ARLINGTON Two years of hard work went into the planning and execution of the Arlington Disc Golf Course located at Twin Rivers Park. Hours of clearing out blackberry brush and hacking through weeds reached a culminating event on June 16 when the course officially opened to the public.
Bob Leonard addressed the crowd gathered to celebrate the occasion.
Today I am proud to be a citizen of Arlington. This is a community project in the purest sense of the word. It took community support and community funding to get it all together.
Leonard recognized the key citizens whose time and effort made the park possible, including Craig Webster, the course coordinator. Webster spoke about the contributions of the community.
We are glad to see everybody here, said Webster, Its been a great turnout, including our mayor. I would like to thank Virginia Hatch, Sarah Hegge and Bill Blake in particular for their dedication to getting this done. We would also all like to thank the Rotary Club for picking up all extra costs on the course that were not covered by our primary sponsors.
After the brief speeches, the crowd gathered around the ninth hole to witness the ceremonial throwing of the first discs by various charter members of the course. A hot dog lunch followed, provided by the Rotary Club.
Our biggest challenge was getting the blackberries out, said Webster. We needed a lot of manpower, and we will continue to need that for the upkeep. Right now Ive got chills because its been so long that weve been working on the course. I thought we were never going to finish. The fact that lots of people came out today to celebrate makes it all the more special. Many of us have spent so much time out here organizing weed whacking parties that it comes as a relief to finally relax.
One group that contributed greatly to the hacking down of weeds and shrubs were Department of Corrections workers organized by Sarah Hegge.
I coordinated the construction and scheduled the workers to come up from Monroe four times to chop weeds and build tee pads, said Hegge, Its a relief to see the park at its completion and actually being used.
Bob Leonard echoed Hegges sentiments.
Id say Im relieved more than anything. Im glad to see Arlington get behind the course, as is usual from this town. Thats why I love living here, the community participation is incredible. We got help from businesses, citizens, the Rotary Club, the Kiwanis Club, you name it, people helped out.
The course was built in a way that harmed no trees near the Stillaguamish River, protecting the ground from soil erosion during flood season. There will be low environmental impact as much of the course was built along existing paths, needing only to be cleared from thorn bushes.
Those that attended Opening Day were witness to the majesty of such a well-positioned, pristine course.
We wanted a significant portion of the course to be in the woods, said Leonard, it separates the Arlington course from others around the state. And with the river marking one edge, you cant beat this place for natural beauty.
The approximately one hundred people gathered for the day closed the party by surrounding a basket in a circle and everybody firing their frisbees at once.
After the toss, Patricia Webster, another key member of the planning committee spoke about the course.
I am pretty excited to see it all come together. People are already out here enjoying it and we can finally say its done!