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News From The Elizabeth River Trail Foundation
April 29, 2022
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Trail Pride Is Local Pride!
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Greetings, Trail lovers,
What an incredible month it's been! April is Earth Month and National Poetry Month, it contains Public Health Week, Walking Week, Volunteer Appreciation Week, Landscape Architecture Week and of course, Celebrate Trails Day. All of these "special" celebrations are just part of our everyday mission at the ERT. Our trail features miles of safe and accessible walking paths, amenities that feature the work of local landscape architects, and poetry as public art, all of which is supported by volunteers that keep litter out of the Elizabeth River.
We often say we're creating a world class asset that is a source of local pride, but whether you support the ERT through donations, as a volunteer, or inviting a first-timer to explore the Trail, you are investing in your community. Making it better, more accessible, more connected and resilient. Trail pride is local pride and we practice Celebrate Trails Day every day!
Happy trails,
Kindra
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Now in its ninth year, National Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's celebration asks everyone to find their local trail and get on it. The ERT celebrated on April 23rd with a full day of activities along the trail's 10.5 miles, beginning with an official ribbon cutting of the newest trailhead, Water Street Open Space at Harbor Park. With stunning river views and the installation of ERT amenities like ADA accessible picnic tables and benches, bike racks and trash cans, this redefined space is sure to become a community favorite and will be key in connecting the ERT east. Hundreds of visitors came out to explore the space and take part in free activities from yoga and live music to free scooter rides and photo ops with Rip Tide.
The ribbon cutting included all the community partners who made this vision a reality. “The new space enhances the connection between downtown Norfolk and Harbor Park,” said Kyle Spencer with Norfolk’s Office of Resilience. “Encompassed in the site design are native plantings, storm water elements to include bioretention meadows, bioretention soils, and vegetated meadow areas, along with a repurposed slab from a demolished storage building into a plaza/gathering area. As a result, this blighted site alongside of the downtown waterfront corridor is activated and greatly improved through green space, environmental capping and accessibility.”
If you haven't ventured past Dominion Tower on the ERT, keep going to find this tranquil and beautiful new open space.
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Celebrate Norfolk Bike Month
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Norfolk Bike Month cycles on to the Elizabeth River Trail this May! Each year, the ERT, Downton Norfolk Council, the City of Norfolk and other community partners celebrate biking as an economical, environmentally-friendly and healthy mode of transit and recreation. Not to mention, biking is a safe and glorious way to enjoy spring weather on the trail.
The ERT Foundation is hosting our monthly Tour de ORF ride, a Saturday morning Botanical Bike Tour and the Bike to Work Day pitstop in Chelsea on May 20. We're also bringing back Bikes, Brews & Baseball with Norfolk Tides, Local Bike Shop and Benchtop Brewing Company on May 13. What’s better than happy hour at a brewery followed by a ride to a *discounted* baseball game! That’s not all! You can catch the ERT at Norfolk’s Bike Expo along with many other city-wide cycling groups on May 3 and back on the trail with REI Virginia Beach at a maintenance clinic in Plum Point Park on May 18.
For more Bike Month information and a full schedule of city-wide events, click here. You can also download the full calendar with a link to every single event right here. Have questions about getting involved in Norfolk’s bike scene? Download Norfolk Bike Resources and wheel right in.
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Give Local 757 for the Glowline
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Watch and share the ERT's Glowline video to see how YOU can help us get glowing! We'll be joining hundreds of local non-profits for Give Local 757, a 24-hour fundraising marathon on Tuesday, May 10. The ERT team will be going live on social media from a different spot on the Trail every hour on May 10. Join us at Jeff Robertson Park at 2:00pm on May 10 to cheer us on!
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We'll take any opportunity to shine a light on our amazing volunteers. If it weren't for trail lovers who step up and answer the call to serve, we would not be able to staff our ERT table, execute events, keep our trail clean and work on signage and amenities needs. We love our volunteers every day, but National Volunteer Week gives us another chance to highlight these committed individuals. This month we shine our Volunteer Spotlight on volunteer families. Matt Fish takes every chance he can to be on the ERT, whether running or biking with his family, adopting a spot to weed, or being a clutch ERT table staffer for events. "The ERT is a favorite place for the Fish Family. Volunteering on the ERT gives us a special connection to the local community we currently call home. These kind of connections are super important as we move around every few years," said Fish.
The Price family are also regular faces on the ERT. Husband and wife team Barbara and Donny Price and Donny's sister, Eileen, are Trail Ambassadors, patrolling, cleaning, giving directions and greeting visitors. “We are on the trail almost every day: walking, bike riding, walking dogs…it has added so much to our lives," said Barbara. "When we moved to Ghent five years ago, we had no idea that the ERT would be one of the biggest bonuses of moving here,” added Donny. Their daughter, Mel Price, is a founding ERT board member and chair of the trail's Master Planning Committee. Trail love runs deep in the Price family, but above all, their heart for service is evident and the ERT is deeply grateful.
Thank you to all our volunteers, community partners, board and committee members! If you're interested in volunteering, please email Events and Volunteer Coordinator Lily Sun.
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Celebrating National Poetry Month
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Celebrate Trails Day featured Poetry Hour where we welcomed the Hampton Roads Youth Poets alumni who performed "Make Waves," a piece that explores the difficult history of our region and looks toward a future of equity, inclusion and resilience, a place where "we turn gravel into gardens." These youth poets embody the mission of the ERT and it was an honor to host them. Also featured was historian and poet Nathan Richardson who interprets Frederick Douglass. Mr. Douglass spoke on his vast library and the poets who most inspired him. Additionally, local poets CassandraIsFree, Beth Williams and Kristen Kemp read from their Norfolk Arts, Poetry on the Pavement pieces, currently stenciled on the ground at the Water Street Open Space. The ERT seeks to bring art in all forms to the Trail and to elevate diverse voices to "Level Ground."
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Please join us in congratulating the following poets whose poems were selected in the open call for our Trail Poems Project!
Bill Ayres C.J. Expression
Catherine Fletcher Cristina Flores
Jeff Hewitt - submitted by his family
Michael Khandelwal Carol Parris Krauss
Synnika Lofton Jorge Mendez
Neleh Poletsky Kate Powe
Jessica Ratigan Phylicia Renee
Symay Rhodes Kimberly Thorn
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Have you visited mile marker zero on the intracoastal waterway? Find it on the ERT! @fish1775 |
We're all about multi-modal transportation by trail and water. @_joy_owens_ |
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The ERT is the gateway to Mermaid City for locals and cruise passengers alike. @cityofnorfolkva
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Guesses on where to find this hidden gem? Good work exploring our historic trail @kljwatercolors
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For more, follow us on social media:
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