Tam 25 series

25th Anniversary

Take a look...

Trail Around Middlebury

at the map of Middlebury and you will see that we are blessed with an abundance of public lands to the east of the village and Otter Creek. These are largely the gifts of three forward-thinking conservationists: Joseph Battell (Battell Woods & Chipman Hill 1915), Eleanor Means (Means Woods, 1977) and Willard Jackson (Wright Park, 1985), who inspired the eventual creation of the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM) in 1989.

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The Middlebury [Area] Land Trust was new, having been incorporated in 1988 following the completion of Donna Goodman’s Master’s Thesis “A Land Protection Study for the Town of Middlebury”. I had been hired as the “Coordinator” for the fledgling organization. Our work focused on reaching out to large landowners in Middlebury (primarily dairy farmers), to explain how the land trust might be able to assist with the long-term conservation of their farms to benefit their businesses as well as our community’s continued viability. I sat around many kitchen tables listening and learning from these intrepid Vermonters about Vermont agriculture and how we can share one mission for mutual gain.

At the same time, I was living in Middlebury and started walking over Chipman Hill every day. I literally never saw anyone on the hill and could not believe that this incredible resource was so underutilized. As a young natural resource planner I was learning about Frederick Law Olmstead and the creation of New York City’s Central Park and Boston’s Emerald Necklace and had an ‘ah hah’ moment on Chipman Hill one day — thanks to the gifts of three visionary conservationists Middlebury was almost halfway to having our own Emerald Necklace! By joining the already-conserved lands with a continuous trail we could encourage local recreation, build awareness around existing conservation areas and build support for the continued conservation of land on which to build our own ‘Emerald Necklace’.

After convincing the board that it was a good idea to expand our mission to include a trail, we had a naming contest as well as a logo contest. Once the name was chosen, Al Stiles carved the logo on a piece of Luan and the trail was born.

The first sections of trail were developed and blazed through the existing public lands. At its inception, some people had concerns about having the trail near their homes or about providing permanent easements for the trail across their property. At an early select board meeting, the public works director at the time spoke against it – concerned that a trail would be a haven for criminal activity. Chief Hanley, who was then new to his position, spoke up in support of the TAM, based on similar past experience. Eventually, the board was swayed to support the idea.

We had many hurdles to overcome along the way – crossing private property, the Otter Creek and the railroad (twice). Sometimes it seemed like an impossible task. We started reaching out to all of the various landowners to plant the seed while developing the trail on the already publicly owned lands to the east.

This column is the first in a series dedicated to educating and engaging the community on the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM), its history and varied routes. It is also part of MALT’s campaign to raise an endowment for the TAM’s exciting future.

We encourage you to walk any section of this remarkable, local jewel and to contribute to MALT’s trail endowment campaign. See you on the TAM!

For more info on the TAM or the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) call 802.388.1007 or visit maltvt.org

In 1996 I moved temporarily to Oregon. I returned three years later to a christening of the new bridges at Belden’s Falls. One day while hiking in Wright Park I ran into a friend who said, “Do you know about the TAM? It’s the greatest!”

How lucky we are to have a community worth hiking and biking in and to have had so many people involved in supporting the TAM over these many years. We now have our very own Emerald Necklace!

Contributed by Amy Sheldon MALT’s first Executive Director, 1989-1996

25th Anniversary

Trail Around Middlebury – our ‘Emerald Necklace’ Facil tSoeicdtion: Wright Park

Wright Park

When I became the second Executive Director of the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) in the mid-1990s, I saw a real opportunity in the n e ld Tra s e Trail Around Middlebury (TAM). I believed the TAM to be a wonderle B r m xt. o : 2.8 Distance s: Seymour St. E ful resource for the community that was much more visible and tand k gible than the concept of land conservation, which was the primary e Trail Hea re C r Otte . focus of the board at the time. I lobbied hard to place more focus on Falls Rd Stretches along ng cliffs and lo : development of the TAM and fortunately was able to garner the supFeatures elden Falls and a B port of the board to put more resources into the Trail.

River to ds. n o is sectio th e r lo p deep wo One key piece of land in this phase of development of the TAM 2 e to ex nity Hik turday, March 2 came to be known as Wright Park. In the late 1980’s, local resiCommu a on S M A T dent Will Jackson had generously donated the land to the town e of th of Middlebury. (Will gave it the name in honor of his dear friend Chuck Wright, who had been paralyzed in a plane crash.)

