TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– A group of local Terre Haute moms unveiled updates to the Storywalk at Dobbs Park during a ribbon-cutting on Sunday. 

The storywalk is a trail that includes pages of a children’s story on posts as families walk through. It’s overseen by the Mothering as a Career Club, and President Natalie Robins said the improvements were long overdue. 

“We were approached by one of our members who works with different projects in the community and suggested, if we are interested. Our posts were 10 years old, the weather had worn them down, so they were well overdue for updating,” she said. “That was our main goal, just to make it nicer and we got weather-treated wood, so hopefully it will last longer.” 

The updates include the new poles and new clips to help the pages stay on, new mulch for the trail, and a new book on display, “That Alpaca Ate My Cracker.” The group also had alpacas from Aris Farms on hand for children who were attending the ribbon cutting. 

The project was made possible by a mini-grant from United Way of the Wabash Valley. Dorothy Chambers, the organization’s community impact manager, said this project was a perfect fit for their “neighborhood improvements” initiative. 

“We’re thrilled to have the turnout today,” Chambers said. “Dobbs Park is, of course, an amazing resource in our community, and to have the storywalk here for the families is just a wonderful addition, and a wonderful thing to get kids outside.” 

Robins said she hopes more families can utilize the area and share in their goal to increase reading rates and activity among Terre Haute children. 

“Our main goal is just to enjoy the park, enjoy the trail, to promote literacy is a huge thing. It’s super enjoyable to go through, and just go page-by-page, the kids love to be active but also still read,” she said.

Chambers said the mini-grants range from $1,000 to $5,000, and any local community project is eligible to receive that money. She said the next round of applications will be later this year.