Montour Trail-Letter

by Dennis Sims

After a cloudy start to the day, the Cecil Friends of the Montour Trail marked National Trail Day 2001 by officially cutting the ribbon on a 0.6-mile section that connects Cecil Park with PA Route 980 and extends this first section of the Montour Trail, completed 9 years ago, to 5.2 contiguous miles.

Cutting the ribbon, shown in the picture below were: (l to r) Frank Daily, who helped bring the Burgh 10K to the Cecil Section of the Trail, raising money for both the Montour Trail and the Cecil Parks and Recreation Board; Peter Kohnke, President of the Montour Trail; Dennis Sims, President of the Cecil Friends; Frank Ludwin, Washington County Parks and Recreation Board; Dick Quasey, former MTC president; and Washington County Commissioner, J. Bracken Burns. And at the far right, are Cecil Friends, Ed Zupancic, and Hoyt Hall. Hoyt (Ambassador to the Cecil Section of the Trail), continues to make a strong recovery after a serious illness this past winter.

Prior to the ribbon cutting, President Kohnke announced the designation of the Allegheny Trail Alliance as a National Recreational Trail of which the Montour Trail is part of; and Mr. Quasey announced that the bridge over Georgetown Road could be back in place by the end of July after some repairs are made.

Special thanks go to Frank Ludwin, who provided and operated the equipment to spread the trail surface; and to Dr. Paul Rankin, who provided the equipment to grade; and to Mark Secreti, who operated the equipment to do the final grading.