History
Seth Aaron Burton
My husband Phil and I walk the walk that no parent wants to. We lost our 17 year old son in an automobile accident October 14th, 1998.
Two vehicles carrying members of Fairmont Senior’s boys cross country team collided head on at a regional cross country meet in Apple Valley. Our 17, almost 18 year old son, Seth Aaron Burton, passed on. Three others were seriously injured and gratefully recovered. In the dark painful days following the accident, Phil and I realized that we had a choice. We could either curl up and wither away ourselves or reach out and live our lives to honor Seth’s. Seth’s friends needed us, we needed them. For weeks they came to our house the moment school was over and we’d sit together at our fire pit. Or they’d go hang out in Seth’s room. Finally I had to go back to work, but for four years we worked with the teens in our community to raise money to build a teen center. It was to be called Our Place. We held coffee houses with live music that the teens organized in the basement of the First United Methodist Church (now a CVS.) They drank coffee that we got from our local coffee shop, Book and Bean. They served made from scratch cheesecake that they created themselves … they felt so grown up! In the spring we held 5k runs and music festival events called Seth Fest. We held FOUR Seth Fests! The run started in the morning and the music festival, featuring local bands, played through the afternoon into the night at a park along our city’s river called Palatine. All of this was organized by teens with adult support. The goal was funding a teen center.
In 2001 we hired a professional to do a feasibility study. After reviewing the results, the teens and adults involved, accepted that our teen center dream would not become a reality. Shortly after a friend’s son, Jason Stalnaker, asked us to consider using the money (that included Seth’s memorial money) to build a disc golf course in Morris Park.
Morris Park
On January 6, 1903, the City of Fairmont purchased 31 acres of hilltop land known to the old-timers in the area as Log Cabin Hill. This site, 462 feet above the Tygart Valley River was selected because it was one of the highest points in the vicinity (1,260 feet above sea level).
One mile from Fairmont’s city limits the land originally was bought for a waterworks purification plant and emergency reserve water supply that would protect the city should the pumping plant fail. Fairmont purchased an additional 6+ acres on March 10, 1905. After realizing that the purification plant needed a caretaker, a fine brick house was built. Then on Jul 1, 1922, another 8+ acres of land was purchased as a general improvement to expand the reservoir property.
During the summer of 1927, a coal mine was in operation on a tract of land adjoining the reservoir property. Core drillings were being driven toward the location of the 21,000,000-gallon storage tanks. Fearing serious damage to the tanks, the city felt it necessary to purchase an additional 25+ acres as a protection measure. The property was wild, rough, and was left neglected.
In 1932, J. Claude Morris was the city water director. It was his idea to utilize the property for a city park. He had the assistance of several work relief agencies that provided men and materials. A splendid park was developed under his supervision. Director Morris died in office on February 24, 1939. As a memorial to his name, the city board passed a resolution officially naming the site Morris Park.
Today it's home to the Seth Burton Memorial Disc Golf Complex where two Championship Level Disc Golf Courses encompass most of the 145 acre park, about 50 of which are heavily wooded. Many evergreens and different species of trees challenge your every shot on the more wooded course, Orange Crush. While the Seth Burton Memorial course is more open and follows along the one-mile road surrounding the park. Picnic tables, rustic stone masonry, drinking fountains, bathrooms, tennis and basketball courts, playgrounds, and pavilions can also be enjoyed by all visitors to Morris Park.
Seth Burton Memorial Disc Golf Complex
Morris Park is an old city park in an area of Fairmont known as Pleasant Valley. Tony Michalski, then Assistant Director, now Director of Marion County Park and Recreation Commission had worked closely with our group through the days of planning for the teen center. Phil and I were not familiar with disc golf, but Tony shared that he loved the sport and encouraged us to go for it! He went with Phil to the City with the idea and the City said, “YES!”
Jason invited Johnny Sias, West Virginia's own PDGA World Champion and a Veteran Course Designer (Johnny now has 5x World Titles!) Johnny helped with the design of the original 18 hole Seth Burton Memorial disc golf course which was dedicated in 2003. With assistance from the local club members, the initial layout was expanded upon to include a total of 36 Concrete Tee Pads (1 Pro and 1 Am Tee per hole) and 36 Disc Golf Baskets (1 Pro and 1 Am Basket per hole) creating 4 distinct layouts to choose from from Beginner to Pro.
In 2007, the City of Fairmont asked Phil Burton if we wanted to install a second course in the surrounding wooded areas of the park and the idea for Orange Crush was born! Together with fellow course designer Joshua Smith and members of the local club, the crew began the years-long project to design and install a 2nd Championship Level disc golf course in the heavy woods surrounding Seth Burton Memorial. Mowing, brush clearing, landscaping, rock moving and graveling, tee pad construction and even irrigation work were done to make the course a reality for disc golfers to traverse and throw their discs in a beautiful yet challenging forest setting!
The two courses together are known as The Seth Burton Memorial Disc Golf Complex. Over the last 20 years these courses have been host to +60 PDGA Tournaments run by the local club, several United States Disc Golf Championship (USDGC) Major Qualifiers and Community Fundraiser events like the Ice Bowl which has raised over $90,000 for the Fairmont Soup Opera since 2005.
Both courses were built with volunteer labor. Phil was the constant and many young and young at heart men helped as they could. As one key player moved on, another appeared to take their place. Joshua Smith, a local pro disc golfer, came on board in 2005 and has been a constant ever since. Josh, Phil and the Fairmont Flyers Disc Golf Club (the group that calls the Complex “home”) work to host events, maintain the courses year around and help grow the disc golf community in West Virginia and Beyond.
