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By KC Smith

Cooleemee Correspondent

More and more people are talking about RiverPark / Cooleemee Falls – better known as the Bull Hole.

July 4th was packed with visitors having difficulty finding parking spaces. Solutions on how to meet these increases are being discussed by park officials.

Many visitors are from Charlotte, Statesville, High Point, Pineville, Concord, Mooresville and several out of state. It’s fun to meet people and ask where they are from and how they heard about the park. Most say they heard about the park from a friend. Several people who are there say it is there first time visiting.

The board is working on a brochure which will soon be completed.

Word of mouth is helping to increase the volume, plus RiverPark’s Facebook page is generating many inquiries, including showing interest about the Duck Race on Saturday.

We are still having vendors signing up and may continue up until the day of the event. Benita Finney, events coordinator, has been managing all inquiries.

Snow cones, candles, pork rinds, muscadine slushies, clothing, jewelry, essential oils, gutter company, handcrafted treasures are just to name a few of the vendors.

The park’s new manager is Thomas Huffman.  He loves the park and visited frequently with his children.

The park opens at 8 a.m. and the event starts at 10 a.m. The O’Neal’s will dump the ducks in the water at 1 p.m.  The first three ducks to float over the finish line will win some lucky winners cash:  first, $250; second, $100; and third, $50.

Proceeds go to maintaining the park and keeping it clean and safe for all to enjoy.

We welcome Steve Allred Jr. back as our fabulous disk jockey.Come and dance like nobody’s watching, sit under the shade trees to watch all the fun or bring your fishing pole and catch a few.

Tickets may be purchased up until 15 minutes before the ducks hit the water. Duck tickets are $5, Quack Packs (5) $20 and Flock (25) $100.

This event is one of RiverPark’s fundraisers and we want to say thank you for supporting one of the greatest assets we have in Davie County.

We do have good news.

Roger Spillman and Breck Bullock have signed the easement agreement and that opens the door to allow a Davie/Cooleemee gateway to a possible RiverPark development that could include more amenities including retail opportunities. This is a major project and renderings will soon be created that will show some options to help make this project a destination venue.

Thank you Mr. Spillman and Mr. Bullock for having the vision that will change the footprint of our town and county. This destination venue will not only benefit our economics but will give a whole new meaning to our assets and help preserve what we have loved for so long.

We have waited a long time and this is something we all can be excited about.