TENNERTON – Community members who are out walking, biking, hiking or otherwise enjoying nature and exercising on the Upshur County Trails have the opportunity to help the area ‘grow in beauty’ by volunteering to assist during the next public trail workdays.
Volunteer Rachel Garton Weber said the next two upcoming workdays are scheduled for Saturday, July 24 and Saturday, Aug. 21 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Two great points about sprucing up the Upshur County Trails, according to Weber, is that first, folks do not have to wait until the workdays to make a difference and second, those who spend at least 10 hours helping pick up litter or working during the trail workdays are eligible for a souvenir gift.
“We will be providing post-work refreshments during the scheduled workdays,” Weber said. “Basically, with the ever-increasing trail mileage, more maintenance on the trails is required. The maintenance and the trail system of the Upshur County Trails is completely completed by volunteers. The volunteer work is necessary for the trails to continue to exist.”
Weber asks that residents consider volunteering – especially those who enjoy using the trail system.
“I hope those who enjoy the trails will be willing to volunteer for a few hours this year to keep the trails maintained,” Weber said, adding they have added a little reward for those who comes out to help on the trails for 10 hours or more. “We will be giving them a little Upshur County Trails pint glass.”
Upshur County Trails volunteers know not everyone is able to get out and help – so they are offering another way folks who like the Upshur County Tails pint glass can receive the reward.
“People who, for whatever reason, can not come out to the trails and help are welcome to earn the Upshur County Trails pint glass for making a donation to the Upshur County Trails of $100 or more to support our efforts,” Weber said.
Not all volunteer work – and hours to earn the free pint glass – have to be completed during the work days, though. Weber said people are welcome to go out to the trails and pick up litter – in fact, everyone is encouraged to do so.
“Also, after these storms we have had recently, folks are welcome to help remove debris that has come down during the storms,” she said. “That would be beneficial as well as helping trim up some of the low-hanging branches. If people have pruners or loppers and would want to trim up low-hanging branches, that would be beneficial as well.”
Over the last few weeks, Weber said there has been a lot more activity on the Upshur County Trails and a lot more people connecting to their Facebook page.
“More people are getting out and utilizing the Upshur County Trails,” Weber said. “Our Facebook page is close to getting 1,000 followers. When it reaches 1,000 followers, we are hoping to do a random drawing to give a prize to one of our followers. That is something we are talking about.”
Currently, the Upshur County Trails, located at the Upshur County Recreational Park adjacent to Buckhannon-Upshur High School on Route 20 in Buckhannon, is comprised of nearly seven miles of trails suitable for hiking, trail running and mountain biking. (Folks may learn about current trails by clicking here (www.mtbproject.com.trail).
The group is run by volunteers, and their vision is to unite trail users in the county with surrounding counties to improve the trail usage for hiking, trail running and mountain biking.
Weber reminds families with children they are welcome to visit the newly added fairy garden on the Upshur County Trails – a marvelous, mythical, magical fairy-gnome pathway created by volunteers during March and April of this year.
Another fact Weber shared is that Joey’s Bike Shop, located in Elkins, has ordered more Upshur County Trails T-shirts in an array of colors and sizes.
“Those will be available sometime in the near future,” she said. “Keep watch on our Facebook page to see when those will be available for sale.”
Information about the upcoming Upshur County Trails workdays is available on their Facebook page and Weber said updates will include what the workdays will entail and directives to tools everyone may wish to bring to help get the job done.
