Black Mouse Disc Golf – Play DiscGolf

Black Mouse Update 01-13-23

Next Club Meeting, The State of the Course, Next Steps Forward

The course opened just before the Thanksgiving break, as planned. It took place without announcement or fanfare to minimize any unforeseen negative impact, but as expected word spread quickly anyway.

The positives were enormous and plentiful, and the negatives (I’ll get to them shortly) few and mostly minor.

I’ve run into and heard from sooo many people who are thrilled to have the Mouse back, most pledging to help us make sure disc golf in SLV survives and thrives. Hearing the stories and seeing the happy faces has been incredibly gratifying.

On the down side,

Some cars are still parking in the wrong place, but that should get better as word spreads and the school remembers to keep the middle school gate closed.
Believe it or not, despite all the signs we’re still finding trash on the course, including beer bottles
Some players took it upon themselves to modify the course. That just can’t happen. The club and only the club, in conjunction with the district, makes those decisions.

All in all, though, disc golfers have represented themselves and the sport well since the course reopened. Now we’ll see how we do with school back in session. Moving forward . . .

The storms have already created new damage in multiple places around the course. Work will need to be done, and equipment replaced. This will be addressed at the next meeting, on Wednesday January 25th at 6 PM at Redwood Pizza in Felton. We’ll schedule work days and other maintenance and discuss possible events in 2023.

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Black Mouse Update 10-13-22: Finally!

SLVDGC Meeting Oct. 20 at 6 PM at Redwood Pizza in Felton

The Mouse is . . . (drumroll, please) . . . . . . coming back! Lets those tears of joy flow.

I know I’ve been saying this for two years, but until now it’s been more of an optimistic mantra. A way to speak it into being. But now it’s way more concrete.

On a scheduled call with the powers that be this morning, I was informed that the wastewater treatment project adjacent to the course is complete enough that we can begin taking the steps that will lead to our beloved Black Mouse being once again open for play.

Here is a quick summary of those steps:

Signage- We committed to funding and installing signage to be placed in strategic areas to remind disc golfers that all school property rules be strictly observed. Thanks to a quick and generous response to a GoFundMe campaign, we already have money for this
Clearing, etc- We’ve already done most of this, but thanks to the felling of some large Doug Fir trees from the hole 9 area down to holes 1 and 2, there is more to do. We also need to move the tee for hole 10 as previously mentioned here. These tasks are not a requirement for reopening but rather to restore the course as closely as possible to the way it was, with at least 18 playable holes
There is one new requirement. The district is asking that we obtain liability insurance. The cost should not be prohibitive.

We’ve scheduled a club meeting for next Thursday, October 20th at 6 pm at Redwood Pizza in Felton to create a plan to accomplish these final tasks so we can get our baskets back in the ground and the course reopened for play.

I also need to remind everyone of the actual rules we’ll have to follow: No play during hours, no smoking of any kind, no alcohol, and no littering. If we don’t take this seriously, Mouse 2.0 will be short-lived. They made that clear once again on the call. If you can’t follow these rules to the letter at all times while on school grounds (including parking areas, of course), please, please, PLEASE just play somewhere else.

The district believes in the value of the course but faces strong opposition from the NIMBY neighbors- the same neighbors who enjoy filming disc golfers, hoping to capture incriminating evidence.

If you can’t make it to the meeting next week, stay tuned for news of work days and an official reopening date. Thanks everyone for your support and patience.

save black mouse

Black Mouse Update 3-22-22

We should be closer to a reopening of Black Mouse than we were at the time of the last update, 1.5 months ago. However, nothing has changed in terms of the remaining hurdles to be cleared. Hurdle 1 (the main one that is out of our control) is the completion and state approval of a septic/leach field project that is in the same area as the course.

I checked in with the superintendent a couple days ago, and here is his reply:

Jack,
Thanks for reaching out and glad your clean-up day was a success. We are still waiting for final approval from the state, should be soon. When we get approval, we can work on the timeline and when you could access the area.

I replied asking if we could use this lag time to begin evaluating an additional site he mentioned as a possibility for a new course in Boulder Creek. I’ve been cautious about taking this approach as I don’t want them thinking we’ll settle for this course instead of restoring Black Mouse, but I don’t think this is an issue now. When I hear back, I’ll be sure to share.

In the meantime, hang in there, and please continue to respect the school rules. Thanks for your support!

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Black Mouse Update 12-21-21

Today’s big news is that I met a few days ago with the head of maintenance for SLVUSD, and we have received the OK to schedule work days to get our course in playable condition. We will nail down some days at the next SLVDGC club meeting, Wednesday, January 12th, 2022 at Redwood Pizza @ 6 PM. Dress warm as we will meet outside if at all possible.

After walking the course during our meeting, I learned a few other interesting things, and walked away encouraged that we might even be able to expand the course. Come to the meeting for details. On the flip side, after more than a year and a half of closure there is much work to do.

The timetable for reopening is pretty much what we were told a few months ago; repair work needs to be done to the leach fields, and after a delay with a red tape backup at the state level, the district received approval for its plan and have put the plan out for bids. Once that happens, the actual work should not take too long.

New Facebook group

I’m not big on regular social media communication, but others have promised to pick up the slack in this regard. We’ve created a new FB group:

www.facebook.com/groups/slvdiscgolfclub/

Request to join the club page on Facebook, then come to a meeting and add your support to the actual club.

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Black Mouse Update 10-4-21

Close to 30 people showed up for the first meeting of the embryonic SLV Disc Golf Club, and numerous others indicated they had a conflict that evening but planned to be active members of the club. A great start!

The next meeting will Wednesday, October 13th at 6 pm, once again at Redwood Pizza in Felton.

At the first meeting I reported that all of the baskets have been confirmed to be in storage on the SLV campus (my inventory count was complicated by the haphazard way in which they were stored). That’s good news as the superintendent had told me he thought someone might have picked up some of them, claiming ownership.

By a simple show of hands we elected our initial club officers: Myself as president, Jeff Duvernois as VP, and Doug O’Dell as Treasurer. We have a good person lined up for secretary and will make it official at the next meeting.

We discussed all the things the SLVDGC might be, from a corporation with non-profit status to the host organization of sanctioned events and fundraiser for the schools and other local charities. The possibilities are exciting, for sure, but our first objective (our sole objective until it is achieved) is to see Black Mouse restored and open for play.

To that end, we’ve launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise the money required to pay for the following:

Signage that clearly states school ground rules and the cost for violating those rules
Locks to secure the baskets to the basket sleeves, as the original locks were cut when the course was closed
Several sleeves that were damaged or torn out when the course was removed
One new basket

Once we’ve achieved our baseline goal of restoring and reopening the course, we’ll look at a club membership structure that makes the most sense, and explore additional goals. For now, though, we’ll keep our eyes on the prize and check the boxes that enable us to all enjoy Black Mouse once again. Stay tuned!