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July 4th Parade, 2008
Criterium, 2008
Greenway
Greenway Notes
Tree Sculpture decorates Little Sugar Creek Greenway
US National Whitewater Center
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35th Annual Dilworth Criterium, took place Saturday, May 3, 2008. 
The 35th Annual Giordana Dilworth Criterium presented by SouthPark Cycles and Duke Energy brought an incredible amount of energy to Latta Park on Saturday May 3, 2008. (see photos below) The weather was perfect and crowds lined the course for the historic 35th running of our neighborhood’s annual bicycle race. The day started with the ever-exciting amateur racing as cyclists from around the southeast hammered the neighborhood streets of the beautiful Dilworth community. As the day rolled along, the racing became faster and faster with lap times around Latta Park’s perfect one-mile loop approaching two minutes and ten seconds. The spectators were extremely anxious for the pro event, wondering if the professional cyclists would turn laps under the two minute mark. Read more...
Sponsors for 2008 race:
Action Photos Courtesy of Jason Galek and Jill Walker:
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Still in recuperation from his stint as DCDA president in 2005, Jason Galek can occasionally be seen 'letting his freak flag fly' through the streets of Dilworth....�
Who Put Dilworth Back into the Criterium?
Submitted by: Jason Galek
Date: 5/7/2008
This year we put the “Dilworth” back in Dilworth Criterium. After being out of neighborhood hands for several years, former DCDA Board members Sean Smith, Jason Galek, and David Crockett organized the 2008 event with Neal Boyd at Charlotte Sports Cycling (CSC). “Bringing in a professional was the key to pulling off a great event on our first try” said Jason Galek. “The event drew over 400 racers, plus their families, support crews, team sponsors and fans to the neighborhood. If the race crowd at Fuel Pizza after the pro race was any indication, this had to be a nice little boost for our neighborhood merchants. We’re already working with Neal at CSC on more ways to engage the community in the 2009 event.” If you have any suggestions, ideas or feedback, or if you’d like to volunteer for the 2009 Dilworth Criterium, please email dilworth@mindspring.com.
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Greenway 
Greenway Notes: Developing Facts
Submitted by Mike Cozza, Oct., 2007
A major change could be in the works for Festival in the Park. Parts of the festival may be expanded to run along Little Sugar Creek Greenway, going toward CPCC. This would incorporate and involve the major redevelopment now underway in the old MidTown Square area. The idea of expanding along the greenway is being discussed by Festival officials and Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation.This is being considered in developing design details for the greenway.
Two bocce ball courts
are coming to Little Sugar Creek Greenway, along the Kings Drive. The courts will be developed in a year or so by Mecklenburg Park and Recreation. Bocce (say “BOTCH-ee”) is an Italian game played with balls rolled on a green or on a court of fine gravel. Bocce is sort of a combination of bowling, croquet and shuffleboard. The sport is very popular in some parts of the country.
Programs for the Baxter St to Morehead St section of Little Sugar Creek Greenway have not been fully developed beyond offering passive recreation through tables and chairs, benches in plazas.
There will be private restaurants, shops and boutiques along the greenway through MidTown and along Kings Drive. Stay tuned for further details.
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"Turning Over a New Leaf, Greenway Project to Reshape Areas Along Its Path", __Realtors Reflections/Aug. 2007, by Susan Shackelford
Little Sugar Creek Projects:
Little Sugar Creek Projects - Master Plan illustration
Midtown Stretch illustration
TREE SCULPTURE, ENVISIONED BY PARK GARDENERS,
NOW DECORATES LITTLE SUGAR CREEK GREENWAY
By Mike Cozza and Suzie Donnelly, Oct., 2007
Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department
Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department celebrates a new and unique “tree sculpture” on Little Sugar Creek Greenway, in the section along Westfield Road behind Park Road Shopping Center.
The sculpture is an environmentally friendly recycling of a majestic 150+ year old maple tree that died recently. Although Park and Rec horticulturists couldn’t save the tree from old age, they managed to preserve part of it for greenway users to enjoy for years to come.
Margaret Brown and Susie Donnelly, gardeners with Park and Rec’s Little Sugar Creek Greenway Team, thought it would be wonderful to make something special out of the stump that was left after the tree had to be cut down. They also rescued a huge piece of the trunk and had it moved to a nearby natural area. They asked Buddy Gray, owner of Mecklenburg Woodcarvings to take a look and see what kind of art could be created.Buddy became interested in carving while attending camp at Lake Lure at the age of 12. After retiring from the business world, he decided to open his own woodcarving shop. Examples of his work can be seen all over the Charlotte area.
Jeff Robinson, Director of Specialized Park Services, approved $1500 for the project, and work began.Using a chainsaw Woodcarver Gray sculpted into the tree trunk a great blue heron, hawk, owl, frog, snake, and a squirrel—all animals that live along the greenway.The old tree seemed to come alive! The work was christened "Wild Wood.” Scott Stephens of the Park Repair Group, who is very handy with a chain saw, also fashioned a two person, S-shaped "Coupling Chair" from the stump. The carvings were treated with a mixture of linseed oil and turpentine to preserve the wood.This compound will also be applied annually for preservation.
Gardeners Margaret and Susie, who first envisioned the project, will plant shrubs and perennial flowers around the sculptures.This section of the greenway was once inhabited by a row of small houses that flooded from time to time. With the aid of the federal government, Mecklenburg County purchased the houses, demolished them, and created a park-like setting along the greenway. This section is just on the uptown side of the Brandywine bridge across Little Sugar Creek. If only trees could talk, imagine the stories they could tell!
So come by and have a seat on one of the memorial benches along the greenway, view the wood carvings, and enjoy this peaceful and artistic place. Margaret and Susie want to thank everyone involved in making this special project a reality.
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Wood Carvings at Princeton:"Wild Wood" by carver Buddy Gray, Mecklenburg Woodcarvings
"Coupling Chair" by Scott Stephens, Mecklenburg Park and Rec, Park Repair Group
Photos courtesy of Mecklenburg County Park & Rec, Greenway Planning
US National Whitewater Center, 820 Hawfield Rd , Charlotte, NC 28214
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