The City of Lakeland is to receive a $25,000 grant toward a dog park in Zadie E. Kuehl Memorial Park at 9 a.m. Aug. 8 during a community presentation.
Kevin Rooney, director of the City Parks and Recreation Department, said the grant will be used for planning and phase 1 of the park.
The grant is funded by the Boyd Foundation, founded this year by Randy and Jenny Boyd of Knoxville. A total of 37 grants will be awarded this year, according to Rachel Worley, public relations and marketing specialist at Designsensory™.
“The Dog Park Dash is a three-year initiative at $1 million a year,” said Ms. Worley. “Each year, 36 communities will win a $25,000 grant and one community will win the $100,000 grand prize by proving to be the most pet-friendly. So far, The Boyd Foundation has participated in 19 check presentations. By August 8th, we will be at 22.”
Mr. Boyd is a Republican running for Tennessee governor in the Aug. 6 primary election.
And what led the Boyds to invest in dog parks around the state?
“The Boyd Foundation will focus on animal welfare and youth education in the future – the Dog Park Dash is just its first initiative,” said Ms. Worley.
“Randy and Jenny say that the story behind giving away dog parks really started with an insult. Randy’s company, PetSafe, manufactures electronic pet products, and about 10 years ago, Randy was at a charity event for PetSmart.
“A representative from the company said that some “backwaters” in America still needed to work on taking better care of their pets. Tennessee was one of the “backwaters” that she was referring to.
“Randy and Jenny wanted to help change that so they started with their hometown on Knoxville. They made some big changes like building a new animal center – and one of their employees suggested building a dog park.
“It was so successful that the company created a national contest to win dog parks called “Bark for your Park.” States all across America are eligible to win money toward a new dog park in their area.
“While it is a wonderful initiative from PetSafe, Randy and Jenny wanted to bring something like it locally to Tennessee. That’s why they created the Tennessee Dog Park Dash – so only people from their home state can win these grants modeled after the “Bark for your Park” program. Hopefully the push to 100+ new dog parks will make Tennessee the most pet-friendly state in America!”
Link to the Foundation website: https://dogparkdash.com/
The presentation is to be at the Park with a rain location of Lakeland City Hall and is open to the community. “The grant is from the Boyd Foundation and will be used for the planning and phase 1 construction of the dog park. We are still in the early stages of planning, but will eventually have a master plan for the project.”
Zadie E. Kuehl Memorial Park is three-acres and located at 3065 Yukon Drive in the Canada Woods subdivision, near intersection of Canada Road and Saskatoon Drive. The Park offers a 1/5-mile paved jogging trail, pavilion, grills, seating and playground.
A dog park will be part of the venue because the owners of The Pet Hospitals, 3031 Canada Rd, donated 3.6 acres of land for the park in conjunction with building their new location. At the July Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting, there was discussion about the layout of the Park. The current idea is to have the fenced dog park within the current park area. Walking trails would be expanded into the new land, rather than cutting down trees to create a dog park. It will add a wooded area to the park.
The Park was dedicated in 2002 in honor of Lakeland residents who were killed in a tragic traffic accident. In May 1997, Stefanie Brown Kuehl, her daughter Zadie and unborn son were killed when a drunk driver slammed into their car on U.S. Highway 64 at Canada Road. Her parents are Dave and Margaret Brown of Lakeland. A permanent sign in the Park is a memorial to the family.
… Photo and graphic courtesy of the Boyd Foundation.
