Today, during Legacy Parks Foundation’s Legacy Luncheon for the Parks, regional partnerships and grassroots collaborations were announced. 

In front of a sold-out crowd of 1,000 guests at UT’s Holston River Farm, Carol Evans, executive director of Legacy Parks Foundation, announced a new partnership with Oak Ridge, Roane County and Anderson County that will explore both recreational opportunities and enhancement of their natural assets. 

“As of this week, Legacy Parks holds five trail easements in Anderson County and an additional two with the Department of Energy,” said Evans. “Legacy Parks will work alongside civic and community leaders, as we have done in other regional communities, including last year’s work in Maryville and Blount County, to advance the greenway from Knoxville to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.” 

The Legacy Luncheon for the Parks is the Foundation’s annual fundraising event that celebrates the accomplishments of the organization over the past year. 

“To date, Legacy Parks has raised more than $6 million for parks and trails, added over 500 acres of parklands in Knox County, and created over 50 miles of trails within Knoxville’s city limits,” said Evans. 

Brock Hill, the State of Tennessee’s Deputy Commissioner for Parks and Conservation, joined in the celebration by presenting Legacy Parks with a check for $200,000 representing a Recreational Trails Program grant from the State of Tennessee. The grant will be used to create Collier Preserve, a new Knox County park in the Powell community. 

Evans also announced additional grassroots support for Collier Preserve and the Beaver Creek Water Trail. The TVA Retirees Association will contribute $10,000 to Collier Preserve and an additional $30,000 over the next three years to fund benches in multiple county parks, while Randy Burleson and Eagle Distributing will contribute $10,000 for the Beaver Creek Water Trail through their Hoppy Trails promotion in Burleson’s restaurants. Additionally, Eagle Distributing and Blackhorse Brewery teamed up to contribute $5,000 to create even more trails.

“In addition to the new park in Powell, Legacy Parks has received 42-acres to expand a city park at Sharp’s Ridge and open new recreational opportunities to the surrounding North Knoxville neighborhoods and residents,” said Evans. 

The luncheon location at the Head of the Tennessee River provided the opportunity to introduce Legacy Parks Foundation’s Natural Shores project – an effort to protect the shorelines of the French Broad River from Seven Islands State Birding Park to the Head of the Tennessee River. The first Natural Shores easement with a private landowner was confirmed last week.

Evans also announced Legacy Parks Foundation’s continued work in Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness through a collaboration with Ijams Nature Center. 

“Through grants from the Siddiqi Foundation and donated services from Earthadelic, the first primal playground will be created at Ijams Nature Center,” said Evans. “The playground combines landscape features such as boulders, logs and trees to create the first natural exercise/training site of its kind. Two years ago, Legacy Parks, Siddiqi Foundation, and Earthadelic teamed up to create the first adventure playground at Baker Creek Preserve.”

In celebration of Legacy Parks’ work, National Geographic Explorer and keynote speaker, Pete McBride, brought a global perspective about the importance of conserving our natural assets to the crowd. Through sharing inspiring messages about his work to help conserve the Colorado River, McBride imparted upon the hundreds of business, civic, and recreation leaders in attendance how they can play a part in preserving and sustaining our natural resources, so they may be enjoyed for generations to come.



This year’s luncheon was presented by Verizon, and sponsored by Pilot Flying J, UCOR, Bryant Research, Cherokee Distributing, Gulf & Ohio Railways, Home Federal Bank, Planet H2O, Robin Easter Design, Scripps Networks Interactive, SouthEast Bank, Texas Instruments, The Trust Company, and The University of Tennessee Medical Center, along with many table sponsors listed on www.legacyparks.org/2018luncheon.