William B. Umstead State Park turns 90 this year! Our Park was established in 1934 by the National Park Service Park to provide jobs during the Great Depression to build a forested recreational park. As part of our beginnings, tens of thousands of trees were planted to restore eroded marginal farmland, Sycamore Lake was created and group camps were built. Sycamore Group camp was the first built. By 1990, the Sycamore Mess Hall was proposed to be destroyed due to lack of maintenance funds. Umstead Coalition fought to save the Sycamore mess hall and cabins. Today, all the Park’s forested landscape and its historic buildings are protected by their 1995 listing in the National Register of Historic Places (Register Reference Number is 95000783, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718645; Summary pages here). The Umstead Coalition is actively working to restore the Sycamore Mess hall; volunteers have already contributed several thousands of hours-truly a community effort!
To celebrate, we are holding a 90th Anniversary Birthday Bash! Fittingly, we will hold our Birthday Bash at the Sycamore Mess Hall, near the Sycamore Multi-use trail head, which can be reached by entering the Park from the US70/Glenwood Avenue Park entrance.
Dress code is casual with suggestion to wear your "best flannel shirt"!
This event will feature:
This is a ticketed event with all proceeds serving William B. Umstead State Park. Ticketed entry of $50 ($40 for those under 21) will include:
Extra commemorative beer or wine glasses available for $15 each. Extra wine or beer tickets available with registration ($5) and at event ($6). ID required to be served alcohol.
Volunteers will receive free entry and $5 off your choice of drink or commemorative glass.
The event has a ticket limit of 150 people.
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