Fall is here, get outside and enjoy

According to the forecast, this weekend may be the break in the weather we have been waiting for! Now is the time to open those windows we have had sealed shut all summer. A cool autumn breeze will feel so good!

And of course, it’s time for all those fun fall activities from high school football on Fridays to college football on Saturdays to professional ball on Sunday, Monday and Thursday ( do you think I like the game?)

Anyway, with the onset of fall, our thoughts move toward enjoying the out of doors. Hiking at Crowders Mountain should be very popular, so try to get there early and respect the trails; no littering and bring reusable water bottles, fill up at the park, and you are a park ranger’s dream.

River Sweep is also happening on Oct. 1. If you are a water person, get in touch with the Catawba Riverkeepers. They have plans for next weekend to clean up waterways around the county.

Mulch sales are happening as well on Saturdays at our county yard waste facility from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The city of Gastonia Black Gold sales (Friday afternoons and Saturday morning…call 704-866-690 for more details).

It is the perfect time to get your gardens and yards prepped for either fall/winter plantings or ready for next spring. Keep this is min, the less lawn area you have, the more native plantings you can create in beds, the better off our native insects and pollinators will be. And unless you haven’t left you home, you will notice the huge amount of land clearing being done throughout the county.

Trees and soils are being disturbed, so do your part to prepare new areas for our animal friends to replace their lost natural habitats.

If you haven’t driven past the parking area across the street from the Greenway at Lineberger Park, you should! When the city’s pocket park on Main Street finally had a building contract signed, the kinetic sculpture, Ghillie Dhu had to be moved. This was the first piece of outdoor art that Keep Gastonia Beautiful contributed to our community.

Through dedicated funds from fundraisers and local grants, this metal sculpture was made possible. Since the groundbreaking for the new apartments at the old pocket park, Ghillie Dhu was placed in safe-keeping storage. It took a good bit of discussion as to the best place to display this beautiful piece, and after full vetting of the perfect place, Lineberger Park was chosen. This city park and Greenway get visitors year-round and is used by locals and out of town visitors.

This past Friday, Sept. 23, this sculpture was dedicated to Patricia Johnson, former administrator of Keep Gastonia Beautiful for her 30 years of dedication and service to our city. Pat retired the December before Covid-19 entered our world. So, the timing was OK.

So many programs that Keep Gastonia Beautiful is know for, community meetings, school presentations, local gatherings, were all suspended. The majority of our community did not know anything had changed in the leadership of the organization, as so much of our world was on pause. Now, as we emerge from most of this pandemic, a well deserved but delayed dedication of Ghillie Dhu to Miss Pat for her years of caring, ideas, service and kindness to all the city’s employees and citizens.

If you haven’t been to the park lately, make a point of parking at the lot, viewing the artwork and enjoying a walk along the Greenway! Gastonia and Gaston County is blessed with beautiful outdoor spaces; this fall, see them all! Take your dog for a walk (bring a poop bag), take your kids for a bike ride, plant a tree (best time of year for planting is the fall), have a picnic near a creek…just get outside after a long, hot and humid summer.

Nan Kirlin is recycling coordinator of Gaston County.