The Trailblazers have received grants totaling $10K (a $5K, NCDENR, Adopt-A-Trail grant and a $5K grant from REI) to construct the trail corridor, once again through a trail construction company.  Then we’ll rely on the Trailblazer faithful to finish the trail.  Sound familiar? The work Brian and other members have already provided to lay out the trail easily exceeds 200 hours total to date. 

The Lakewood community has long been forgotten as the construction of I-85 and Hwy 16 has cut it off from easy community access.   Trips for Kids, a non-profit organization aimed at getting at risk youth on bicycles has a major foothold in the community.  TKF, along with local community groups have banded together to link parcels of land to provide these under privileged kids with a trail to ride within their community.

Lakewood in the 1910’s – 1920’s was Charlotte’s, Six Flags.  Soldiers would ride the train to the park that included a beautiful lake, boardwalk, Ferris Wheel, food, recreation and relaxation.  The park died in the late 20’s as a tornado ripped apart the dam, draining the lake and ruining forever the excitement of the area.  To this day, beautiful stone bridges still stand as a testament to the park and an era, gone by.

The Lakewood Community and TFK’s were recently awarded a grant through REI that will amount to $12.5K to construct a trail in this community.  This is the feel good project of the year!  Once again, the Trailblazers will oversee the construction of the trail corridor by a trail construction firm and then rely on you, our faithful membership to groom the trail.  Sounds like a broken record, I know, but it’s the wave of the future for trail construction in our area.  The community sits on the edge of a proposed CMP&R Greenway and will provide connectivity that the community hasn’t enjoyed in ages.  And we’re all a part of it, each and every member of our club…

Edward Autry has recently submitted an application for an Adopt-A-Trail grant to NCDENR for the construction of a trail corridor at Park Road Park.  The $5K grant would once again allow us to hire some level of trail corridor construction. The new trail would connect with the Little Sugar Creek Greenway. In addition to adjacent trails in the immediate area, this project could result in approximately 12 to 15 miles of stacked loop mountain bike trail in the heart of Charlotte with connectivity to a major greenway.   

We have recently been contacted by Charlotte Mecklenburg Park and Recreation and informed that our trail at Jetton Park is going to be nominated for a National Association of Counties Achievement Award.  The 1.1-mile trail, constructed to allow the physically challenged the opportunity to enjoy the sport of mountain bike on specially designed off road hand cycles, is located in Cornelius.  A grant of $10K from Transamerica Reinsurance provided the funding necessary to purchase two of the cycles that are housed at the Cycle Path in Cornelius.  We will be providing information to assist P&R with the application process.   

So in closing, I would like to thank you, our members for your hard work, dedication, donations of time and money as we together are making a difference, a HUGE difference in our community.  Our economic times our tough, what better way to help us through it than to contribute to the betterment of the Metro-Charlotte community.

It’s membership time.   

Think about it.

Sincerely,

Tom Mathews
Past President
Tarheel Trailblazers