Conducting trail openings are one of the pleasures of my job as president of the Montour Trail Council. They represent the culmination of a huge amount of effort by all kinds of people, and, in a way, I get to present the new trail segment to the public.

I am now in my third year as president, and due to term limits, someone else will be president next year. But my term is ending with a surge of three trail openings, whereas there had only been one in the previous two years. The three are:

1. The 2.1 mile segment from Clairton to Large, opened on May 3
2. The 0.7 mile segment connecting the Arrowhead Trail to the Bethel Branch, opened on June 28
3. The 4.7 mile segment extending the trail south from McDonald to Route 50 at Venice, to be opened on September 6.

Trail openings are more than an article in the newspapers, and then a few speeches by supportive politicians followed by a ribbon cutting. I have never been to ceremony like this that did not open a new line of communication. Before the ceremony, people are running around to get organized. But afterwards, people are relaxed, and can talk about what is coming next. For example, after the ceremony in Large in May, I met the Clairton recreation director and we were able to exchange ideas about signage and a future connecting trail. I also met a new local enthusiastic voluneer for the first itme. And others made other connections. This works, because the people who attend the openings care about trails. Both new people and old hands exchange fresh ideas.

So, if you care about trails, attend as many trail openings as you can, and hang around afterwards to network with like-minded indviduals. Other networking possibilities include trail booths at community days and trail fundraisers. See you there!

- Peter Kohnke