The 2004 Adopt-a-Trail program on the Erie Canal towpath in the Town of Sweden got underway with a season opener "sweep" on Saturday, May 8. Volunteer members of the sponsoring groups met at Harvester Park in Brockport to begin their work grooming the trail and removing light trash. Each group agrees to monitor monthly during the season a section of the path averaging about one mile in length. The groups will participate in the celebration of National Trails Day on June 5, being organized by the Monroe Regional Canalway Trail Group. It will feature a bicycle relay of flag-bearing representatives of the local groups from the Orleans and Wayne County lines to Genesee Valley Park in Rochester. A day-log program of activities is planned at the park, including guided bike tours and nature and arboretum walks, hiking and biking "discovery challenges," personal fitness assessments, Hawaiian outrigger canoe paddling, kayak and canoe lessons, illustrated lectures on canal-river-trail history, rowing demonstrations, and exhibits by trail groups and sports equipment vendors. The relay is scheduled to reach Brockport at 8:58 a.m. Any bicyclists wishing to escort the flag bearers to the park should meet on the towpath between the Main Street and Park Avenue bridges shortly before that time. The Adopt-a-Trail groups in the Town of Sweden are the Garden Club of Brockport, the History Club of Brockport, the Middle School retirees, the Walk and Talks, the Coffee Cup Campers, the Brockport Federal Credit Union, the First Presbyterian Church, and the Brockport High School girls swim team. For information on the program or the National Trails Day activities, contact Bill Andrews, 637-3721 or wandrews@frontiernet.net. Towpath Adopt-a-Trail volunteers in the Town of Sweden started the season of path care with a "sweep" on May 8. |