What many people don’t know is that despite Will’s wonderful offer, the town might not have accepted the gift unless MALT Board Member Peg Martin became a strong advocate and convinced the town select board to take it. So, we have both Will and Peg to thank for the wonderful resource we all now enjoy as an integral part of the TAM. Once the town became the owner of this land, local resident (and reliable volunteer) Al Stiles played a huge role in laying out the first trails in the park. Over the ensuing years, Wright Park has become one of my favorite parts of the TAM, and you will often find me there in all seasons for hiking, cross-country skiing, and sometimes mountain biking. If you have yet to visit this amazing part of our town, you are in for an eye-opening experience in a striking area. Wright Park has a variety of well-marked hiking trails, several of which take you right past natural features that you’d never expect to see in a place so close to downtown.

One trail goes for quite some distance along the remote shore of Otter Creek, a stretch of the river that invokes a sense of being in a much larger wilderness area. You’ll see tons of evidence of beaver activity, and ospreys can often be sighted. Another trail follows along a series of rocky cliffs, several of which are 50-60 feet high; bird life and animal signs are abundant everywhere. Mountain bikers also have access to this territory — on trails specifically designed for bike use, making it a popular multi-use segment of the TAM.

This column is the second in a series dedicated to educating and engaging the community on the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM), its history and varied routes. It is also part of MALT’s campaign to raise an endowment for the TAM’s exciting future.

We encourage you to walk any section of this remarkable, local jewel and to contribute to MALT’s trail endowment campaign. See you on the TAM!

For more info on the TAM or the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) call 802.388.1007 or visit maltvt.org

As I look back over my years as Executive Director of MALT, the things I remember most fondly are the teamwork and volunteerism that finally got the whole trail in place. No one would be able to enjoy the TAM as it is now without, for example, the efforts of John Derick, who continues today to be the driving force behind maintaining the TAM’s system of trails and bridges. And the early involvement of Will Jackson, Peg Martin, Al Stiles, and many others was pivotal as well. So, if you see any of them on the street, extend your hand and thank them!

Contributed by Bud Reed MALT’s second Executive Director, 1995-2000

25th Anniversary

Trail Around Middlebury – our ‘Emerald Necklace’ orge Creek G

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A community endowed with an emerald necklace

like our very own Trail Around Middlebury (TAM) holds a rare green treasure. Such an asset does not come by chance but by a unique combination of generosity, hard work and community support, which makes it all that more valuable.

In previous articles of this series you read of the gems Chipman Hill and Wright Park; this week we continue our trek around the TAM by visiting the sparkling Otter Creek Gorge. All three sections were made accessible to the public forever by the vision and gifts of individuals including the Otter Creek Gorge contribution by Will Jackson, Allen Johnson and Linda Johnson as well as Steve James, Bob Collins, and Stephen Rockefeller.

The Gorge(ous) trail offers many delights and surprises, from woods to water, ledgey hills to cow-cropped fields. Walking through mature woods on the well-worn trail, at moments you swear you’re in the Green Mountains. Birdsong and wind dance high up in the trees, and when you look down, you note small creatures and tracks left by larger inhabitants. Along one stretch, if you look in the right direction and the sun slants through the trees in a certain way, its dappled light reveals old gravestones of the Belding family. There, just past a screen of trees, leans a fort of sorts made by the kids in TAM’s summer camp, and you are glad that they have a chance to know these woods, too. As you approach the suspension bridge across the dam connecting Wright Park and the Gorge, the water roars through the rock face suggesting the deep, rounded scars in the high ledges of Wright Park. Further along the path hugging creek’s edge, you visualize the turbulent underwater dynamics in the gorge downstream. From the trailhead on Horse Farm Road you continue west on the Johnson trail, enjoying younger woods and then sweeping southerly views and a large beaver pond. What a place to learn about the natural world and the forces that shaped it! Take an hour or three here and you’ve been gifted by the TAM. Now we need to do our part. Give our gift. Each of us.

Charting, building and improving the stunning jewel of the TAM requires hard work and community support. If our children and our children’s children are to know these woods and water, these fields and rocky hills as we do, then we all need to pitch in by giving what we can to protect and steward our emerald necklace. To celebrate these 25 years and plan for the next 25, MALT has created the John Derrick Endowment Fund for the TAM. Together let’s build a $125K endowment to ensure the TAM’s long-term viability. Please make a special contribution. After all, the trail gives you its special gifts every time you’re out there.

