(Community Matters 190) A Free Family Adventure Day With Trails, Bikes, And Orienteering

A free afternoon outside can do more for a family than another packed schedule, and that’s the heart of Trailblaze Family Adventure Day at Kimball Pines Park. Mark Lelle from the Calhoun County Trailway Alliance lays out what’s happening on June 6  and why this “just show up” event is designed to make outdoor fun easy.

Episode Resources
Calhoun County Trailway Alliance Website

ABOUT COMMUNITY MATTERS
Former WBCK Morning Show host Richard Piet (2014-2017) returns to host Community Matters, an interview program focused on community leaders and newsmakers in and around Battle Creek. Community Matters is heard Saturdays at 8:00 AM on WBCK-FM (95.3) and anytime at battlecreekpodcast.com.

Community Matters is sponsored by Lakeview Ford Lincoln and produced by Livemic Communications.

Transcript

Welcome And Event Tease

Richard Piet 0:01

This is Community Matters. Richard Piet here with you. A service of Lakeview Ford, Lincoln coming up June 6th.

What Family Adventure Day Is

Richard Piet 0:10

It's the Trailblaze Family Adventure Day at Kimball Pines Park. And here to talk to us about that is Mark Lelle with the Calhoun County Trailway Alliance. Hello, Mark. Hello, Richard.

Mark Lelle 0:23

Thank you for having me.

Richard Piet 0:24

Well, thank you. This is a terrific opportunity for families to get out between 11 and 2 on the 6th and check out Kimball Pines, or maybe they already have, but there's a party going on.

Mark Lelle 0:35

That's right. We hope to have a good turnout. Hopefully, we'll have beautiful weather.

Richard Piet 0:39

We're in some sort of uh high pressure zone at the moment. So I hope we stay there and you'll get a chance to check this out.

Self-Guided Park Fun Options

Richard Piet 0:46

What can folks expect when they attend Family Adventure Day?

Mark Lelle 0:51

We're hoping to have this as a time for families and individuals, but especially families with younger children to come out and enjoy the beautiful parks that Calvin County has. We're not offering a lot of structure to the day because we want people to come out and just enjoy it on their own, pack a picnic, bring bikes, rollerblades, disc golf equipment, and enjoy the amenities that Kimball Pines has. It has paved trails, it has unpaved hiking trails. Not a lot of people know that the North Country National Scenic Trail passes through Kimball Pines. And we uh we the only two programmed activities we'll have that

Trail Bingo And Kid Orienteering

Mark Lelle 1:33

day. At 11:30, we will have a trail bingo hike uh led by a volunteer. And then at 12:30, the North Country Trail, the Chief Noonday chapter, is offering a brief uh course on orienteering uh geared toward kids, but they will have some compasses to hand out, and uh they'll do some orienteering on a portion of the North Country Trail.

Richard Piet 1:59

That is a combination of orientation and adventuring, I think, right?

Mark Lelle 2:06

Exactly. Yeah, how to find your way in the woods, basically.

Richard Piet 2:10

Folks might decide they want to bring a bike or maybe they want to just hike. That's up to them, right?

Mark Lelle 2:16

Absolutely. And we will have a food truck on site, but we would love for families to pack a picnic, bring some folding chairs or a blanket, and just take advantage of being out with the family on a beautiful

Free Entry And Simple Logistics

Mark Lelle 2:30

day.

Richard Piet 2:30

All right. What do we have to do to uh be a part of this? We have to uh somehow register. What do we do?

Mark Lelle 2:37

There's no registration. We we just want people to show up. It will begin at 11 a.m., end at 2 p.m. Um after happens to be Taste of the Creek. So people might want to make a day of it and and go check that out after. But between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., we just want people to show up. We intentionally didn't have any registration because this is a county park that's open to everybody, and we want people to know that.

Sponsors And Community Tables

Richard Piet 3:07

And uh no admission charge, right?

Mark Lelle 3:10

None. We have some very generous sponsors, and so Ford Blue Oval is the uh the title sponsor, Marshall Community Credit Union is a sponsor, and they've actually been very supportive of the trail. They sit on the trail just off of on Michigan Avenue. They granted us an easement to construct the trail way back when that happened, and then the uh Calvin County Visitors Bureau is a sponsor. Willard Library is is sponsoring the uh the story walk that will take place, and then the Chief Noonday chapter of the North Country Trail is will have a table there as well as some other nonprofits. Uh so there will be information available about some activities in in the community. We expect about 10 to 12 nonprofits will have tables and will be giving out information. But more than anything, it's just a chance for people to get out and and and see the beauty of Calhoun

The Trailway Alliance Mission

Mark Lelle 4:11

County.

