Tag Archives: Park

Stocking East Lake for a rodeo this weekend

Stocking East Lake for 2011 Fishing RodeoNo, this photo doesn’t catch a catfish sliding into East Lake Park‘s namesake early Wednesday afternoon. There were several folks present though who did see several fish dive in as the lake was stocked for Birmingham’s 14th annual Family Fishing Rodeo this Saturday, June 4. They were delivered by Stearn’s Fish Farm of Wetumpka, AL.

It’s the largest community fishing event in the state, drawing thousands to Birmingham’s eastern area. It’s also an opportunity to participate in giveaways and learn more about local non-profits and community organizations. It’ll take place from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.

If you want a better idea of what it looks like when you load a few thousand pounds of fish into a city lake, check out this video via al.com from last year’s stocking.

It’ll take just a little longer at Ruffner

Tree Top Vistors Center - Ruffner Mountain Nature CenterWe’ve just received word that the repaving of the parking lot on Ruffner Mountain Nature Center‘s East Lake side that was scheduled for this week will now not start until tomorrow morning (BTW, they’ve launched their new website earlier this week).

If everything goes according to plan, officials at the center hope that hikers will be able to access the hiking trails from the East Lake side of the mountain beginning on Tuesday, June 30 (though they would rather you call the center before you head over there just in case bad weather causes additional delays).

The new visitors center is still not scheduled to be open to the general public until August; so for now you’ll just have to watch it from afar – after Tuesday – until then. The website’s front page has information about other access points for folks wanting to hike.

Image: courtesy of the organization’s website.

You go, Raven!

The big story from yesterday’s Birmingham City Council meeting was the hiring of a 13 year-old as a consultant by Mayor Larry Langford – well, sort of.

Raven Hatcher (of no relation to the mayor’s executive assistant Terri Hatcher) actually turns 14 on Friday. This means that she will be able to apply for a work permit and receive $10,000 as a consultant to the city’s parks and recreation department after presenting her suggestions for improvements to Ensley Park to the Council. NBC13 is reporting on their morning show that $5,000 of the total amount will be placed into a college scholarship fund for the W.J. Christian School student.

The girl’s good fortune and suggestions did not prevent some from offering a wide range of comments on AL.com’s blog post about the story, causing the website to not accept more comment early yesterday evening after several violations of the site’s community rules. We’d recommend watching the interview that Joseph Bryant did with Hatcher yesterday.