Ribbon cutting set for repaved Slippery Elm Trail – BG Independent News

Ribbon cutting set for repaved Slippery Elm Trail – BG Independent News

From WOOD COUNTY PARK DISTRICT Join the Wood County Park District on Saturday, Aug. 29 for a ribbon-cutting event for the Slippery Elm Trail.  Representatives at each of the three main locations will speak briefly about the trail before cutting the ribbon and biking to the next location. The first ribbon will be cut at 10 a.m. at the North Baltimore East Broadway parking lot, 218 E. Broadway St. The second ribbon will be cut at 10:15 a.m. at the Bowling Green Montessori parking lot, 515 Sand Ridge Road, Bowling Green, with the final ribbon cutting at 11:15 a.m. at the Rudolph Bike Park, 14045 Mermill Road, Rudolph. All are welcome to join us at 11:15 a.m. to connect each ribbon in Rudolph, cut the ribbon and officially celebrate the completion of the trail’s repaving project.  The trail extends along the former CSX Railroad between Bowling Green and North Baltimore. The name of the park comes from the material used to construct Wood County’s early railroad tracks, which were made of timber from the Slippery Elm trees with a steel strap nailed on top. To prepare the site for park use, a huge community effort was organized in April 1992 to clean up years of trash that had been dumped along the tracks, including refrigerators, tires, water heaters, washers, dryers, bottles and cans.  The Friends of the Parks organized a “yard sale” fundraiser during which people could support the project by buying a yard of the Slippery Elm Trail. Today, with an average of 275 users per day, the trail is the park district’s most utilized park. The Slippery Elm Trail is free and open to the public daily from 8 a.m. until 30 minutes past sunset.