Recently I took an opportunity to walk from Shorewoods to Buck lake. I was standing on the shore of the lake reflecting on the past year while observing the lake’s mirror surface reflecting blue, white, green, and 3 three ducks swimming in a row. The sight of ducks in a row reminded me of chapter 3 in the Story of the Hansville Greenway titled “Ducks in a row.”
The ducks metaphorically represent three sequential foundation steps in the creation of the Greenway: Wetlands assessment, preparation of the community plan, and trail master plan.
The wetlands assessment plan began in 1991 when the Hansville Chamber of Commerce formed a water watcher group led by the president, Joan Lewis. Sid Knutson led a group of 31 volunteers who completed an 11- week course in water quality topics. These volunteers classified soil types, plants, animals, and, took water soundings.
The community plan commenced in 1992. Again, Sid Knutson was asked to lead the task of preparing the community plan. The goal of this plan was to assess population growth to establish goal-setting, selection of alternatives for population growth, and to develop a public blueprint for future projects.
Trail master plan. In 1995, Macleod Reckord, a Seattle based architectural firm, collaborated with the Hansville Trail Committee to develop a trail master plan. The trail master plan took eight months to finish and involved many meetings with the trail committee members.
These three sequential plans laid the foundation for what became the Hansville Greenway and Wildlife Corridor. Today, volunteers continue to maintain the trail system cutting and removing downed trees and limbs from the trails, mowing, and brush cutting vegetation to keep the trails accessible for all.
For a complete history of the Greenway, you can purchase a copy of the Story of the Hansville Greenway at the Hansville Grocery.
The Greenway volunteers want to thank Dennis Kommer of Dennis Kommer Excavating LLC for donating 8 hours of mowing.
The next regularly scheduled meeting takes place on December 5, 2019, at 6 PM. This is our annual volunteer appreciation meeting and Christmas Party. Goodies will be served!