Springdale Park Visitors, Wildlife at Home on Winter Days

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Sunday was the kind of winter day Arkansans brag about: 61 degrees and sunny. Many people took advantage and spent the afternoon in J.B. Hunt Park on the west side of Springdale.

“We’ve come to walk because it’s pretty,” Christian Cruz, 7, translated for his mother.

Gertie Ingram of Springdale leaned on her red walker as she spent the afternoon circling the east parking — eight times!

Gertie counts two hip replacements in her bag of tricks.

“I get all ‘locked up’ when I’m in through the winter,” she said. She enjoys other seasons in her Springdale garden.

Her son and daughter — Jimmy Ingram and Judy Lauver — came to walk the trails and brought her along. “It’s the safest place in Springdale to walk,” Lauver said.

Springdale Police Lt. Derek Hudson confirmed. Checking department logs for January, the only police actions at the park were “self-initiated extra patrols,” meaning officers on regular patrol reporting a drive through the park to ensure everything stays safe, he said.

“So you’ve got good police presence,” Hudson said. “Of course, we still urge you to be careful. Even in the safest community in the world, you should be aware of your surroundings. But I would feel no problem with going up there with my family and walking the trails.”

Kerri and Jason Beyer and their dog, Bailey, all of Springdale, watched their sons, Zachary, 12, Lucas, 9, and Cody, 6, playing on the playground equipment towering on the east side of the park. Zachary claimed this was the best park playground because “there are less people.”

Zachary reported he and his brothers were playing “ball tag,” in which each tried to tag his brothers by hitting them with a thrown football on the apparatus.

“They’re pretty intense,” Jason Beyer said with a laugh. “We’re here just to relax, have fun, take the dog for a walk, expend a little energy.”

Zachary knew the ways of the park: More people gathered on the west side of the park. Many brought with them their dogs: German shepherds, boxers, labs, spaniels, Chihuahuas, pit bulls, mutts — and twin black English cocker spaniel puppies, Benjamin and Jet, owned by Charles King.

Kevin Higgins of Lowell and his nephews, Will Janes, 13, and Matthew Janes, 7, of Rogers took several perilous rides down the steep parts of the walking trail on their longboard skateboards. He said they were learning the required skills together.

“We crash together,” Will corrected.

Sunday’s biggest draw at the park, however, flew overhead: a disc golf tournament and release party for the Dynamic Discs company’s new equipment — both planned before the forecast.

“The local pro course is one of the best around,” said Ray Moore, president of the local disc golf club. “It’s a beautiful course, and it will be champion level. This is a big tournament.”

Rick McWhorter, the city’s director of parks and recreation, reported the 18-hole disc golf course as a “work in progress.” Work remains for the tee boxes and signs, as well as the layout, according to the Professional Disc Golf Association’s specifications. He reported the work should be complete in the summer.

What about those cold, blustery, rainy or snowy winter days Arkansans also experience? Die-hard fitness builders might find themselves the only people in the park — but they are not alone.

The 125-acre park provides room and board for wildlife.

Many in Springdale see whitetail deer as they skip across the lawn areas of the park or stop to graze on either side of Silent Grove Road. A regular park-goer, King reported two bucks, one of them eight-point, and any number of does flushed by his dogs.

McWhorter also confirmed coyotes living in the park.

“But we’ve never had an incident with the coyotes,” he said. “In fact, we’ve never had an incident with any of the wildlife in the park. When the people are there, they stay pretty will hidden.”

The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission stocks the park’s Lake Springdale with bream, catfish and trout, McWhorter said. Ducks, swans and geese guard the lake and the trail around it. Visitors on one recent Sunday morning saw a heron fly along adjacent Spring Creek.

And as those visitors circled the lake, one white duck followed, wagging his tail feathers as a dog would. They pondered: Was he begging for food or simply welcoming them to his home?

What do you like about Springdale? Share, and your likes might appear in a future column. [email protected].

LAURINDA JOENKS IS A FORMER REPORTER AND EDITOR AT THE MORNING NEWS WHO HAS LIVED IN SPRINGDALE SINCE 1990.