Contributed by Bill Roper MALT Board Chair 2001-2004 Help us reach our goal of raising $125K for the TAM.

$125K Goal This column is the third in a series dedicated to educating and engaging the community on the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM), its history and varied routes. It is also part of MALT’s campaign to raise an endowment for the TAM’s exciting future.

$41,835 –

We encourage you to walk any section of this remarkable, local jewel and to contribute to MALT’s trail endowment campaign. See you on the TAM!

For more info on the TAM or the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) call 802.388.1007 or visit maltvt.org

John Derrick

start

25th Anniversary

Trail Around Middlebury

The Jackson Trail is the TAM in miniature,

a place that is wild but not wilderness, very nearby our everyday world yet separate from it. I love this part of the trail because everywhere there are signs of culture, yet to take mere steps over the stile on Weybridge Street is to be immediately surrounded by nature. Like all of the TAM, the Jackson Trail is a piece of Middlebury’s backyard, passing through in-between spaces that have been consciously given over to solitude, exploration, and recreation.

Along the Jackson Trail, the TAM passes through a variety of habitats that have been shaped by our activity and our passivity. Near Weybridge Street are pastures and old fields, where meadowlarks sit atop fenceposts and field sparrows sing their ping-pong ball song. Quickly though, the trail enters woods of beech and hickory and hemlock and navigates a sidehill above a fast-moving stream. With a few short steps you are enveloped by the low ridges flanking the streambed and it’s possible to forget how close you areto the traffic of Weybridge Street and the homes along Sheep Farm Road.

Before long the woods open again to a beaver meadow, in June filled with uncountable blue flag irises, far more purple than you expect to see in a natural place. Back amongst the trees, the filtered sunlight is enough for spring ephemeral wildflowers like trout lily and bloodroot.

Then again the trail returns to the open, this time in a power line cut, a maintained swath of scrub that is home to an entirely new suite of flora and fauna. Finally, near Hamilton Road, the Jackson Trail emerges again to an expansive meadow with broad views of some of Vermont’s finest farmland.

One of the things we most cherish about Vermont is the vital interaction between our human communities and the natural communities that surround them. The TAM is an extraordinary resource that provides a tangible and democratic connection to open space and to nature. With the development of the Vermont section of the North Country National Scenic Trail, the TAM’s transition between Middlebury and the wilder lands beyond our developed village centers will become physical and permanent. The first link is already complete- in 2012, MALT constructed a trail leading from the Jackson Trail to the foot of Snake Mountain.

Trail Section: Jackson Trail and Blue Trail When this work is complete, the TAM will be a gateway (North Country Trail spur) (surely metaphorical, for most of us) to wild places spanning much Distance: Jackson Trail 1.6 miles, Blue of our continent, places like the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness, Cumberland Gap, and Lake Sakakawea. When MALT agreed to Trail 3.8 miles complete a feasibility study for the North Country NST at the request Trail Heads: Parking lot at intersection of Hamilton and Sheep Farm Roads and of the National Park Service it was an important moment, a conscious decision to engage beyond Middlebury and its immediate surrounds.

Weybridge Road (Rt. 23) With this, our wondrous little trail connects us to wild places in our Features: Meadows, wildflowers, backyard and out in the world beyond.

– our ‘Emerald Necklace’

Factoid

woods, farmland Jackson Trail Work Day is May 24th, 9am- Noon

This column is the third in a series dedicated to educating and engaging the community on the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM), its history and varied routes. It is also part of MALT’s campaign to raise an endowment for the TAM’s exciting future.

We encourage you to walk any section of this remarkable, local jewel and to contribute to MALT’s trail endowment campaign. See you on the TAM!

For more info on the TAM or the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) call 802.388.1007 or visit maltvt.org

Contributed by Josh Phillips MALT Executive Director 2008 - 2011

Help us reach our goal of raising $125K for the TAM Endowment Fund

$125K Goal

$42,935 – start

25th Anniversary

Trail Around Middlebury – our ‘Emerald Necklace’

Factoid

Trail Section: Class of ‘97 & O’Neil Trail Distance: 2.8 miles Trail Heads: RT 23 or RT 30 .

