- Recreation and wellness: To provide safe recreation trails and various recreational opportunities along the Murfreesboro Greenways. To provide multi-use, non-motorized paths for a variety of users including bicyclists, pedestrians, runners, rollerbladers, and the physically challenged, both land-based and river-oriented.
- Transportation –To implement a safe, efficient, convenient and well-used city network of bikeways and walkways for visitors and the people of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County.
- Environmental education –To provide areas in the community where people can experience natural habitat and enjoy urban wildlife, natural vegetation, rivers, streams and wetland areas in an outdoor classroom setting.
- Beautification and natural resource protection – To rehabilitate the areas around the waterways and wetlands, making them environmentally healthy, accessible and aesthetically pleasing while integrating them into the park system.
- Community linkage – To connect people and their neighborhoods with businesses by striving to achieve common goals through volunteerism
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FOG volunteer opportunities are plentiful, from hands-on activities such as river cleanups to financial support.
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Membership fees and donations have recently been used to purchase kayaks for use on the Stones River. Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Department staff provides instruction and facilitates floats that would not be possible without these kayaks (check the Rec Connection for upcoming events). In the summer of 2008, a Kayak Club was formed, offering weekly adventures for teenagers.
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FOG provides funding for extra amenities along the trail, such as the recycling cans at trailheads, extra benches, and so on. Volunteers may also assist at many of the programs and special events along the Greenway by helping with registration or decorations, providing drinks or other support.
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FOG hosts the annual “Greenway Art Festival,” held every third Saturday in September. This is a gathering of the finest artisans in Middle Tennessee, at which artists display and sell their artwork along the trail; the festival also features trailside music, children’s activities, and more. FOG also supports other special events and musical performances, such as the annual Fall Harvest Hayride.
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FOG has worked with the Stones River National Battlefield to remove invasive/exotic species and to plant native plants along the greenway. The Center for Environmental Education at MTSU has obtained grants to fund a variety of projects to promote the educational use of the greenway, such as teacher training workshops on trees and their importance in regard to biodiversity and the environment. Another grant created “Biology Backpacks”, which are backpacks filled with things such as field guides and magnifying glasses on the subjects of wildflowers, trees, animal tracks, and insects. Check these out for free.
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FOG also worked with the Stones River Watershed Association and Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation to conduct a series of classes on watershed awareness along the Greenway at Lytle Creek in a program called “Water We Here For?” Kids from McFadden Community Center monitored water quality by identifying environmentally sensitive species and doing chemical analysis of water in our creeks and rivers, using a kit that was purchased by FOG.
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FOG is moving forward with new ideas, and needs your help and support. Murfreesboro is very fortunate to have such a beautiful greenway, and FOG is an excellent opportunity for its users to share skills, ideas, and love of the greenway with others. Our Board of Directors meets monthly, and members are welcome to attend any time.
For more information , please call 893-2141 or email Melinda Tate. Click here for a membership application.
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Membership Donations
Cedar (individual): $10 Maple (family): $20
Sycamore: $50 Tulip Poplar (supporting): $100
Hickory (sustaining) $250
Oak (benefactor): $1,000+
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