At our 2012 Annual Meeting, the Trail Conference presented its Ken Lloyd Award to the Wappinger Greenway Trail Committeee. The award recognizes members of Trail Conference member clubs or member clubs, who have demonstrated exemplary service to trail maintenance, management, and/or trail land protection.
For more than a dozen years, the leaders of Wappinger Greenway Trail Committee have demonstrated exceptional dedication to creating a 10-mile marked walking route that links natural, historic, industrial, and business districts in the Town of Wappinger, Village of Wappingers Falls, and the Town of Poughkeepsie in New York’s Dutchess County. This route includes a terrific 2-mile moderately strenuous woods hike along the Wappinger Creek, that has a trailhead at a historic industrial park right in the Village of Wappingers Falls, two other access points a short walk from Metro-North’s New Hamburg station, and a viewpoint overlooking the Hudson River. It also includes direct links to the County’s Bowdoin Park that add another 7 miles of trails to the network.
The Wappinger Greenway Committee has been lucky in its leadership: Joe Ennesser, chair since 1999; Allan Michelin, an active member since 1995 and current delegate to the Trail Conference; Mary Schmalz, an active member since 1995; and Eileen Sassmann, secretary since 1999. Together, these leaders have worked with other volunteers, multiple government and non-profit agencies—including the Trail Conference--to protect land and create new parks, gain trailhead access via easements, build a footpath, create trails signs, and promote the trail. Their leadership has been dedicated, persistent, visionary, and unshakable. We thank them for providing new opportunites for residents and visitors to get out, get moving, and explore their community.
–Georgette Weir, Communications manager and Wappinger Greenway Trail user