Richard Piet 4:11

Mark, talk about for a second, if you would, the Calhoun County Trailway Alliance. This group has been integral in things like our Kimball Pines and others.

Mark Lelle 4:22

The Calhoun County Trailway Alliance got started about 20 years ago. And initially, our goal was just to build some trail, which has happened, uh, about five and a half miles of trail, beautiful trail, from north of the hot preserve, south to Historic Bridge Park. Most of it is a crushed limestone trail, some beautiful boardwalks, and it gets tons of usage. Uh, but our mission is also to try to build a trail that connects all the communities in Calhoun County that spans the county, connects with the beautiful trails in Jackson County to our east and to Kalamazoo County Trails on the west. So part of a longer trail called the Great Lake to Lake Trail that stretches from South Haven on Lake Michigan to Port Huron. And uh it's about a 285-mile-long trail. Nearly 80% of it's completed. And so the biggest gap is Calhoun County, which we're trying to fill in.

Richard Piet 5:25

How do you do that? Can you just say, here's what we're gonna do, and it's gonna be done by, I don't know, 2028 or something. How do you figure it out?

Mark Lelle 5:33

Well, you need a lot of patience because uh trails are not an overnight thing, especially in Calhoun County, because we don't have any abandoned railroad bed that's still in public ownership like a lot of counties do. So we need to work with property owners to get permission where that's possible to do along road right-of-ways. But it's it's really for the Great Lake to Lake Trail, it's a lot of local municipalities and trail organizations working in their location to build trail and connect them together because connectivity is the big key. Michigan has more trails than any other state. Uh, they're not as well connected as some other states, and so that's what we're all trying to do.

Richard Piet 6:18

How far are we to doing that in Calhoun County? Are we 50% there, 80% there? Is it easy to tell?

Mark Lelle 6:26

The Battle Creek Linear Park is part of the Calhoun County Trailway.

Richard Piet 6:31

Sure.

Mark Lelle 6:31

In the city of Albion, we have almost four miles of trail. There's the Marshall Riverwalk, Homer Bike Path. So all those are pieces. We just need to connect them together. So, and and the Trailway Alliance has an endowment that we're over halfway to our goal of a half million dollar endowment to endow maintenance in perpetuity. So we won't have to keep coming back to taxpayers to ask for you know funding for the trail. It will be self-supporting. I'm optimistic in saying we're halfway there, even though we have more trail to build.

Support Trails And Grow Community

Richard Piet 7:07

All right. What can folks do if they're inspired to help?

Mark Lelle 7:10

Trailway Alliance is a community project fund of the Battle Creek Community Foundation. So if they want to give financially, they can donate to the CCTA through the community foundation. But also they can voice their support of trails and parks to the Calhoun County Commission, which has been very supportive of us. Um, we've built a good relationship with Calhoun County, and that has made a significant difference. Uh, I think people can see the improvement in Calhoun County Park since the millage passed. Uh, the millage has been an incredible asset, and uh it passed by an even bigger margin the second time around. So people love the parks and trails that we have.

Richard Piet 7:55

And they want that, don't they? They want that quality of life component that that brings.

Mark Lelle 8:01

Absolutely. If you look at communities around the country that are prosperous and growing, outdoor recreation is a huge part of that. In Indiana, many of the newer subdivisions are required to have recreational trails as part of the development because that's what people want. If you look at where big companies like to locate or small companies like to begin, it's in places like Marquette, Michigan, that that has an incredible trail network. It's uh Detroit is growing again, and and Detroit is home to the you know, the Joe Lewis Greenway, the DeQinder Cut, lots of wonderful trails. So it's a great way to build economic development and a sense of community. Uh, there's a saying that I love is that recreational trails are America's new uh front porch. You know, in the old days, people would sit in the front porch and meet people. Now it happens in parks and trails.

Final Invitation And Details

Richard Piet 9:01

And there you have it. So uh get out, even if you don't get there on Family Adventure Day, uh check it out on any of the parks and trails in Calhoun County and the Calhoun County Trailway Alliance is there to help make sure that that opportunity is available to you. And if you need an excuse to do it, the Trailblaze Family Adventure Day is it, June 6, 11 to 2 at Kimball Pines Park. Mark Lelly, Calhoun County Trailway Alliance. Thanks for the info.