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Dwayne Mask, Kale Curtis eager for fall season following a busy summer for Newton County rec
NC Rec
The softball and baseball fields at Turner Lake received turf this summer ahead of the fall season. - photo by Garrett Pitts

With the turn of the season ahead, Newton County recreation is a few weeks away from many of its sports kicking off after some changes at Turner Lake.

This summer, Newton County received a recreation upgrade with turf being installed at the softball and baseball fields at the Turner Lake complex.

With some fields getting outfield upgrades, infield upgrades or both, each field in the complex was upgraded in some capacity.

According to Newton County recreation director Dwayne Mask, the returfing of the softball fields is possibly the start of future renovations.

“We are to a point where we will need a new complex after not too long,” Mask said. “This is the only rec center we have, so we would like to get a new rec center in a different part of the county. We need a new gym, so hopefully we can throw a new one in there. We are kind of topped out in basketball — we will have about 650 kids and we only have three floors.

“We would love to come back in the next few years and turf our football fields.”

Even with the recreation department not doing any team sports during the summer, the basketball courts, pickleball courts and water attractions at parks have kept people coming out.

“Summer stays pretty busy when school is out. We do pickleball four days a week over here, plus an open gym with kids being out of school,” Mask said. “Denny Dobbs [with] our splash pad — it stays packed all summer.”

The rise of pickleball is something Mask noticed as the rec began to improve attendance after the COVID pandemic.

So much so that the department added multiple courts.

“The last three years, our numbers are starting to go back up. We have rebounded from COVID,” Mask said. “Pickleball has become big. We really weren't doing pickleball but our seniors wanted to do it. We laid off a couple courts in the gym. We have six courts that are full Tuesday, Thursday and Friday morning. Then Wednesday nights we play.” 

Newton County rec deputy director, Kale Curtis, spoke about the rise of pickleball at City Pond, too.

“We have eight outdoor courts at City Pond. We have four tennis courts out there then we transformed two of the tennis courts to four pickleball courts each,” Curtis said. “We still have tennis out there, but most of the time you go out there it is just people playing pickleball. Pickleball has really grown.”

Mask and Curtis have been in their respective roles since 2020 and 2021 respectively. Together, they share over 60 years of experience at Newton County recreation.

Once summer is over, things get even busier for Mask, Curtis and Newton County rec.

Along with football that begins at the end of July, volleyball camps, cheer camps and fishing are other sports that are on the docket for Mask.

Outside of basketball and pickleball, Mask spoke to the other uses of Newton County parks and rec that consistently bring people out.

“We have 13 parks throughout the county. Turner Lake is probably the busiest with Denny Dobbs being next,” Mask said. “At Turner Lake we have outdoor walking tracks, indoor walking tracks, fishing, a cardio room and a banquet room we rent out. Denny Dobbs is our next busiest. From March to November it is rented out.”

Newton County parks is set to receive a new addition ahead of the fall season when Spring Hill Park opens later this month.

“We are opening a new park, Spring Hill, on the 30th of this month,” Mask said. “It is super nice. It will have a visiting center, a pavilion, restrooms, a nice big playground, a water feature — not a splash pad, but a water feature — walking track, disc golf [and a] community garden. It is very nice.”


Jakai Newton enters transfer portal after two years at Indiana
Newton was a standout player at Newton High School
Jakai Newton
Jakai Newton (0) during his time at Newton High School. - photo by Covington News/File Photo

Former Newton Ram standout Jakai Newton will officially be searching for a new home.

Newton formally declared his intent to transfer from Indiana University on March 24 after entering the NCAA transfer portal.

Newton has struggled with injuries throughout his basketball career, which has kept him off the floor. 

The 2023 Newton Ram graduate suffered a knee injury during his senior year of high school. The same injury cost him his first season at Indiana.

After receiving a medical redshirt from the NCAA, Newton would only play four games in the 2024-25 season due to numerous lower body injuries. In those four appearances, he averaged 1.5 PPG and 0.8 RPG at 4.5 MPG.

However, when on the court, Newton was efficient. In just his sophomore season at Newton High School, Newton shot 34 percent from three-point range and was an efficient contributor to several Newton teams alongside players like Stephon Castle, Jabez Jenkins and Marcus Whitlock, among others.