FOLDPOP News and Events

News & Events

September 2008

Wednesday, September 17th Housekeeping!

*First, do you like having a forum to discuss Dog Park and other issues? The dog park forum -- http://www.oakwooddogpark.com/forum/ -- does not seem to be getting any activity except from spammers trying to get approved for membership.

Does anyone out there use the forum?
If not, I'd like to shut it down. I'm getting several email requests a day for membership that I have to investigate to see if they might be real dog park users. Almost none of them are. However just last week, a new member joined that seems to be a dog park person.

So if you like the forum, let us know. If I don't hear from anybody in the next week or so, I'll shut it down.

*Second, noise complaints from a few of the neighbors have started to come in to the City Council. PLEASE, PLEASE keep your dog from excessively barking, and ask others to quiet theirs down as well. If there are too many complaints about this (and really, can you blame them? I'm sure you don't let your dog bark excessively at home), then the park could be shut down!!!!

*Lastly, thanks to the folks that have been spreading the wood chips and helping to cover the bare areas so our dogs have a better surface to run on. It is a continuing task; another delivery was made this weekend -- on Sunday even! If you are not physically able to do the work, you can help by offering to watch the dogs of the folks that are spreading the wood chips.

Finally the fun part....

Down By the Tracks VII
The Shops at Seaboard Station, Raleigh
Mark your calendar for Sunday, September 21st. Join the SPCA for a howling good time at the most dog-friendly block party in Wake County! The Shops at Seaboard Station is celebrating its seventh year of Down By the Tracks, a premiere fundraising event benefiting the SPCA of Wake County.

For a minimum $5 donation cover charge, you can bring your dog and enjoy an evening of live music by The Peace Street Band, a silent auction, doggie pools, family portraits, wine and beer tastings, and more!

And ....
The Raleigh Parks & Recreation Department is offering the following Class:
"DOGS– Stepping Stones
Location: Oakwood Park
Age: All Ages. Would you like to create something to remember your pet forever? If so, then this is the program for you. We will design a stepping stone from your pet’s paw that will live with your family forever. Class Fee: $25
Oct 4 Sa 1:00-2:00pm
Lions Park Phone: (919) 831-6995"
Give them a call if you are interested.

Enjoy these pictures for Halloween! Click Here!

May 2008

Wednesday, May 14th Strickland Road Dog Park Meeting, 7PM

The Park Planning Pizza Party for the Strickland Road Dog Park will be held at 7:00PM on Wednesday, May 14th. We'll be discussing the concerns that came up at the public meeting, concerns of the parks staff and landscape architect, and any concerns you may have.

We'll also be discussing what we as a volunteer organization are willing to do to make this Dog Park a reality. Each Dog Park has required some volunteer labor to build and maintain the various Dog Parks. This is a critical factor in our agreement with the city so we need to start nailing down what we can bring to the table.

If you are interested in joining us for this important meeting, please email techhelp@oakwooddogpark.com for directions to the meeting.

Monday, May 5th Dog Park CLOSED from 8AM-Noon

The Parks staff will be spraying for weed control and will allow for the 20 minutes of drying time. If the weather is very windy or rainy they will not be able to spray and they will reschedule the work. The herbicide being used is pet friendly after it dries. Please cooperate with the Parks staff while they are doing this work by not using the dog park during these hours.

We are also starting to get more frequent deliveries of donated wood chips to the dog park. It is your responsibility to leash your dog while the truck is entering the park, dumping its load and leaving the dog park. The truck driver can't always see a dog if it runs in front of his truck. These donations are a vital part of keeping the dog park usable. The guys delivering the wood chips are doing our dog park a great service. They are also "on the clock" when they are making a delivery and usually have other tree work to do that day. Please be willing to give up fifteen minutes of your leisure time in the park to help these working people donate a vital resource to the park. Additionally, the park is run by VOLUNTEERS. Please do your part in spreading the wood chips to keep the park safe and sanitary for our pets to play!

APRIL 2008

Saturday, April 19th 9th Annual K9-3K Dog Walk 2PM

Visit the SPCA of Wake County's website for information on this great fundraiser!