My 11-year-old son and I ran the Middlebury College Section of the TAM seventeen years after I

contributed to its design and construction. Griffin and I headed out for a 4.7 mile run from Battell Woods to the O’Neil Trail – What a treat! As planned, Griffin packed it in at Route 30 and I began a trip down memory lane. As I continued on my planned circumnavigation of the TAM that morning, it wasn’t two minutes into my solo run that I ran into a group of students performing trail maintenance under the guidance of John Derick.

I was fortunate enough to have Professor Jim Northup for my senior seminar in my final fall term. Professor Northup would ask the class to identify six or seven projects on which the students would work throughout the semester. When a classmate suggested the design and construction of the much-needed Middlebury College section of the TAM I jumped at the opportunity. It wasn’t long before we were negotiating the trail’s route with the college, private landowners and the Middlebury Area Land Trust, designing interpretative trail signs and spending hours constructing the trail.

This is when I met John Derick and had the pleasure to be under the tutelage of this experienced trail designer.

With shovels, wheelbarrows and wide smiles the students encouraged me to test out their newly rerouted section of trail. And if it weren’t enough to see the volunteers’ enjoyment that morning, crossing paths with John was icing on the cake.

Just as the interpretive signs and their black locust posts have withstood the test of time, so has John Derick. It might have well been 1997. What a gift John has given this community with his dedication to this trail and all those he has guided to maintain its condition. While I didn’t want our conversation to end, I had my 6-year old daughter, Ava, to pick-up back at Battell Woods as her wilderness camp ended at noon.

I headed off downhill through the woods and then wound my way through open meadows to Route 125.

At this point, a spring traveler can choose a wet or drier route. Those with dry feet will pass the Middlebury College Organic Garden and those with wet feet, me, will follow the fence line through open meadows. When the two trails converge about halfway between Route 125 and 23, you enter a short section of forest with winding trails.

As soon as you’ve entered the forest and adapt to your new surroundings and terrain, you spill back out into open pastures and sky that carry you to Route 23.

I never appreciated the TAM as much as I did that day. It’s a remarkable resource that has provided me with much enjoyment over two decades and will serve many more for decades to come.

I’m proud to have contributed to its development and look forward to seeing you on the trail.

Contributed by Peter Schneider Middlebury College, Class of 1997

This column is the fifth in a series dedicated to educating and engaging the community on the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM), its history and varied routes. It is also part of MALT’s campaign to raise an endowment for the TAM’s exciting future.

We encourage you to walk any section of this remarkable, local jewel and to contribute to MALT’s trail endowment campaign. See you on the TAM!

For more info on the TAM or the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) call 802.388.1007 or visit maltvt.org

Help us reach our goal of raising $125K for the TAM Endowment Fund

$125K Goal $53,000 –

start

25th Anniversary

Trail Around Middlebury – our ‘Emerald Necklace’ Facil tSoeicdtion: Wright Park

Wright Park

When I became the second Executive Director of the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) in the mid-1990s, I saw a real opportunity in the n e ld Tra s e Trail Around Middlebury (TAM). I believed the TAM to be a wonderle B r m : 2.8 Ext. o Distance s: Seymour St. ful resource for the community that was much more visible and tand k gible than the concept of land conservation, which was the primary e Trail Hea re C r Otte . focus of the board at the time. I lobbied hard to place more focus on Falls Rd Stretches along ng cliffs and lo : development of the TAM and fortunately was able to garner the supFeatures elden Falls and a B port of the board to put more resources into the Trail.

River to ds. n o is sectio th e r lo p deep wo One key piece of land in this phase of development of the TAM 2 e to ex nity Hik turday, March 2 came to be known as Wright Park. In the late 1980’s, local resiCommu a on S M A T dent Will Jackson had generously donated the land to the town e of th of Middlebury. (Will gave it the name in honor of his dear friend Chuck Wright, who had been paralyzed in a plane crash.)

