Newton Trails

Thursday's ribbon cutting for the Olde Town Trail in Conyers was a bitter-sweet chapter in a journey that began for me some 2-1/2 years ago, on a mid-October weekend journey.  As I wrote in an earlier  post, it was 184-miles round-trip bike ride on the Silver Comet Trail, between Mableton and Anniston, that converted me into a trail advocate.  On the return leg, Eddie Shirey and I first started dreaming about Conyers and Covington as eastern connections in a trail system that already spanned two states, running largely along the same route as US Highway 278.  Having seen the crowds of people using the trail and living first-hand the economic impact, it seemed manifest destiny that our respective towns would be perfect spots to continue the eastward expansion.

We concluded that trip intent on returning home to our respective communities with evangelical zeal to share the vision, carry the message, and inspire our fellow citizens.  Fast forward to Thursday evening, where I joined 80 to 100 Rockdale residents cheerfully flocking to the Nancy Guinn Memorial Library in Olde Town Conyers to cut the ribbon on 2.3 miles of fresh, new trail connecting Olde Town across I-20 to Norman Wheeler Park and the Rockdale Career Academy.  It was a sweet, sweet moment to see my friends who had worked so hard bring the start of their trail into being.  And, this is only the beginning of a trail system that will run on to Johnson Park, the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, and Arabia Mountain in the south and west and to Georgia International Horse Park to the North.  A major section of the South Rockdale Trail is also nearly ready to open to the public.

Such sweetness, though, was countered, for me, with a great sadness.  It is a disappointment I must temper so as to not become bitter.  In October 2008, it seemed Newton County would surely lead the way to this new future.  We had everything going for us:  county and city plans calling for an extensive trail system, a 2005 LCI study that included a rail-trail in downtown Covington, and active negotiations between Covington, Newton County, and Norfolk Southern.  We landed our first federal grant for the RR acquisition earlier that year, and another was soon to follow in 2009.  Eddie and officials in Conyers/Rockdale looked to us with envy.

And yet, there I was...  smiling and clapping in Olde Town last night, struggling to stifle the envy welling up inside me.  Listening to Conyers City Councilman Vince Evans speak with pride about what they've accomplished and how much more they plan to do was salt in my wounds still fresh from the latest Covington City Council vote to have no part in a RR or a trail.  For all the efforts of countless Newton Advocates, we still have no county trails some 11 years after the first plans were drawn.

But, this is not our destiny.  I know that.  For all we lack in paved trails, we have a community of support that grows larger and stronger every day.  If the 140 I ♥ trails signs in circulation are not evidence enough, then consider we have :

• 645 Facebook Fans
• 292 weekly active users on the Facebook page
• Nearly 8,500 weekly Facebook post views
  
• 551 monthly visits to our website by 434 unique visitors
• 1,970 monthly page views on our website
• Over 200 subscribers for our e-Newsletter

You are not alone.  And, you are not in the minority.  That brings the smile back to my face.  Nothing travels in a straight line...  Not a trail, and not a trail movement.  Tonight, we raise a glass and toast our good friends in Conyers:  Well Done!  And, tomorrow, we return to building that future in Newton County!

Good things do not always come to those who wait.  But, good things nearly always come to those who are relentless in the pursuit of good things.