HASSO HERING

A perspective from Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley

On Day Three: Sprucing up a ‘secret park’

Written March 25th, 2020 by Hasso Hering

At Eads Park Wednesday: Matt Knecht and his sons Wyatt and Mason, right.

With schools out for weeks on end this spring, there’s only so much time you can spend with video games. So brothers Mason and Wyatt Knecht joined their Dad Wednesday in doing volunteer work outdoors.

On Day Three of the governor’s corona shutdown, I came across Matt Knecht and his boys spreading bark mulch at Eads Park.

Knecht, an optometrist with Eye Care Associates, says he’s been helping take care of the little-known park as part of Albany’s Adopt a Park Program for several years.

Eads Park lies way off the beaten path in the northeast corner of Albany’s Willamette Neighborhood. Knecht discovered it on one of his runs, and he and the boys call it their “secret park.”

It happens to be on one of my bike routes too, which is why I spotted the three working away on Wednesday. Mason, 14, Wyatt, 12, and their Dad were making steady progress spreading that bark. Until I interrupted them, that is. (hh)





8 responses to “On Day Three: Sprucing up a ‘secret park’”

  1. Patricia Eich says:

    My husband and I came across this cute little park on a long walk in this neighborhodd a few months ago. We had never seen it before either. We were looking for that boat hull on First Avenue that you wrote about in your December 1, 2019 column. We did find the hull and probably would not have noticed it had we not been looking. Always fun to find new attractions in our town.

  2. centrist says:

    Good people continuing to do good things quietly

  3. Charlie Eads says:

    My favorite little park. Thanks guys for fixing it up! No, it’s not named after my family or me, but I like the name.

  4. George Pugh says:

    Three cheers for the Knecht family and another cheer for you H.H. for catching them in the act. Fresh air and exercise are rewards for such activities but they deserve a few accolades too.
    In a time when many people can’t seem to even clean up their own trash, these fine people deserve to take some ownership in their own “secret park.”

  5. Rolland says:

    Very cool and pats on the Knechts back. We were out for a walk today which took us in the parks direction and ended up going through. The fresh mulch was noticeable.

  6. hj.anony1 says:

    I’ve heard this is the great adaptation!

 

 
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