LOCAL RECREATION

Commons Pool and Recreation Area

Check out the Commons Pool for summer fun.   Located in Beautiful Wilkshire Hills over looking the Zoar Plans, the Commons Pool is a public recreation and swimming facility.  New in 2007 is a Nature Walking Path.  The facility is located at 10107 Hollingsworth Dr. N.E. in Bolivar and is open Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. till 7:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:00 noon until 8:00 p.m.  Click here for more information!

Canal Walk:
Anyone looking for a great way to spend a spring or fall afternoon should contact the Ohio Historical Society in Zoar to see about signing up for their Ohio-Erie Canal walking tour. It is FREE, and you can learn a lot about the area history. My wife, Sandy, and I took this walk in May with guide Holly Mathews and Bob. The tour started in the parking lot of the Zoar Tavern and went over the levee to the ‘Old’ County Road 82 Bridge. This bridge has just been restored and gives a wonderful view of the spillway and old foundations of the canal.

The walk then continues north along the canal and between Interstate 77 and the Tuscarawas River to the NTR Canoe Livery. Here you can take a rest, grab a soda, and get a ride back to Zoar through the generosity of Ann Swain, owner. During the walk Holly and Bob give a very detailed description of what the canal looked like at it’s hay-day, and also point out some of the other interesting sights along the way. The walk takes about 3 hours and has several strenuous points, but mostly it is a fairly level walk. It has also recently been restored to a crushed limestone surface that makes walking much easier. Mosquito repellant is a must!

Very shortly there will be a pedestrian bridge, which will also accommodate horses, over Interstate 77 and the path will lead into Fort Laurens Historical Park. The path will at that time stop passing through the NTR Canoe Livery grounds. Plans are under way for this path to go either around or through Bolivar and connect to the Start County section. Please check-out the link to the OHIO-ERIE CANAL COALITION website, or contact the Ohio Historical Society for more information.

Bolivar Baseball:
The Bolivar Baseball/Softball Association was formed in the 1970’s to allow the children of Bolivar to participate in an organized baseball program. We became a non-profit incorporated organization registered with the State of Ohio in 1997. Since inception, volunteers have governed this organization and today the all volunteer baseball board consists of eight board members as follows: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, ASA Softball Representative, Field Manager, Equipment Manager and Fundraiser Chairperson. This group of dedicated individuals along with community volunteers do all fundraising, scheduling, field maintenance and improvements as well as making all decisions to fulfill the mission of providing the best baseball organization for the children of the community. Today this baseball organization serves children from various mailing addresses in Tuscarawas County including Bolivar, Zoar, Dover, East Sparta, Mineral City, Strasburg and Canton. No child will be turned away.
The population of Northern Tuscarawas County has seen tremendous growth. This growth is reflected in the number of children participating in the baseball program. (See below)

Growth of Organization
2004 - 368 children 26 teams
2003 - 342 children 24 teams
2002 - 331 children 24 teams
2001 - 348 children 24 teams
2000 - 310 children 22 teams
1999 - 348 children 25 teams
1998 - 322 children 24 teams
1997 - 306 children 23 teams
1996 - 280 children 21 teams
1995 - 234 children 19 teams
1994 - 218 children 16 teams

Commons Pool: