<The following information was prepared by Erika Pickles and reprinted on the Barron Lake Association website with her permission.>
A new disc golf course, updated playground equipment and the start of the 2021 Howard Township Baseball league were a few of the exciting topics discussed at Monday evening’s Howard Township Park Board Meeting.
– Disc Golf Course at Jones Park –
A proposed 9-hole disc gold course at Jones Park on Barron Lake Road took a step closer to becoming reality after the board unanimously voted to approve the start of the project, which is being designed by private residents.
The final layout of the course will be decided in the coming weeks, but a tentative layout is featured in the image below. Construction of the course is set to begin within the next month (weather pending), with hopes of the course being ready for use by early Summer. There is potential of the course becoming 18 holes in the near future.
The course will be free to the public for regular use. Fees and information regarding upcoming tournaments will be released at a later time. The only requirement of course use at this time will be providing your own disc golf discs.
“This is very exciting news, especially for our Howard Township Parks. Anything we can do to help people get outdoors and stay active, especially during a Pandemic, is a plus. There aren’t many disc golf courses in our area, so we are happy to bring this to our community,” Park Board President Jan Gordon said.
The course will not interfere with any of the current fields (such as the soccer field) or any playground/picnic areas.
– Updating of Playground Equipment –
Over the course of the next several years, the Board plans to start improving some of the playground equipment at all of its five parks. The five parks within Howard Township are Hatcherville, Jones, Kiddie Corral, Pepper Martin and Shotley.
For the 2021 year, the board unanimously approved to purchase some new pieces of playground equipment, starting with Sholtey Park (Huntly Road) and Hatcherville Park (Moulder Drive).
“This is a goal that will likely span out over the course of 5-10 years, mainly due to budgets. We have to take it one-step at a time, so our goal is to start upgrading a few pieces of equipment at the parks where older playground hasn’t been upgraded in several years. We will continue to improve from there,” Gordon said.
– Let’s Play Ball! Opening Day set for May 1-
The Howard Township Baseball League is accepting registrations through March 10, 2021.
The league is planning for opening day on May 1, 2021.
Some changes will be set in place this year as far as fan attendance and player safety.
Any questions should be directed to the league itself –
Facebook: Howard Township Baseball League
Website: http://htbl.website.sportssignup.com/
– Parks will open April 1, 2021 –
All of Howard Township Parks will officially be open for the season on April 1, 2021. We encourage all visitors of our parks to adhere by the current state mandates set in place.
– Bring your own beverages as water fountains will be unusable until further notice.
– Outdoor gatherings will be allowed as long as they are within the state guidelines.
– Maintain 6-feet of social distancing with anyone outside of your home.
– Dispose of any trash in the trash bins provided on site.
Contact any park board member with any questions (Don Cross, Debbie Floor, Jan Gordon, Marcia Pedzinski or Erika Pickles).
We hope you all have a safe, happy and healthy season!
