I’ve spent a portion of the last week or two watching games at four Bladen County parks and began to realize how blessed we are to have such excellent facilities for a rural area.
I would match Bladen County Park, Clarkton Sports Complex, McLean Park in Bladenboro and Leinwand Park in Elizabethtown with those of any rural area.
Bladen County Park is a treasure. Its development over the years has been amazing. What was once woodland and a vision now has four lighted baseball/softball fields, batting cages, a lighted football field and lighted soccer pitch. There is a basketball court, tennis courts and newly added pickleball courts along with paved walking trails, a picnic shelter and a $500,000 playground that was provided by Trillium.
The Clarkton Sports Complex is the new name for the former Clarkton Dixie Youth Baseball Complex. It took the hard work and determination of some local youth baseball supporters more than 40 years ago to turn a vacant area into one Dixie Youth Baseball field. Today, there are two lighted regulation DYB fields — Buddy’s Field, named for the late Buddy Burney, and Frankie’s Field, named for his son. There’s a coach-pitch/T-ball field as well as a paved walking trail. The complex has hosted several DYB district and state tournaments over the years.
Bladenboro’s Clarence McLean Park is the newest of the facilities and named after the former civic leader. An active Bladenboro Parks & Recreation Committee has made sure the facility stays busy with sports events such as baseball, softball, flag football and soccer, as well as family activities. The park hosted its first Diamond Youth Baseball district tournament last weekend. There are two lighted baseball/softball fields, paved walking trail, playground and covered picnic area. Wateree Park has a lighted field and playground as well.
Elizabethtown’s Leinwand Park, named after former mayor Wallace Leinwand, has two lighted DYB fields named for Carl Newkirk and Mark Gillespie, a coach-pitch/T-Ball field, playground, walking trail and indoor batting cages on site. It also has hosted several DYB district and state tournaments over the years, including a district coach-pitch tournament last weekend.
When I moved to Elizabethtown in 1978, the current Leinwand Park was where the Elizabethtown Middle School football and baseball fields were. There were no lights, no outfield fence, no scoreboard, no concession stand and, most importantly, no bathrooms. There was a concrete storage building behind home plate of the larger field that, in dire emergencies, could be used as a bathroom. It was not a pleasant experience to walk inside the building.
We used a rope extended about three feet off the ground as an outfield fence. If the ball rolled under the rope, it was a ground-rule double. There were a lot of ground-rule doubles in the 11-and-12-year-old league. We started games at 6:15 p.m. because many people had trouble getting to the field for a 6 p.m. game, but 6:30 p.m. was too late because we didn’t have lights.
The four recreational facilities are a tremendous asset for Bladen County and its towns. They bring communities together and allow folks to enjoy the outdoors.
There was a time when none of these parks existed, but through hard work and funding, we have some of the best facilities around. Don’t take them for granted. Enjoy them. Use them. Feel blessed to have each one.
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