Whitwell Mountain's free fall event series is over. A regional civic grant paid for three Saturdays across September and October. The one that matters most to families this week was never part of it. Community Trunk or Treat starts at 4 p.m. Central this Saturday, October 31, at Miners Memorial Park on SR 108. It is the park's own annual event, and any neighbor can show up with a decorated trunk.
The grant paid for the parties. The monument is funded by $50 bricks, volunteers keep the park open, and the park's playground and community-center plans have no completion dates. Here's how the season worked and what's still in progress once the bounce houses are gone.
Three Saturdays, paid for up front
In May 2026, Thrive Regional Partnership announced its Civic Experiment grant recipients, funded with support from Trust for Civic Life. The competition was tight. Thrive received 85 applications from 14 counties across the tri-state region, asking for $1,280,499 in total. It had $90,000 to give, in awards of $6,000 to $16,500 spread over six months.
One of the winners was the Whitwell Mountain Community Event Series, led by Miners Memorial Park. Thrive described it as running "across three culturally significant landscapes this September and October." Thrive's announcement doesn't list each recipient's award. Dunlap Today reported that the park's share was $10,000. According to the park, the money covered live music, artistic exhibits and children's activities so every event could be free.
The series page laid out the three stops:
| Date | Event | Location | What was on the bill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Sept. 26 | Second Annual Miners Memorial Day | Miners Memorial Park, 6395 SR-108 | Jericho Sound, Andy Rollins, The Tennessee Hillbuddies, a silent auction, a Miners Memorial gallery, a community-made mini documentary |
| Saturday, Oct. 17 | Pie, Picnic & Play | Camp Chet, 5050 Pocket Road | Live music, hayrides, pumpkin painting, a corn pit, a pie contest, Shawn the Sheep |
| Saturday, Oct. 24 | Legacy & Leadership Campout Party | The Roots Sanctuary, 273 Stancil Green Road | Bonfire, yoga, kids' dance party, dinner, guest speakers, optional camping |
The October 17 stop sent money somewhere else. Every food purchase at Camp Chet went to the Whitwell Mountain Volunteer Fire Department, and Dunlap Today reported New Grass Express on the music lineup. So even during the grant-funded stretch, the mountain was using a free event to pay for a volunteer service.
Saturday's event is on the park's own calendar
Trunk or Treat isn't on the series page. The park lists it separately on its home page as "Whitwell Mountain's annual community Trunk or Treat" and says everyone is welcome to set up a station, with costumes "happily encouraged." Dunlap Today's listing gives the start time and address: 4 p.m., 6395 Highway 108.
What to know before you go:
- Time zone. Whitwell runs on Central time. The park's own schedules list times in Central, which matters if you're coming from Chattanooga or Signal Mountain.
- Hosting a trunk. Anyone can set up a station. The park says all events, organized gatherings and on-site fundraising have to be approved by a majority vote of its board, so any table that goes beyond handing out candy should be cleared first.
- House rules. The park is drug- and alcohol-free.
- After dark. The park is open every day from sunrise to sunset. A 4 p.m. start leaves a good stretch of daylight on the last day of October.
If your weekend includes the valley floor too, Jasper's square has its own Halloween tradition, covered in Why Jasper's Halloween Party Still Carries Josh Jennings' Name.
A monument paid for fifty dollars at a time
The park's name points to the mountain's mining history. According to Marion County history records on Mine No. 21, Grundy Mining Company, a subsidiary of Tennessee Consolidated Coal Company, ran the underground mine in the Griffith Creek area between Palmer and Whitwell. On December 8, 1981, a miner's cigarette lighter ignited methane in the mine, and the explosion killed 13 miners. Six were from Grundy County. The rest came from the Whitwell area and other Marion County communities. WDEF covered a 2016 remembrance that placed Mine No. 21 on Whitwell Mountain and gave the same death toll.
