Green Hills Park Nashville

Green Hills Park updates for the New Year

1/9/2022

Happy New Year! Another great year for Green Hills Park is in the books. This year we hosted another great Park Festival and loved seeing everyone enjoying our great park. Here are some updates on our other projects:

The shade pavilion that will be built near the water fountain: We are working on a design that will satisfy the Parks Department's concerns about future maintenance needs and meet our budget.

Fundraising: The Mall at Green Hills has generously donated gift cards to help us raise funds - while supplies last, everyone who donates $25 or over to Friends of Green Hills Park can receive a $50 gift card to North Italia, $30 gift card to Crate & Barrel, or $20 card to the Cheesecake Factory! To donate, please venmo @friendsofghpark or click the "donate" button at friendsofgreenhillspark.org. Then we'll reach back out to send you your gift card.

Native plants: A big project we started in 2021 was clearing invasive trees and replacing them with native plants. This project will continue next year - if you'd like to volunteer to help, please email us at friendsofghpark@gmail.com. Thank you so much to the great volunteers who have been working on this project so far and have made impressive progress - Marcus Owen, Ashley Cantrell, Georgeanne Chapman, Richard Hitt, and Ryan Biven.

New dogwood near the Arden Place entrance.

American Beautyberries planted near the batting cage.

Tennis Courts: The tennis court resurfacing has hit a roadblock because the quote for resurfacing has come back so high: $160,000. That number is simply unrealistic for our small volunteer organization to raise. We're looking into grants and welcome assistance with that or additional ideas. Funds that have been received for tennis court resurfacing will be held for that purpose until we can find a funding source or the courts are resurfaced by Metro.

Thank you to everyone who donated this year!
Best wishes for the New Year from Friends of Green Hills Park!

Record breaking turn out for the Green Hills Park Festival! Plus, traffic calming meeting on October 11 .

9/29/2021

Thanks to everyone who came out for the 2021 Green Hills Park Festival,
presented by Gluck Orthodontics!

We broke our attendance records with a crowd of over 2,000. We raised $10,000 for the Park! Interested in sponsoring next year's Festival or volunteering at the Park (think flower planting, invasive tree removal or working to get the tennis courts resurfaced)? Email friendsofghpark@gmail.com and let us know your interests.

Traffic Calming Meeting
at the Green Hills Library
(large conference room)
on October 11 at 6:15-7:30pm.

Friends of Green Hills Park applied for the Metro Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program two years ago to improve pedestrian safety along Belmont Park Terrace. Our application was recently approved. This means that representatives from Metro's Dept. of Transportation will meet with the community to discuss traffic calming options. This will be the first of at least two meetings where options are presented and the community provides input. You can learn more by reviewing Metro's Traffic Management Toolkit and attending the October 11 meeting.

Warm Wishes and Updates from Friends of Green Hills Park

12/27/2020

Looking forward to 2021? We are too! Lots of fun ahead, including the Green Hills Park Festival (planned for Sept. 11, 2021) and continued work toward building a shade pavilion by the water fountain. To make next year a success, we could use your help:

- For the Festival, we would love it if you could volunteer to lend a hand. For example, would you like to line up the five food trucks? Help rustle up donations for a silent auction or find new sponsors? Help out on the day of the event? Girl scouts, boy scouts, and other organizations that would like volunteer hours are very welcome!

- Fyi, the shade pavilion is taking longer than expected (and is going to be more expensive) due to the Parks Department's understandable process for assuring that the structure will be super sturdy and meet all applicable Codes requirements. Thank you so very much to everyone who has contributed so far - every donation is appreciated. Can you chip in to get us to the finish line? Venmo @friendsofghpark or click the donate button here to donate by credit card or paypal.

And, there are other ways to show your love for the park - would you like to remove invasive plants or plant new ones? Paint the fence? Help the Friends group apply for a grant? Let us know your talents and interests to make a difference in our community in 2021.

