Photo Credit: Courtesy of Vernon Greenways Volunteers
What is 35 miles long and requires 8,000 trail maps, 18,000 dog-litter bags, and several recycle bins? Answer—the trail system in Vernon, Conn. All of the above (excluding the trail mileage, of course) were supplied by the Vernon Greenways Volunteers in 2014.
This organization originated from an idea of Vernon Parks and Recreation Department Secretary, Diane Gamelis, in early 2005. “Vernon ought to build something similar to the Adopt-A-Highway Program for our trail system.” That idea was handed to me as a member of the non-profit Friends of the Hockanum River Linear Park Committee. The Adopt-A-Highway model was reworked to recruit trail users as volunteers for a workforce and local businesses/citizens as donors to fund the program.
The Adopt-A-Trail Program was launched in September 2005. In January 2007, the name was changed to the Vernon Greenways Volunteers (VGV) to reflect that it is a volunteer-driven program.