It Takes Passion

When I decided to write this story, I started listing the ‘heroes’ for each trail and the list literally filled the page. If I live long enough, I’ll write a book about all the passionate people that have contributed to my trail-building journey, but for now, I had to pick a few that would fit into my corner.

If not for Brenda Burnette (now Brenda Tate), and her connections at the Georgia DNR, I doubt the State of Georgia and PATH would have ever figured out how to partner and build the Silver Comet Trail. Without Joe Anderson helping me piece together the right-of-way west of Rockmart, I would have failed in my attempt to connect the Comet. And then there was Senator Nathan Dean, who walked me into countless legislators’ offices advocating for more state money for the trail. All these people had passion for what we were creating.

When we were putting our board of directors together, we asked Gloria Borders to join our board. Gloria lived in southwest Atlanta on Flamingo Road. At the initial PATH board meeting, Gloria told me her house backed up to 140 acres owned by the bandleader Lionel Hampton. She said her neighborhood would benefit greatly from having a trail and greenspace connecting through the parcel. Gloria and Maxine Rock contacted Mr. Hampton and the donation of land for the trail followed.

Gloria and her daughters Lisa and Julie, introduced me to the neighborhood and helped me negotiate the politics at city hall. Without their support, the trail initiative would have failed. They had a passion for their neighborhood and the connectivity a greenway trail would provide. Without their passionate support the Lionel Hampton Trail, Atlanta’s first PATH trail would not have been built.

When Stephanie Stuckey was appointed Director of Sustainability by Kasim Reed, she immediately launched the effort to build a greenway and trail along Proctor Creek. The creek weaves through an underserved part of Atlanta. Stephanie was looking for ways to provide sustainable infrastructure in areas of the city that needed a little boost.

Stephanie knew me and was familiar with the work we had done in the city and DeKalb County. She lobbied to have the city allocate T-SPLOST funding for the project after we presented a plan for the whole trail and a design for phase 1. If not for the passionate support of Stephanie there wouldn’t be a Proctor Creek Trail or maybe even a Microsoft facility.

Former Parks Commissioner for Atlanta, Diane Harnell Cohen, was a passionate ally when we were proposing the trail along Tanyard Creek. Diane understood what a trail would add to the park and took the heat alongside me when it was proposed. She had a passion for connectivity and the passion for greenspace. Without her support, the trail through Tanyard Park wouldn’t be there. And I couldn’t write this story without heaping mountains of praise on my good buddy, Kelly Jordan. Kelly was always passionate about establishing a trail network on the land he assembled at Arabia Mountain. Kelly not only assembled the property; he cleared countless obstacles from our path that threatened to block trail development. His passionate pleas to the Dekalb County Commissioners netted numerous allocations of funding that kept construction moving. Aided by the support of Vernon Jones and his assistant Richard Stogner, Kelly was a dynamo when it came to lining up right-of-way and local funding to improve Arabia Mountain. The AMP would not be in place if not for the passionate support of Kelly.

Since semi-retiring, I enjoy reading all the blogs and posts that chronicle wonderful experiences on the trails we built. It reinforces my opinion that trails are an essential component of any community infrastructure. Trails are the ultimate venue for experiencing the outdoors.

To the passionate helpers that made trails happen, I hope you get an occasional ‘tingle’ when trail users praise a trail. I certainly do. l