February 5, 2018

This past Saturday’s work day at Birmingham Park was a great success.  We actually had more volunteers than we expected.  About 40 citizens signed up to help; nearly all of them showed up.  We estimate that we had about 50 volunteers, which included a dozen or more walk-ups.  We had 7 crews cleaning up the trails.  Every trail was groomed.  The focus was on creating enough room on the trails for horseback riders.  Trees that had fallen across the trails were removed and some signage was adjusted.

A lot of hard work went into organizing this work day.  Thanks to Larry Covington for leading this effort and being the primary point-of-contact.  Thanks to the Equestrian Committee for sponsoring this effort; most/all members were working on Saturday.  Thanks to the Friends of Garland Mountain, several of whom were present to help and advise.  Thanks to Milton’s volunteer emergency responders, who served as safety monitors.  Thanks to Courtney Spriggs for helping with the coordination of this event.  Thanks to Council Member Bentley for helping; it’s always nice when our elected officials support these efforts.  Lastly, thanks to all the citizens that showed up on a cold Saturday morning to work.  It was especially heartening to see so many kids helping out.

Birmingham Park is vital to honoring and preserving Milton’s equestrian heritage.  For decades, Birmingham Park has afforded our equestrian community a safe and enjoyable venue for riding horses.  Milton’s urbanization has made  Birmingham Park increasingly vital to our equestrian community.  Forty years ago, it was not uncommon to see horseback riders riding alongside roads in North Fulton.  Friends tell me that they even rode their horses to downtown Alpharetta.  However, those days are long gone.  Thankfully, our equestrians have Birmingham Park.  The park’s size and topography provide a fantastic setting for Milton’s many equestrians, as well as for other Milton citizens seeking the pleasures of passive parks–e.g., Milton’s hiking/walking communities.