by Cindy Savoldi
For many, spring and fall Saturday mornings mean the frantic scramble of trying to find cleats, a clean uniform and shin guards, loading everyone in the car, and racing to Womble Park for soccer games. Parents chase toddlers learning to walk off the soccer field as older siblings participate in the game. The devoted parents sit in the freezing winds that inevitably still come on a game day in March. They watch games in pouring rain and in blistering heat.
Womble Park has been a staple for the families of Holly Springs since the town purchased the 46-acre site in 1997. The park has evolved from a tobacco field to a versatile property that includes lighted multi-sport synthetic turf fields, tennis courts, picnic shelters, baseball fields, a children’s playground, horseshoe pits, sand volleyball courts, a Gaga Ball pit, walking trail, and a concession area. Incidentally, Gaga Ball is a game in which you have a group of players and a ball in the Gaga Ball pit. It is a game of everyone for him/herself; if the ball touches you below the knee, you’re out. The last one in the pit wins.
If you visit Womble Park on a weekday morning, the usually crowded fields with cheering fans are empty. The frenetic pace of exciting victories or disappointing losses have long since faded. Womble Park feels like a different place altogether.
The quiet solitude of early mornings at Womble will only be interrupted by the hum of the John Deere Gator as a faithful town employee picks up trash, grooms the baseball fields, and cleans the grounds. He is always quick to say a warm hello despite his not-so-fun job of cleaning up all the trash left behind by soccer and lacrosse players of the previous day.
“You can put up all the signs you want telling them to pick up after themselves, but they just don’t do it,” he says, shrugging his shoulders. He begins his workday with the slightest hint of dawn showing. Always cheerful despite the task before him, his smile lights the day even before the sun rises.
As the sun begins to show over the horizon, the walkers show up. There are two ladies walking and talking, catching up on each other’s lives. Their friendship is evident and filled with laughter. One day I caught them taking a break on one of the benches and asked, “You ladies look like the best of friends. Do you mind my asking how long you have known each other?” They looked at each other and burst into more laughter. “I guess you could say all our lives! We are sisters.”
Fellow walkers at Womble usually greet each other with a smile and a nod. Some make small talk. Others are on the phone walking at a determined pace, completely immersed in their phone conversation. “I love walking here,” says one participant. “I love meeting new people here. I moved here in 1970 and love all the friendly people we have in our town. I will turn 76 years old this year and I walk 3 to 4 miles every day, Monday through Friday,” she says proudly. “I have met many people on my walks that have become real friends to me. They are genuine. I’m so grateful for the good people of our town.”
Another frequent visitor explains, “I moved here in 2009 and have done a combination of running and walking for 2.5 hours every day since. I will turn 73 in October of this year. I just love this park. I love meeting new people. I love observing nature. I love watching the new goslings grow each spring. I love being outside. I’ve been known to run in the rain with my umbrella.” When asked if he ever ran on the indoor track at the Hunt Center, he replied, “I prefer the fresh air instead of running the track, and a treadmill is way too boring for me!”
A symphony of sounds greets each early morning visitor at Womble. Rustling leaves in the trees as a breeze blows, birds cheerily chirping good morning calls to all who will listen, and geese honking as they fly overhead before gracefully landing in the pond. Nature never disappoints at the park. There is a red-tailed hawk that perches on the volleyball net pole most mornings, watching for his breakfast meal. Turtles are sometimes seen making their way across the grass. Sunrises paint the sky in a glorious array of colors. Leaves show their brilliant display in the fall, and blooming flowers signal new life in the spring.
On Tuesday and Thursday mornings you will find a group of 5-10 men from the Holly Springs Retired Men’s Club gathering at the horseshoe pits. Some arrive on their bikes, others in cars. Tailgates open to reveal leaf blowers, brooms, and rakes as they clean and level up the horseshoe pits before playing. “We enjoy the fellowship,” says player Jeff Paschal. “We can come out here and joke with one another and no one gets upset. We all have a great time.”
“We began playing in 2018,” says fellow participant Larry Schadle. “We play three to four 50-shoe games and average about 20 ringers per game.” The group plays at varying times of the days as the weather allows. “In the springtime, we usually play around 10 a.m.; as it heats up in summertime, we play earlier. In the winter, we often play in the afternoon, as the weather allows.”
Visiting the park later in the day brings sounds of giddy children’s laughter as they chase one another on the playground. The clang of a baseball bat hitting a ball can be heard as parents stand behind the net in the batting cages, helping a child learn how to swing. Cheering can be heard from the tennis courts as a pickup game of pickle ball ensues.
On Friday and Saturday evenings, the Patel family and friends gather for volleyball. The Patels moved to Holly Springs in 2016. Their group of 15-25 players from Holly Springs and Apex gathers every weekend during the warmer months to play volleyball. Some nights they will have up to four teams rotating in. “It is a great way to build camaraderie. We love having this space to gather and have fun playing volleyball while the children play on the playground or are at soccer,” said Jalpa Patel, wife of one of the volleyball players. “This is such a great space for us!”
As documented on the Town of Holly Springs website, “Womble Park is named after Parrish ‘Ham’ Womble who joined the town Board of Commissioners in 1981 where he served for the next 20 years. In January 2001, the board appointed him as mayor when Gerald Holleman resigned. Womble lost the mayoral election that November but returned as a board member two years afterward and served until 2011.”
In 1997, the population of Holly Springs was a little over 5,000 people but the town was growing quickly. Town leaders knew they needed to begin a town parks system that would appeal to all ages, interests, backgrounds, and abilities. What is now the Hunt Recreation Center was then a former school building serving as a Town Hall annex. Across from the Hunt Center were tobacco fields that were slated for subdivision expansion. Womble was instrumental in buying the 46-acre tract for park land instead.
During the development of Womble Park, the gravesite of Mrs. Sarah J. Peddy was discovered. Mrs. Peddy and her husband, William, were owners of the 46-acre tract in the early 1900s. They farmed the land, selling it after 1920. It is believed they sold the land after a devastating fire in the 1920s and relocated to the Durham area. Mrs. Peddy was buried on the property and Parks and Recreation leader at the time Len Bradley advocated for preserving the gravesite. Today, as you walk on the paved walking trail, tucked in a grove of trees behind the baseball grandstands, you will find Mrs. Sarah J. Peddy’s gravesite enclosed by a fence. As sounds of laughter ring through the air and people as distinct and varied as the surrounding foliage and wildlife come together to create memories, participate in sports, and spend time as families, I think Mrs. Peddy smiles down on how her land is a gathering place for the community she loved.
