Beaver Creek Park staffer Kevin Golden picks up a plastic bag that was stuck on some brush at ADA Campground in Beaver Creek Park April 26.
A new group formed to help with improvements and the operations of Hill County’s Beaver Creek Park is holding a meeting Saturday to continue planning its operations.
Dana Pyette said Friends of Beaver Creek Park will hold a strategic planning meeting from 8 a. m. to 1 p. m. at the Hill County Electric Hospitality Room at 2121 U. S. Highway 2 N. W. just west of Havre, at the east end of the Hill County Electric and Triangle Communications office buildings.
“We invite the community to participate in this event and help guide the direction for the future of this organization and its support of Beaver Creek Park, ” Pyette said.
The nonprofit group was formed last fall to help with fundraising and provide volunteer work to help maintain and improve the park, with some of its first formal events just around the corner.
Members are working on a community survey, available both on Survey Monkey online and on Page A3 of today’s Havre Daily News. The results will help guide the nonprofit and give the group ideas on future work on the park.
A day to spend helping clean up the park, picking up trash and so on, Love Our Park Day, is set for Sunday, April 29, and an all-day fundraising event, Spring for Beaver Creek Park is slated at Camp Kiwanis in the park for May 12.
One of the ideas to be discussed at Saturday’s meeting will be creating a walking trail starting at Rotary Falls in the park. Pyette said the Havre Lions Club has made a significant donation toward that effort, which will help with signage to provide historical and mapping information for the trail at both ends, as well as informational markers along the trail, and is applying for matching funds through the Sleeter Fund at Montana State University-Northern.
“This will allow us to kick off our project to develop the trail, including a handicap-accessible portion from the north end of the trail to the Rotary Falls that will include parking and a handicap-accessible outhouse, ” Pyette said. “The exhibits and markers will create informational points for park patrons and increase accessibility to the trail. ”
She said Friends of Beaver Creek Park will look to further develop plans related to that project at Saturday’s meeting.
Pyette said the group also is working on applying for a grant from the Recreational Trails Grant Program through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. If approved, that would require a 20-percent match that can be made through volunteer labor and donated resources.
