By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
The nearly-new Del Rio Community Dog Park hosted its first public event Sunday, the “Rock N’ Roll 5K-9 Wag N’ Walk,” a chance for dogs and dog lovers to enjoy the mild winter afternoon.
“Today is our first-ever ‘Rock N’ Roll 5K-9 Wag N’ Walk,’ and it was originally scheduled for Nov. 27 of 2021, but then we had some rain, and we didn’t want anybody slipping, so we moved it to today. We’ve got some wind, but it’s not too bad,” said Del Rio Community Services Director Esme Meza as she waited for about 20 participants in the event to complete the five-kilometer course.
“Other than the ribbon-cutting when the park opened, this is the first event we’ve held here, and we hope to have more events here,” Meza added.
The slate of afternoon events included the 5K run/walk, a dog costume contest and a raffle for a doghouse.
“Those participating in the 5K started out at the dog park, went up to 15th Street, took a left and went up Wildcat Drive to the DH&HS building, then circled back around to the dog park,” she said.
Medals were awarded to first, second and third place runners/walkers in two age brackets, 17 and under and 18 and up.
“This is a great opportunity for people to get out with their dogs and to promote this great dog park we now have here in Carranza Park. We think this is a great collaborative project between the city and the Del Rio Parks Foundation,” Meza said.
Councilman Alfredo “Fred” Carranza Jr. was present at the event in the park named for a close family member.
“The history of this park is that it is named for my uncle, Ricardo Carranza. He lived down here on Second Street and owned this property. He didn’t have any kids, and he and his wife wanted something to be done with this area, so they decided to donate it to the city of Del Rio, back in the 1980s,” Carranza said.
Carranza said his uncle owned a business in Del Rio, Ricky’s Charcoal Grill, in the city’s historic San Felipe neighborhood.
Few improvements were made to the park, which is sited adjacent to the cemeteries at the west end of Second Street.
“When I came on the city council, I always had this thought in the back of my mind; what could we do with this land? Laura Gill, who was with the Del Rio Parks Foundation, and my fellow former colleague on the council, Rowland Garza, were good friends, so we all got together, and Laura had this idea, and I thought it was great,” Carranza said.
Carranza said the parks foundation did a lot of the legwork to help the city create the dog park.
“They raised funds and purchased all of the fencing for the dog park,” Carranza said.
The city pitched in with improvements to the restrooms on site, as well as installing lighting, trash barrels, benches and a small, sturdy bridge over a drainage ditch that bisects the park.
Carranza said the city plans to make future improvements at the site as well, including to an oval walking track in the park next to the dog park.
“We’re also going to be installing a water fountain, which includes a lower water fountain for the dogs,” he said.
“It’s a great use of this green space, a great collaboration between the city and the parks foundation. Del Rio’s never had a dog park, and that was a really great use of this space, and I’m very happy we’re having this kickoff event today,” Carranza said.
Alyssa Quiz Rodriguez, a member of the Del Rio Parks Foundation, was on hand Sunday, along with parks foundation vice president Nydia Fernandez and Councilwoman Alexandra Falcon Calderon, to help celebrate the first event held at the dog park since its opening.
“Hopefully, we can do this at least twice a year. We’re hoping to do another event like this in November, to bring awareness to these parks, and especially to this one, to let people know that we have a really nice dog park. A lot of the people participating today had never been here before, and they really seemed to enjoy it,” Rodriguez said.
The event also served as a fundraiser for the parks foundation, she added.
“All of the funds we raised from the registration fees and the raffle of the dog house will go to the parks foundation, but toward our animal wellness programming,” she said.
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