The rain that poured down on a recent Friday morning only served to make the Lick Run Greenway foliage greener, as the Kiwanis Club of Roanoke presented a check to Roanoke City Parks and Greenways planner Donnie Underwood, City Manager Darlene Burcham and Mayor David Bowers.
The $10,000 grant will be used for signs, mileposts, teacher’s guides and other additions that will enhance the educational benefits of the greenway system. J. Andree Brooks, president of the Kiwanis Club of Roanoke, believes the greenway is especially valuable to kids living in the city, since “city kids” are often limited in their exposure to nature.
“The focus of our projects is working with seniors, working with parks and rec. and our environment, and working with children in need, particularly in education,” Brooks said. “This project, with the greenways, combines all of that.”
City councilman Rupert Cutler, who had been helping to coordinate efforts between the Kiwanis Club and the city, emphasized his hope that the greenways will help children become involved in the environment.
“This is a project that will save our children from ‘nature deficit disorder,’” Cutler said, borrowing a phrase from Richard Louv’s 2005 book “Last Child in the Woods”. Cutler said the book was an inspiration for this project.
In addition to being a valuable educational tool, the greenways also benefit senior citizens in the Roanoke area by giving them a place to exercise. Kiwanians will also be donating their own “sweat equity,” doing work in the park, picking up trash and installing the signs.
The project is part of a celebration of the Kiwanis Club’s 90th anniversary celebration. It will continue for two years and involve two more greenways, which have yet to be selected. 2009 marks 89 years of service by the Kiwanis Club in Roanoke.
Roanoke mayor David Bowers also spoke, thanking the Kiwanis Club for their donation, while musing on the old nickname for Roanoke, the “Magic City.” The environment along the Lick Run Greenway, Bowers said, is indeed magical.
“It’s magical when we can look out and see the beautiful blue sky and the birds singing and flying through the air; it’s magical likewise when we have some thunder and rain and it brings out the green in this beautiful, lush valley,” Bowers said.
Bowers, who is a Kiwanis member, also praised the club for the “magic” they do around Roanoke.
Burcham took the opportunity to remind attendees of the city’s commitment to the development of the greenway system – regardless of the current economic state, and to thank the Kiwanis Club for “believing in our environment.”
By Caitlin Coakley [email protected]