What many people don’t know is that despite Will’s wonderful offer, the town might not have accepted the gift unless MALT Board Member Peg Martin became a strong advocate and convinced the town select board to take it. So, we have both Will and Peg to thank for the wonderful resource we all now enjoy as an integral part of the TAM. Once the town became the owner of this land, local resident (and reliable volunteer) Al Stiles played a huge role in laying out the first trails in the park. Over the ensuing years, Wright Park has become one of my favorite parts of the TAM, and you will often find me there in all seasons for hiking, cross-country skiing, and sometimes mountain biking. If you have yet to visit this amazing part of our town, you are in for an eye-opening experience in a striking area. Wright Park has a variety of well-marked hiking trails, several of which take you right past natural features that you’d never expect to see in a place so close to downtown.

One trail goes for quite some distance along the remote shore of Otter Creek, a stretch of the river that invokes a sense of being in a much larger wilderness area. You’ll see tons of evidence of beaver activity, and ospreys can often be sighted. Another trail follows along a series of rocky cliffs, several of which are 50-60 feet high; bird life and animal signs are abundant everywhere. Mountain bikers also have access to this territory — on trails specifically designed for bike use, making it a popular multi-use segment of the TAM.

This column is the second in a series dedicated to educating and engaging the community on the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM), its history and varied routes. It is also part of MALT’s campaign to raise an endowment for the TAM’s exciting future.

We encourage you to walk any section of this remarkable, local jewel and to contribute to MALT’s trail endowment campaign. See you on the TAM!

For more info on the TAM or the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) call 802.388.1007 or visit maltvt.org

As I look back over my years as Executive Director of MALT, the things I remember most fondly are the teamwork and volunteerism that finally got the whole trail in place. No one would be able to enjoy the TAM as it is now without, for example, the efforts of John Derick, who continues today to be the driving force behind maintaining the TAM’s system of trails and bridges. And the early involvement of Will Jackson, Peg Martin, Al Stiles, and many others was pivotal as well. So, if you see any of them on the street, extend your hand and thank them!

Contributed by Bud Reed MALT’s second Executive Director, 1995-2000

25th Anniversary

Trail Around Middlebury – our ‘Emerald Necklace’ Factoid

Trail Section: Class of ‘97 & O’Neil Trail Distance: 1.5 miles Trail Heads: RT 30 or RT 125 Features: Rocky woods and outcroppings, fields and forest Meet us at the Monroe St. entrance at 9am on July 26th for a FREE family hike in the Battell Woods!

The Trail Around Middlebury (TAM) winds through the soul of our community, making connections and providing us with a unique perspective on our small piece of Vermont. This inspired path links conserved lands, weaving among nature’s ecological gems, homes, and businesses. Its creation and development have demanded faith and dedication from a countless number of individuals and organizations. A patience to plan and create, an understanding of how land use supports egalitarian ideals, a belief in the importance of health and education taught through nature, a dedication to maintenance and a philanthropic vision to support this resource, have been pillars in its success.

Paths like the TAM connect us not just to each other, but also to a deep history, as we imagine settlers across hundreds of years using the land around Middlebury for agricultural, social and recreational use. The section between Rte 30 and Rte 125 epitomizes the terrain and habitats in the Middlebury area. From the border of the well kept college golf course greens, the trail first leads down a wooded rocky ravine with outcrops that reflect the challenging nature and advantages of terrain.

Rocks and incline make it hard to farm, but may have offered some shelter and refuge from bad weather for early inhabitants. The change in soil depth and drainage here offers spaces for different vegetation and animals to thrive and support biodiversity.

Coming out from the woods one passes the nestled college buildings (including a windmill and recycling center) and heads out towards iconic verdant fields.

Connections to people and place are what make the existence and long-term viability of the TAM so important; it is a collective ownership. Today this section of trail sees mostly recreational use, as visitors seek out a place to reflect on nature and enjoy the scenery.

Fredrick Law Olmstead’s vision of an emerald necklace was based on integrating nature with residents’ lives and that creating such a linked system of conserved park areas was “a self-preserving instinct of civilization.” No other town our size in Vermont comes close to our prescience in planning and supporting this type of community resource as we do with the Trail Around Middlebury.

Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) has worked hard to collect these gems of properties and easements that are currently in use and those that can be added to the TAM system as other potential links become available.

It is up to us to love and maintain this incredible asset, and work to support its future.

Please join me in supporting the TAM. Gioia Kuss, MALT Executive Director from 2000 -2007

This column is the sixth in a series dedicated to educating and engaging the community on the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM), its history and varied routes. It is also part of MALT’s campaign to raise an endowment for the TAM’s exciting future.

