The Shadow
MILLBORO – Royal Canin, a pet food company, and Douthat State Park have teamed up to install a walking track and playground at Whispering Pines Campground on Douthat Road north of Clifton Forge.
Wednesday, 200 Royal Canin volunteers installed a walking track with fitness stations and a playground at Whispering Pines Campground which is located at the entrance to Douthat State Park.
The project allowed the entire volunteer group to work in one location while Douthat Park staff supervised the project. The company holds a conference each year and contributes work in the area where the meeting is held.
Representatives of Royal Canin are visiting the Highlands and the company has a conference underway at The Homestead in Hot Springs. Monday, 200 Royal Canin associates from throughout the United States met for their annual sales meeting. With the theme “Building a Legacy” as the foundation for their meeting, associates focused on building upon the future, not just the future of the business and the pets they serve, but also for the planet.
Douthat State Park accepted a $42,000 donation for a playground and walking track from Royal Canin at The Homestead Tuesday. Park Manager Charlie Conner met with Royal Canin associates at a dinner at the hotel to explain the project they would work on Wednesday.
Conner said the project will help get children back to nature. The improved section of the campground will be named Royal Canin Park in recognition of the company’s contributions.
Working in teams of 14 at different locations, the 200 volunteers installed two entrance signs, six picnic pods, a quarter mile walking track, six fitness stations, 12 benches, two pet waste stations, four swing sets and mulching around the area. A playground installed by Blue Ridge Outdoor Designs before the volunteers arrived is also included in the Royal Canin donation.
The Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for the project Wednesday afternoon. Teresa Hammond, executive director, gave the welcome and board member Jennifer Unroe presented opening remarks.
Others making remarks were Chad Williams, Parks and Recreation director for Alleghany County; Covington Vice Mayor Buddy Brown; Clifton Forge Mayor Don Carter; Joe Flanigan, general manager for Royal Canin, and Conner.
In 2006, Virginia State Parks extended the property at Douthat by purchasing 52 acres of land occupied by Whispering Pines Campground. The acreage is at the southern entrance of the park and the state is constructing a new campground and bath house on the 52 acres which should be open for the 2011 season.
Park Manager Conner commented that Wednesday was “a great day for Douthat State Park.”
Last year Royal Canin held its conference in New Orleans and completed a Habitat for Humanity project in a Katrina devastated neighborhood in the 9th Ward. It was from that meeting that Flanigan was inspired to ensure that every national sales meeting would center around helping not only pets but also humanity.