2020 has been an odd year for humans, but a good one for the park! It's been a well-used community resource for exercise, games and meeting friends.

This summer we had a donor chip in especially for three disc golf baskets, which have been placed on the western edge of the park. Are you enjoying them? Email us at friendsofghpark@gmail.com to let us know what you think and to give us your ideas for what improvements you'd like to see in Green Hills Park.

--Did you lose keys in the park? A set of house keys was found by the pavilion. Call or text Lora Fox at 615-496-0464 if you think they might be yours and i.d. the keychain.

Best wishes for 2021!

2020 Green Hills Park Festival is canceled - but...

8/16/2020

2020 has been some kind of year. First, the Shumard Oak was felled by high winds. Now, due to Covid-19, 2020's Festival has to be canceled.

But, the good news is that Green Hills Park has been enjoyed by so many neighbors during this strange period. Soccer, baseball, frisbee, badminton, tennis, pickleball, and spikeball players have revelled in their games. Dogs, bikers, walkers and runners have made good use of the walking path. Let's face it, we're lucky to have have such a great park.

Can you help give back to our great park? We're raising funds for a shade pavilion to be near the water fountain. It will look similar to the large red-roofed pavilion but smaller. Please venmo @friendsofghpark or go to www.friendsofgreenhillspark.org to donate.

And please plan to join Friends of Green Hills Park on September 11, 2021 for the fifth Green Hills Park Festival!

Happy Holidays & Giving Tuesday

11/11/2019

What a year! This year, we added benches, trees, and bike racks, replaced the chain link entrance fence with a wooden fence, hid the porta potty, moved the park sign closer to the road where it could be more easily seen, installed a crosswalk across Belmont Park Terrace, removed some invasive shrubs and installed the first phase of the log obstacle course (thanks to a grant from the Nashville Predators!).

Plus the Green Hills Park Festival, presented by Gluck Orthodontics, was a smashing success with attendance of 1800 this year (see pictures here). Mark your calendar for next year's festival on Sept. 13.

Can you help us keep the momentum going for improvements? Next year we'd like to add a water feature and exercise equipment. Can you chip in to help? If so, please make a donation by clicking on the "donate" button on this page: https://www.friendsofgreenhillspark.org/ Thank you for being part of such a giving and wonderful neighborhood!

Green Hills Park Festival Schedule

9/2/2019

The Green Hills Park Festival, presented by Gluck Orthodontics, is only 12 days away! Get ready for the free fun on Sept. 14 from 5-9pm.

Schedule of Events!

5pm 2019 Green Hills Festival presented by Gluck Orthodontics begins

Vendors and food trucks, college football trailer and beer garden open!

Live music - emceed by Blake Howell
- 5-5:10- Hillsboro High School Players
- 5:20-5:50 The Parks Jam Band
- 6:00-7:00 Incognito Cartel

Activities for kids:
- How fast can you run the obstacle course?
- How long can you stay on the JT Moore inflatable bucking bull?
- Can you set a Green Hills Park Record with the Green Hills YMCA?
- Learn bike skills and safety tips from Walk/Bike Nashville - bring your bike and helmet
- Jump on a Springfree Trampoline.
- Shoot on a goalie from the Nashville Soccer Team! (ages 15 and under)
- Have your face painted and take a pic at the Gluck photo booth.

 7pm - Time for the movie: Mary Poppins Returns!
9pm (or end of movie) Festival ends

More info here:
https://www.friendsofgreenhillspark.org/festival.html

Thank you to all our sponsors:
Gluck Orthodontics, Guitar Center Music Lessons, Chartwell Hospitality and their new Green Hills Hilton, Residence Inn by Marriott, and harth restaurant, Hill Center in Green Hills, Lipscomb University, neighbors Mark & Jennifer Chalos, the Green Hills YMCA, Sitting Made Simple, Major Family Chiropractic, Devine Dentistry, Adams and Seaton Pediatric Dentistry, Reliant Bank, Tarkington and Harwell Realtors, Klein Solomon Attorneys-at-Law, Alliance for Green Hills, Vertis Green Hills, Davita, Eric Osborne State Farm, Tennessee Bank and Trust, Fridrich and Clark Realty, Au Pair in America, Bob Freeman, and the J.T. Moore PTO.

