Armed with gloves, pruners, rakes, and weed whackers community members got out of bed early on Saturday for a good cause.
The Shelton Trails Committee held a “trail work party” at 8:30 a.m. Saturday behind Riverview Park on Route 110 to help repair and clean up the trails.
“There’s a set of stairs that go down to the railroad tracks that are very steep and have rotted out over the years, our goal today is to replace them,” said Bill Dyer, 66, chairman of the Trails Committee.
Volunteers also helped to clear the trails by cutting overgrown brush that was encroaching on the trails and making them harder to find.
“Earlier this summer we cleaned out brush on a path behind the baseball diamond,” said committee member Terry Gallagher, 50, of Shelton.
The path, now clear, allows people to walk from the playground at Riverview Park to the trails without having to cross the busy baseball field.
Luis Isaza, 56, has been a trail work party volunteer for the past few years.
“I enjoy doing it. It’s fun and a chance to reconnect with nature- and it’s close to my house,” Isaza said.
State grants provide for some of the equipment to help clean and build the trails, but volunteers are needed to put the tools to action.
During the past 15 years, the trails have grown from a few trails to over 15 miles of trails.
“Our mileage of trails is growing, so our maintenance needs are growing too,” Gallagher said. “Once you build them, then you have to take care of them, and that’s why we like to get volunteers out here.”
The Trail Committee hosts “trail work parties” the second and fourth Saturday of every month to help maintain the trails in Shelton.
This year the Trails Committee has been focusing on maintenance rather than new construction. One of their future goals however is to extend the Paugussett trail from Indian State Park to Shelton Lakes.
The next trail work party will meet Saturday Jul. 25, at 8:30 a.m. at the Abby Wright Parking Lot at Nells Rock Road. The committee plans to repair a gate damaged by vandalism, install drainage, and plant flowers.
All community members are invited to come help out.
The Trails Committee holds meetings the first Wednesday of every month at 5:30 p.m. in Room 303 at City Hall.
For more information visit www.sheltontrails.org.
