Norton.