Hashtag your fun with #ghparknash or #ghparkfest. Look forward to seeing you there!

What else is going on at
Green Hills Park?

New trees by the playground.

Improvements to the park entrance.

A curb has been added to the corner of Castleman and Belmont Park Terrace, to make the new crosswalk safer.

Also, a traffic calming application has been submitted for streets near the park. Metro Public Works has it under consideration.
Coming soon: Log obstacles, bat houses, and bird houses!

Want to get involved or help with improvements? You can sign up for park updates or donate here, or you can email us at friendsofghpark@gmail.com with your ideas.

Would you like traffic to slow near Green Hills Park?

6/7/2019

Traffic Calming Petition: Friends of Green Hills Park is preparing an application for a traffic calming district to include at least Belmont Park Terrace from Arden Place to Shackleford and Belmont Park Terrace from Lone Oak to Harding. Do you support slowing traffic near Green Hills Park? If so, please click here to sign a petition and tell us which streets you would like included, and why.

Pizza + Park = Brixx on Sat. June 15 (Bring this flyer)
It's fund-raising night for Green Hills Park at Brixx Pizza on Saturday, June 15.
Bring in the flyer when you order pizza on June 15, and Friends of Green Hills Park receives $4/pizza.
Please share this event and flyer with your friends!

Can't order pizza that day? You can donate directly to the park by clicking here: https://www.friendsofgreenhillspark.org/

Your donations at work in the park:

Improvements to Park Entrance: The porta potty shed is finished - this will allow the porta potty to be hidden from the entrance view. And, the new fence on the corner is almost done (it's going to be straightened). Once the wood on these projects is dry (in a few months) we will stain or paint them to match the color of the park sign.
New benches: Thank you to the Fischer Family for the new bench in the park! It is already being well used and will be for years to come. Friends of Green Hills Park has also placed seven green benches in the park, which can be moved around for convenience and to find the best shade.

Thank you Predators Foundation! Friends of Green Hills Park has received a $3,750 grant to start our log obstacle course. It will be located near the playground. Look for work on this project to begin this summer.

This check was presented to Friends of Green Hills President Lora Barkenbus Fox on May 2. The Predators Foundation distributed checks totaling $675,962 that day to 144 non-profits in Middle Tennessee. What an amazing organization! Thank you Nashville Preds!

Adding shade to Green Hills Park

5/2/2019

It's Big Payback Day! Can you help add some shady relaxation spots in the Green Hills community? $25 helps buy shade trees; $50 helps buy portable benches; $100 helps buy permanent benches; $250 pays for a cherry tree; $500 or $1000 helps build a lovely shade pavilion by the water fountain. Let's make our neighborhood park the go-to neighborhood spot for creating family memories. Thank you!

Bike to Work Day - this Friday, May 3, 2019
We will be riding the Belmont Blvd-Music Row route to downtown.
Meet at 7:10 in Green Hills Park. We will meet other riders at Osborne's Bi-Rite 7:25 AM and Belmont Bookstore 7:35 AM.. The Vanderbilt area group will meet us at the corner of Edgehill and 10th. We'll proceed down Demonbreun to downtown, where we'll turn left on 3rd Avenue (just past the Symphony Hall) and will meet the rest of the groups for coffee and sweets at Public Square (the lawn of the Historic Courthouse).
You can view a map of the route here.

Seedlings - Thanks so much to the volunteers who planted seedlings with the Cumberland River Compact on April 20. They included oaks and button bushes, which will form an understory. There will be more planting in the fall, when larger trees can be planted to form a canopy.

