|
|
Pictured
L to R: Chad Toney, Sr. manager operations, KitchenAid, Scott
Hartings manager finance, KitchenAid, Bill Good, plant manager,
KitchenAid, Roger Van Frank, director, Darke County Park District, Deb
Shiverdecker, office manager Darke County Park District and Darrin
Keiser, OEM quality manager.
|
|
KitchenAid Division
Supports Cross County Recreational Trail Plan
On November 9, 2010 the KitchenAid division of Whirlpool Corporation
presented a donation to Roger Van Frank, Director of Darke County Park
District on behalf of the Friends of the Parks Recreational Trail
Phoenix Committee to be used toward the Park District’s groundbreaking
cross county trail plan which began this past summer.
Construction of the first 1.8 miles of asphalt trail was completed with
the help of an Ohio Department of Natural Resources Clean Ohio Trail
Fund grant, donated “in-kind” engineering and other services from the
Darke County Engineers Office and Ditch Maintenance Department, as well
as, many hours of volunteer labor and services from the Phoenix
Committee.
The “First Mile” Project begins at Bridge Street in the Village of
Gettysburg and runs along the abandoned rail way toward the Village of
Bradford in Darke County. KitchenAid’s financial donation will be
used for matching funds in the grant process and costs of the trail
project that are not covered by grant funding. Darke County Park
District is excited to begin this new partnership with Whirlpool
Corporation, KitchenAid division.
Darke County Parks has diligently and cautiously taken on the Darke
County East to West Connector trail project with careful
consideration. Since 2003 with the acceptance of a donation of
abandoned rail property made by Vectren Energy Corporation Of Ohio, in
the Gettysburg area, the Park Board of Commissioners and the Park’s
Director with the assistance of the newly established Darke County
Recreational Trails Phoenix Committee, have developed a plan for a
multi use trail that will utilize over 300 acres of abandoned rail
corridor and up to 18 miles of that rail corridor. This Connector
will be a critical link between Indiana’s Cardinal Greenway Trail
Program being built towards Union City, Ohio and would allow the user
to travel from Union City in west Darke County, South to Greenville,
the County seat, and then East to Bradford, Ohio connecting to the
Miami County Trails project.
This connection would allow trail users to continue North or South in
the state on existing trail. Union City, Ohio was chosen in 2009
as the site of an Indiana/Ohio Gateway Project funded primarily by the
Coca Cola and Ball Brother Foundations, for the trails, with grant
writing assistance from the Park District. That project has been
completed. To Date, two additional Clean Ohio Grants have been awarded
to the Park District in 2010 for acquiring additional abandoned rail
property and to begin Phase II of the construction of trail in eastern
Darke County. A grant application is in the process for Phase III
construction and will be due in February, 2011.
A donation of a 32 acre woodland now known as Coppess Nature Sanctuary
by Mrs. Frances Carpenter was the catalyst for the creation of the
Darke County Park District in 1972. The Park District operated at
that time from a donated office space in downtown Greenville and was
run solely by a handful of dedicated volunteers.
Through the years your Darke County Park District has grown to include
over 700 acres of park lands, river corridors, wetlands and pathways
and is operated by a small staff and over 100 volunteers. Darke
County’s rich cultural and natural history are being preserved for
future generations through educational programs and events held at the
Shawnee Prairie Nature Education Center, Anthony Wayne Peace Council
House and Wilcox Log House Cultural History Center. Parks
Director Van Frank stated, “The new county trail program is the single
largest adventure for the District in its mission to acquire and
preserve land areas possessing special natural and historical features
and to manage and maintain these resources for the benefit of Darke
County residents through appropriate educational and passive
educational programs and activities.” Van Frank added, “Thank you
for becoming an integral part of “Your” Darke County Parks!”
Respectfully Submitted by
Deb Shiverdecker, Office Manager
Darke County Park District
|
|
|
|