Park board member Jeremy Rollins described the September festival's purpose to Dunlap Today:
"We've decided to do a memorial festival to honor the miners who've died and the miners that have gone into those mines."
That line covers two groups, and the monument does too. The park calls it Whitwell Mountain's official Miners Memorial Monument, a permanent exhibit naming the mountain's miners who lost their lives in the line of their work. Below it are remembrance bricks open to a much wider list. A $50 brick can carry the name of any local miner, "regardless of how long they worked in the mines," and every dollar goes toward the cost of the monument.
Grant money ran the September 26 festival. Bricks were sold there too, advertised as funding "the next phase" of the monument. The day was billed as the unveiling of the monument's next installment, which means it's going up in stages. The park's site lists board president Paula Shipley as the contact for brick sponsorships and Rollins as the contact for monument contributions.
Plans that outlast the series
The park is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3). Besides keeping up the grounds, it hosts free community events, puts together care packages and organizes neighborhood cleanups. What's there now came mostly from neighbors. The park has a toddler playground, swings and slides it calls "lovingly donated," walking trails, grass fields, a basketball court and places to sit.
Its site lists two "Longterm Dreams," and neither one has a date attached:
- Updated playground equipment. The park says it is working to buy and install new equipment for children and families on the mountain.
- The old Griffith Creek Elementary school. The park says it is "working tirelessly" to remodel the building into a community center for celebrations, community meetings, classes and fellowship.
The Thrive grant paid for three days of free events over a six-month window. These two projects are on a longer timeline than that, and the park lists them alongside the monument as work still underway.
The newest piece is still opening
The last grant-funded stop introduced something that could outlast the series. The October 24 campout at The Roots Sanctuary was billed as the unveiling of "a new nature sanctuary and community park, including walking trails and a culturally significant scenic overlook."
The Roots calls itself an educational nature preserve focused on conservation, education and leadership. Jewel Carey is its Director of Education and Engagement, and Tim Carey is its Director of Operations and Design. The property covers more than 50 acres, and most of what it offers costs money: cabins, campsites, retreats, private yoga and educational programs. The public part is different. The sanctuary's visit page promises free access to designated hiking trails, picnic areas, a scenic overlook and rock-climbing trailheads during advertised weekly hours. It also says visitors can reach designated community areas at the Appalachian Conservation Institute through sanctuary parking. The page labels all of this "Coming in 2026" and hasn't posted the weekly hours yet. The overlook area is called Pocket Park in the sanctuary's planning materials, which describe a fenced overlook, trails, a meadow and birdwatching stations.
Before you drive up to Stancil Green Road, check the visit page for posted hours. The free public access is part of a property that runs on paid lodging, so it opens on the sanctuary's own schedule.
The same pattern at Whitwell City Park
Down in town, Whitwell City Park is following a similar path. In 2025 the state awarded Whitwell $125,000 from the Local Parks and Recreation Fund for park improvements, including resurfacing the tennis courts, upgrading seating, and replacing the basketball court with new goals and fencing. The Builders Exchange of Tennessee listed bids for the City Park tennis court renovations as due October 29, 2026. That's a contractor bid deadline, not a construction date.
The playground the town wants is being paid for in smaller pieces. Marion County's notice for Red, White & Whitwell, the 70th annual Labor Day celebration, said the $20 vendor registration fees would go toward plans for an inclusive playground at Whitwell City Park. The state grant covers courts and seating, while a festival's vendor fees are going toward the playground, much like the bricks on the mountain. For more on how the town's outdoor spaces have been changing, see our Ketner's Mill update and the Whitwell neighborhood page.
Tennis court bids are due today, October 29, brick sponsorships are still open, and the Trunk or Treat stations are open to anyone who brings a car and some candy this Saturday at 4 p.m.
If you're new to Whitwell Mountain, or have lived here for years and want to understand how places like Miners Memorial Park and Whitwell City Park are changing, Garrett Cox is happy to talk about what these projects mean for the area. Let's Connect.
