Date of release: November 5, 2021
Pictured (from left to right): Paducah City Manager Daron Jordan, Kentucky Recreation & Parks Society President Kimberly Rice, Recreation Superintendent Taylor Morsching, former Paducah Parks & Recreation Director Mark Thompson, and Jonathan Perkins with Bacon, Farmer, Workman Engineering & Testing
Today at the Kentucky Recreation & Parks Society’s (KRPS) annual conference held this year in Somerset, the Paducah Parks & Recreation Department was honored with the 2021 Outstanding Facility Award for the Peck Education Trail at Bob Noble Park.
Mayor George Bray said, “I congratulate the Parks & Recreation Department on achieving this recognition. Furthermore, I encourage everyone to enjoy the Peck Education Trail. It’s a lovely winding path through a quiet, wooded section of Noble Park. It has boardwalks, educational signs to learn about trees, and a lovely seating area for reflection. I’d also like recognize the Peck Family who funded the project and promoted the wholistic view of nature as the key to health and wellness. It’s contributions like this from friends of our parks and area families that contribute greatly to the advancement of our park system.”
Paducah Parks & Recreation Director Amie Clark said, “The Peck Education Trail is a result of the generosity of the Peck family and the community engagement process we completed with the 2019 Parks Master Planning process. We asked the community about their priorities in their local parks with trails rising to the top as one of the most requested features. I also want to thank everyone involved, especially former Parks Director Mark Thompson, for bringing this vision to fruition.”
In December 2020, the City held a ribbon cutting for the Peck Education Trail. This half mile long trail ties into the Nature Trail behind the Amphitheatre and winds through the wooded area near the Cairo Road park entrance. The Children's Memorial Garden honoring the children killed in the 1995 Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing has been relocated to the Peck Education Trail along with 19 new dogwoods. The Peck Education Trail is funded entirely by the estate of J. Lane Peck through the Community Foundation of West Kentucky.
For more information about the award-winning Paducah Parks & Recreation Department and the Peck Education Trail, visit Peck Education Trail. For more information about the Kentucky Recreation & Parks Society, visit www.kyrps.org.
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