We encourage you to walk any section of this remarkable, local jewel and to contribute to MALT’s trail endowment campaign. See you on the TAM!

For more info on the TAM or the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) call 802.388.1007 or visit maltvt.org

Help us reach our goal of raising $125K for the TAM Endowment Fund

$125K Goal $53,000 –

start

25th Anniversary

A labor of love iis what the Trail Around Middlebury represents for the many dozens of people who have worked to develop and maintain the trail over the 25 years since it was first conceived.

From MALT board members and special volunteer forces, to students helping during regular maintenance days and CSAC volunteers who dedicate a day each week to trail work, many hands have worked continuously to improve the TAM. John Derick is the trail’s seasoned coordinator and has known almost all of these people, directed a great number of their actions and has been the ultimate volunteer in selflessly giving hundreds of hours ensuring a quality experience for hikers.

John worked early on with Amy Sheldon (MALT’s first executive director from 19891996) to develop the concept for the TAM and began early negotiations with landowners such as the James Family of Monument Farms, Will Jackson, and Linda Johnson.

With experience in utility construction and rigging, John quickly assumed responsibility for the physical work required for building the trails.

Throughout the TAM’s development, John and the MALT team negotiated easements and land use agreements. There were two major impediments to a fully connected loop, both caused by the Otter Creek River. Without a way to cross the rivers the TAM’s potential could not be fully realized. John, not easily dissuaded, worked with Amy Sheldon, Bud Reed, Al Stiles, Peg Martin and others to negotiate pedestrian bridges for the northern crossing of the Otter Creek at Belden Falls.

The team built two new suspension bridges to Wright Park with the Otter Creek Gorge trails, completing another chain along their “emerald necklace”. Later that year (1999), work began on an even more substantial bridge project linking the Middlebury College property west of the sports fields to the High School’s Legion (now Fucili) fields.

John and his crew began the work on the bridge engineering and design in the fall and by December they had all the pieces in place and staged above the fields, waiting for the ground to freeze enough to tolerate the loads of the cement trucks, backhoes and other tractors and heavy machinery that would be required for the job.

“At 4:30 one morning in early December, the weather looked about right and I decided it was going to have to do,” John says, “so the trucks drove across the fields and we started digging.”

To accommodate strict engineering codes, John’s team had to prepare anchors on each bank made up of 40-yard reinforced concrete blocks. Giant cables attached to steel I-beams reached up to tall telephone poles and then spanned the river high overhead. A second set of working cables were strung from shore to shore, onto which the wooden deck sections were lifted with a backhoe and then pushed out into place, slowly working their way from one bank to the other.

With the decking in place, the crew could then tackle the drop cables, connecting the parallel top cables and the decking.

“It took us two weeks of just messing with those cables, using a number of cinches to get them tight and in place,” John recalled.

The side fencing went up easily and on a bright July day in 2000 the bridge crew took a step back and realized they were finished.

“People started using that bridge right away,” John said, “and they’ve been using it ever since.”

The bridge, known as Boathouse Bridge (named after the concrete boathouse that the college once used to store canoes for a creek paddling club), sits along one of the most commonly used segments of the TAM. Traveling west from the bridge, the trail winds around the college sports fields and the Ralph Myhre Golf Course on a wide and well-maintained trail used by sports teams, casual hikers, joggers and dog walkers. This 1.8-mile stretch provides an easy and safe entry point for users who may be wary of narrower trails with more obstacles, roots, water, or fields that you may find on other sections of the TAM. As one of the most well-used sections along the 16+ mile loop, this stretch reminds us what a valuable resource we have in this emerald necklace around Middlebury and of the importance of maintaining it.

As John Derick says, “Part of this whole crown jewel thing is taking care of it.”

Over the years, John has devoted himself to the viability of the trail. We are forever lucky for his diligence and vision and now the longevity of the trail depends on the rest of us. Please contribute to the John Derick Fund for the Future of the TAM.

Written by Christy Lynn, MALT Board Member, with contribution from John Derick

Trail Around Middlebury – our ‘Emerald Necklace’ Factoid

Trail Section: Middlebury College Trail around Golf Course to Creek Road.

Distance: 1.8 miles Trail Heads: RT 30 or South Street or Creek Road.

Features: Passes through Middlebury College’s golf course & sports fields, crosses South Street and through wooded area to the suspended Boathouse Bridge and then around to Creek Road.

