Several children get their first taste of a bow at Greenway Farm during a Family Fun Day. The farm estimates each monthly event sees over 40 first-timers at the new archery range in the park.Family Fun Day
Once a month, Greenway Farm hosts Family Fun Day to make the canoeing and archery on offer available to the public. Typically, Family Fun Day is held the second Sunday of each month, though it can vary depending on the park’s other programming. Call Outdoor Chattanooga at 643-6888 with questions. No equipment or up-front fee is necessary to enjoy.
Archery is growing at Greenway Farm in Hixson, where an archery range was constructed by a Signal Mountain Eagle Scout earlier this year.
The city park offers a wide range of outdoor activities, mainly through the city’s outreach arm Outdoor Chattanooga, and the new archery option seems to be a bull’s-eye. Outdoor Chattanooga Director Philip Grimes said since Scout Conner Howell from Troop 60 built the range, it’s gotten a lot of use.
“My favorite part of the project was knowing that I was building this so that the younger generations could use it,” Howell said, according to Outdoor Chattanooga.
While the range isn’t open to the public on a day-to-day basis, community members have gotten to try it out through the park’s monthly Family Fun Day, held the second Sunday of each month.
Ever since the range opened, it’s become the most popular activity during the event, Grimes said, typically drawing over 40 people, far more than what Outdoor Chattanooga expected when the range opened.
“We’re looking at expanding some of our archery equipment to be able to accommodate more people,” said Grimes. “Folks have been very receptive.”
The range also plays a role in Greenway Farm’s regular summer programs for underserved youth, as well as other special events.
While Greenway Farm doesn’t have an active archery-only program at the moment, Grimes said it is something Outdoor Chattanooga will be looking into as popularity increases. He cited the novel and movie franchise “The Hunger Games” as one reason for the growing popularity of the sport, especially among young women.
Grimes said the organization is looking forward to getting involved with more children’s groups, such as the Boys and Girls Club and after-school programs. Archery, he added, has a lot of teachable moments and metaphors that make it excellent for kids.
“I think we could develop a great archery program,” said Grimes, “especially if we reached out a bit further beyond the introductory side of it.”
The range can be modified to accommodate more-experienced archers, so if such a program was created, kids’ skills could grow with the range, he added.
For more information about Greenway Farm, call 643-6311.