Rusty's Place in the news: See USA Today article on the dog park in our community,
in addition to Southeast Discovery's "Dogs Rule" article before the park opened.
The Dog Park of Rarity Bay, officially designated as "Rusty's Place," started out as a vision and a dream. A small group of residents, led by Marlene Eeg, Jack Wright and Nancie Guido, formed a 6-member steering committee in 2008 to address the need for a safe park area within our community to social with other residents while exercising their dogs. They sought a 1- to 2-acre piece of land that would become located within an 11-acre parcel designated as Community Park. After developing drawings and a business plan, which were then presented to the Rarity Bay Community Association (RBCAI) and the Developer, the group's plans were approved and permission was granted to develop with a generous 5-year lease. The Dog Park itself is completely self funded and has not received any funding from Rarity Bay Development nor has its community budget been impacted.
The Dog Park was funded solely through an appeal to individuals throughout the community and a series of independent fundraising events throughout the year 2009, two of which are held annually (Memorial Day picnic and fall Shaggy Chic Super Sale) to raise funding to continue enhancement of the park and keep membership dues reasonable. With generous support from local residents and businesses, over $30,000 was raised in private funds by year end 2009 to build and maintain the first phase of the Dog Park, which opened on September 10, 2010. It could not have been done without the help of many volunteers. As a result, this park is certainly a welcome amenity that will be enjoyed for years to come and a great improvement to the community. It is managed and insured privately by Dog Park member residents.
There were many people who inspired us to develop our particular set of plans. We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge some of these early supporters who gave us encouragement. Joy T., past president of RBHOO, provided a good sounding board in the beginning. Mary Ann C. prompted us to speak at the annual meeting on behalf of the park. Martha M. from Tellico Village shared her park's experience and also rallied their dog park members to help out our first Shaggy Chic Super Sale. Carolyn B. was a big help as liaison to the developer. Jean P. took the ideas we were developing and turned them into the exquisite watercolor (shown above) which was used in our initial fundraising drive and presented to Marlene Eeg when the park opened. Bob and Karen S., also from Tellico Village, donated four of their handcrafted wood benches to get us started as well. Jack W. donated countless hours of his time on the physical construction, rallying volunteers at numerous needed times. Danita C. donated unlimited use of her bobcat, without which we would have been hard pressed to complete the park within budget and timeline. During the year 2010, the Dog Park board of directors worked tirelessly to ensure that the park had a good foundation and was launched successfully.
Our goal is to implement all four phases of the park including a gazebo-like structure and landscaping the entire perimeter. Out of Eden provided the initial plans for the park that gave our community the vision as to what the park might look like; this was a huge advantage for our initial fundraising drive. Nature by Design donated their time to install the landscaping with their proposal and given a discount on all plants items. Many talented individuals, working toward a common goal.
A modest fee to join and an annual maintenance fee is required for residents to become members to use the dog park along with their guests. See “Membership” tab for more information.