Twin City Parks and Waterways makes progress
A drawing of future improvements to the Panhandle Passage Park in Uhrichsville. A new group, Twin City Parks and Waterways, is helping to complete the project.
Anew group, Twin City Parks and Waterways, is working to enhance recreation and draw tourists to the Uhrichsville and Dennison area. The group has been resurrected from a previous group to one that will have more influence.
“We had never formalized the group, and now we’ve actually gotten our nonprofit status,” said Rita McPeak, president of the group.
Prior to the pandemic, the informal group had some success.
“The biggest thing that the group had done, at that point, was to try to extend the Panhandle Trail in Dennison into Uhrichsville and create a loop trail,” McPeak said. “We came up with a route and got directional signs.”
The group also wrote a grant application for creek cleanup but couldn’t submit it because it wasn’t an official nonprofit. The group handed the application over to the City of Uhrichsville to submit, and some cleanup was done. During COVID the group went dormant.
“Then what happened is when Beth (DiDonato) took over as executive director of the (Twin City Chamber of Commerce) not quite a year ago, she really wanted to clean up this piece of land that the chamber owns that had been envisioned as a park space for a decade and it never really got completed,” McPeak said of the Panhandle Passage Park.
DiDonato pulled in other groups to help and serve on a new parks and waterways board that included members of the Dennison Rotary, Clayland Lions, Claymont Foundation and the 922 Initiative.
“She’s made it her mission to get it completed and create a great space,” McPeak said.
Once that project is done, the work of the new organization will continue.
The purpose of the TCPW is to support the development, expansion and maintenance of the parks, trails and waterways in the greater Uhrichsville and Dennison communities. The group strives to work in harmony with each community’s parks committees. its activities will include fundraising, educational programs and projects, and to act as a fiscal agent for donations.
The officers and their affiliations are McPeak, founder/principal of Clay Capital Development LLC and also a member and the building committee chair of the Clay Capital Heritage Center Advisory Board; Martha Wells, vice president and the immediate past president of the Dennison Rotary; Cyndy Host, secretary and involved with the Claymont Foundation, the Clayland Lions and a board member for Claymont Schools; and Rob Murry, treasurer and financial secretary of the Claymont Foundation, secretary of the Clayland Lions and finance chair of the Twin City Chamber of Commerce.
Board members are as follows:
—Beth DiDonato, executive director of the Twin City Chamber of Commerce and member of Clay Capital Heritage Center Advisory Board.
—Matt Fox, a Uhrichsville City Council representative and chair of the Uhrichsville Council Parks Committee.
—Kene Edwards, a Dennison Village Council representative and chair of the Dennison Council Parks Committee.
—Diane Smith, with the 922 Initiative and affiliated with Empower Tusc, a Tuscarawas County anti-drug coalition.
—Jesse Rothacher, Tuscarawas County parks manager and serves as a nonvoting member of the board.
With the new group, there is more expertise to share. Treasurer Rob Murry, a retired accountant, knew how to navigate the process and paperwork of becoming a nonprofit.
“He knew how to fill out the forms. He knew what to say. He and I worked on it together, filled out the paperwork, and it was surprisingly easy because he knew what to do. I was kind of frozen with the idea of I don’t know how to fill out this information properly,” McPeak said.
At the group’s September meeting, it received a $3,000 donation to place the flagpole and flag at the Panhandle Passage Park. It also received donations of fill dirt to level the park property to complete the development. Once completed, the park will offer stream access for canoeing and kayaking. The group also received a Zimmerman grant for $4,000 and is pursuing other grants. It also is looking at selling personalized bricks this winter to help fund the projects.
Clearing of the arch bridge was completed, which will lead to safer waterways and less stress on the bridge. The group has been working with Bridge’s Excavating to clear the waterways and manage the fill at the Panhandle Passage Park.
The group hopes to work together with other groups to tie projects together for a better opportunity to receive grants.
The group’s board is currently full, but they would welcome volunteers and are seeking donations to help with their projects. Donations may be sent to Twin City Parks and Waterways Inc., P.O. Box 181, Uhrichsville, OH 44683.
TCPW meetings are open to the public. The next meeting will be Monday, Oct. 23 at 6 p.m. at Uhrichsville’s East of Chicago restaurant.