This column is the seventh in a series dedicated to educating and engaging the community on the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM), its history and varied routes. It is also part of MALT’s campaign to raise an endowment for the TAM’s exciting future.

We encourage you to walk any section of this remarkable, local jewel and to contribute to MALT’s trail endowment campaign. See you on the TAM!

For more info on the TAM or the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) call 802.388.1007 or visit maltvt.org

Help us reach our goal of raising $125K for the TAM Endowment Fund

$125K Goal $53,000 –

start

25th Anniversary

Take a look at the TAM and you will see just how much can

come out of an inspired vision had 25 years ago. Starting with just a couple of paths on Chipman Hill, the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM) now traverses through four townships, Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) land and town parks, Middlebury College land, private land and over the Otter Creek (twice). The trail you see today and the greater sense of shared place and community embodies two decades of planning, hard work, and collaboration.

Beginning last February we began this monthly series in the Addison Independent, focused on the TAM’s history and unique aspects of each section of the trail. It has been fun and inspiring to reflect on how the TAM came to be, what it means to people in our community and what has been required to keep up with the monumental maintenance and improvements over the years.

We have journeyed through the TAM’s founding vision with Amy Sheldon on the Means and Chipman Hill sections; learned some TAM history from Bud Reed and Bill Roper through Wright Park and Otter Creek Gorge sections; and enjoyed reading the personal experiences and observations from Josh Phillips, Peter Schnider, and Gioa Kuss through the Jackson, 97’, and O’Neil sections. Last month we gained insight into what it took to build the Boat House Bridge from Christy Lynn and John Derick. Finally, we draw the loop to a close and look at the final section, passing through Murdock and Battell Woods.

Trail Around Middlebury – our ‘Emerald Necklace’ Factoid

Trail Section: Jeffrey Murdock Nature Preserve and Battell Woods Distance: 2 miles Trail Heads: Creek Rd. or Seminary St. Ext. Features: Open fields, woods and bike trail networks.

The two-mile section of trail from Creek Road to Seminary Street Ext. would not be what it is today without the cooperation of a variety of landholders who each granted easements allowing for the trail to pass through their properties.

Heading east from Creek Road the TAM passes a small housing development, the Middlebury Union Middle School and heads into the Jeffery Murdock Nature Preserve.

Students and teachers utilize this section as an outdoor classroom and cross-country running ground. Once across Route 7, the trail goes through Middlebury College land and into Battell woods, which offers fantastic mountain biking and easy park access for residents of nearby Buttolph Acres and downtown properties.

Over the years many volunteers have given their time to the trail, but none so much as John Derick, MALT’s Trail Coordinator. John has been a constant driving force, embodying dedication to this natural resource. We will honor his devotion over the past quarter century at the conclusion of the upcoming TAM Trek. In many respects, if it wasn’t for John the TAM might not exist for all to enjoy today.

Looking ahead, past and present MALT executive directors and board members have formed a TAM endowment committee and are in the midst of a campaign to raise $125K over two years. The committee is almost halfway to reaching the goal with over $56K in cash and pledges dedicated to what has been named the John Derick TAM Endowment Fund.

Just as it took many people to make the trail what it is today, it will take that many and more to ensure the future of the TAM is continuously strong and vibrant. And so we ask for your support to help endow this unique community asset well into the future.

Please join us in celebrating the TAM at the 11th Annual TAM Trek next Sunday, September 28th. It is a perfect time to pick up one of our new maps, share your stories, make a contribution to the endowment and learn how you can help. To find more information or to make a contribution go to www.maltvt.org.

Thank you for your attention to this series dedicated to the TAM. We hope you have found it interesting and as fun as we have. We hope that it has inspired you to get out on the TAM and we hope that it helps you understand the value of a gift to its endowment.

See you on the trail!

Jono Chapin and TAM Endowment Committee

This column is the eighth in a series dedicated to educating and engaging the community on the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM), its history and varied routes. It is also part of MALT’s campaign to raise an endowment for the TAM’s exciting future.

We encourage you to walk any section of this remarkable, local jewel and to contribute to MALT’s trail endowment campaign. See you on the TAM!

For more info on the TAM or the Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) call 802.388.1007 or visit maltvt.org

Help us reach our goal of raising $125K for the TAM Endowment Fund

$125K Goal $56,000 –

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