Wednesday, April 9th New Picnic Table in Memory of an Oakwood Dog Park Regular

This table was generously donated by a loving owner to serve as a memorial for their four-legged friend that recently passed away.

Please visit the Frequently Asked Questions page to learn how you can donate a memorial for your beloved canine friend.

March 2008

Thursday, March 27th Oakwood Dog Park Looses Water!

As part of Stage 2 Water Conservation Regulation, the water at Oakwood Dog Park has now been turned off.

Update: Not even 6 hours after posting this, the City decided to allow water in the dog parks. Thank you to all who responded to help make this happen!

February 2008

Saturday, February 9th Small Dog Area Closed for Mulch Spreading! 12pm-3pm

The small dog area will be closed on Saturday Feb. 9 from 12 noon until about 3pm. Please do not plan on using the small dog area during that time.

The City of Raleigh Parks and Recreation Dept. Division of Volunteer Services has set up a work date with some teenagers from Haven House to do a little volunteer work in Oakwood Dog Park. The teens will be spreading wood chips in the small dog area Saturday afternoon. If this trial session goes well then FOLDPOP will be able to tap into this labor pool again in the future. The city has requested that there be no dogs in the small dog area while the kids are working.

Currently the grand plan is to have the wood chips delivered on Thursday or Friday of this week through the new gate directly into the small dog area. Other crews from Raleigh Parks and Recreation will be dropping off wheelbarrows, pitch forks, shovels, rakes and other tools on Friday Feb. 8 for the Haven House teens to use. They will be picking up these tools on Monday Feb. 11. Users of the small dog area should take the necessary steps to keep their dogs out of way and safe during these deliveries.

FOLDPOP was not able to finalize this deal with the city until today ( Wednesday Feb. 6). If we had been able to give you more notice we would have.

November 2007

Wednesday, November 28th Work Complete-Will Re-Open 11/30!

Oakwood Dog Park will be closed on Thursday 11-29. The Raleigh Urban Forestry people will be doing tree work in the park on those two days. Limited access to the park might be possible on those two days but FOLDPOP recommends that you take your dog to Millbrook or Carolina Pines Dog Park instead. The park will be a safer place after the tree work has been done and with any luck we will have a new treasure trove of wood chips as a by-product.

Sorry for the short notice and inconvenience!

Monday, November 26th Lots of Updates!

We have a new service gate into the small dog area of the park. The new gate will allow trucks to dump wood chips directly into the small dog park. This is great improvement and a great correction to the original design of the park. Many thanks to the small dog area users for their patience during the construction process. Building this gate and the concrete work associated with it did take several weeks and there were days when the small dog area was accessible.
The bathrooms have been winterized and will not be usable until the spring. Parks and Recreation takes preventative steps to keep the pipes from freezing. The process includes shutting off the water and draining the pipes. The bathrooms will be available come springtime.
Pet Supply Plus has not been able to provide us with bags this month. They have told us that they will try to give us some bags after Thanksgiving. In the meantime, please bring your own bags or CHECK THE USED BAGS FOR HOLES BEFORE USING THEM! If you have used bags you want to recycle feel free to drop them off at the dog park.
Please clean up behind your dog! This means inside the dog park fence and in the park outside the fence and on the side of the road leading to the park. This practice is common courtesy and it is also the law. Neighbors adjacent and surrounding the park have mentioned that there are dog feces on or near their property. They blame this on the presence of the dog park. Don't let one person ruin it for everyone!
We are receiving new donations of wood chips and they need to be spread. Thanks to all the people who have been working on this so far. If we do not spread the wood chips they don't get spread.
We have talked to the city about the accumulation of wood chips in the southwest corner of the park. This is the corner that is nearest to the Picnic Shelter and the Cemetery. This accumulation is the result of erosion. When it rains hard the wood chips are washed to the lowest point in the park. This is going to be a continuing problem that the city believes is the responsibility of FOLDPOP to dig out the wood chips that have washed down into this lowest point in the park. If anyone has access to a BobCat or other machine that will simplify this task, please let us know.

That's it for now. Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for the helping out.