These are the first steps toward replacing many of the invasive plants in the park and improving the quality of water flowing into the Browns Creek watershed (and then to the Cumberland River).

New crosswalk - Check out the new crosswalk at Belmont Park Terrace and Castleman! Thank you to Don Thielemann for spearheading this project.

Planning for the Green Hills Park Festival, brought to you by Gluck Orthodontics, is going great. More information is here: https://www.friendsofgreenhillspark.org/festival.html. Follow the Facebook event page for updates.

Green Hills Park Tree Planting April 20

4/11/2019

Volunteers are needed for a tree planting day on Sat. April 20 @ 10 a.m.
The Parks Department has cleared out the stagnant water on the southern border of the Park and has created a channel so that area is less likely to fill up with water. The next step is for the Cumberland River Compact plantings to be installed. They will help soak up water in that area.

Cumberland River Compact will bring 150-200 seedlings, plus tools, to the Park on April 20 @ 10 a.m.

Can you join us? You can let us know you're coming by emailing friendsofghpark@gmail.com. Volunteers may want to bring their own gloves.

Thank you Gluck Orthodontists!
Gluck Orthodontists will be the lead sponsor for this year's Green Hills Park Festival! We look forward to working with them to bring improvements to the Park & to have an extra fun festival this year.

Hillsboro Community Day
this Sat., 4/13/19

Hillsboro High School April 13: Heart of Green Hills Spring Festival & Community Yard Sale
Ready to "Marie Kondo" your home but not sure how to dispose of all the stuff that doesn't spark joy? Donate or sell it at the PTSO's community yard sale on Saturday, April 13! That's right—for this sale, you can either: a) drop off items for us to price and sell OR b) purchase a space and sell your own stuff out of your vehicle.

Donations will be collected on Friday, April 12, from 3 to 6 PM at Hillsboro (in front of the school).
Click here to reserve a spot to sell your own stuff; the $25 fee will be collected on the day of the sale. Crafters, artisans, and growers are welcome too!Questions? Email ptso@wearehillsboro.com.

Lipscomb Elementary School additions
This week, representatives from Lipscomb University presented an overview of the upcoming improvements and new construction at Lipscomb Academy Elementary School (4517 Granny White Pike), Brewer Campus. It looks like most of the construction at this time will be limited to the Harding Place and Granny White Pike borders. So it will not affect the Park (or access to the park) at this time:

Dedicate a bench or tree in Green Hills Park
Wish to honor someone with a tree or bench in Green Hills Park? Benches and trees with plaques can be purchased through the Parks Dept. The price of a tree (approximately 2" caliper) is $250 and a bench is $2200. Here is the link to the application:
https://www.nashville.gov/Portals/0/SiteContent/Parks/docs/permits/Metro%20Parks%20Tree%20and%20Bench%20Donation%20Application_2019%20Update.pdf.

Do you live in Green Hills Park Neighborhood? Did you know that realtors are starting to call the area near the park "Green Hills Park Neighborhood." Has a nice ring, yes?

Bike to Work Day - Friday, May 3, 2019
Save the date for Bike to Work Day. Like in years past, we'll meet early at the Park and bike to downtown. More info to come.

The Green Hills Park Festival will be...

3/1/2019

The Green Hills Park Festival will be fun.

The Green Hills Park Festival will be tasty.

The Green Hills Park Festival will be September 14, 2019!
We are looking forward to having our new sponsors the Green Hills YMCA & Klein Solomon Law Firm this year:

Save the date! If you wish to be a vendor or sponsor, click here: https://www.friendsofgreenhillspark.org/sponsor-levels.html

New in the Park:

Metro Parks has planted approximately 25 new trees in the park. Some are by the entrance, some are along the new pathways into the park, and others are scattered throughout. They include Cryptomeria, Oaks, Beech, American Hollies, & Princeton Elms.
Metro Parks will be improving the drainage for the standing water on the border with Lone Oak. Once the area is draining properly, Cumberland River Compact will provide new trees for planting in that area.