FAIRLEE — The towns of Vershire, West Fairlee Fairlee and Orford can feel quite separate, despite the fact that they share a school system, the Rivendell Interstate School District. That’s why, nearly 20 years ago, the community and students at Rivendell Academy, which serves students in grades seven-12 in the district, came together to build a 36-mile trail that serves as a link between the different towns.
“It’s a way to provide a tangible connection between the four towns of the district,” said Maggie Stoudnour, trails coordinator for the school district.
The trail unites the towns, and now Stoudnour is looking for community members to help strengthen that connection by serving as trail adopters. These volunteers walk the trail, picking up trash or small branches, and letting the Rivendell Trails Association know about any issues that require more in-depth maintenance.
“(The association) is an all-volunteer board of directors and depends on trail adopters to help maintain the trails,” Stoudnour said. “Board members alone are not able to regularly hike and maintain all sections of the trail at all times, and so we depend on our trail adopters to be our hands and eyes, and to let us know when there is something that needs our attention.”
Some adopters walk portions of the trail multiple times a week, while others venture out less often.
“We don’t specify a particular number of hours, we just ask that when they do go out for a hike, they help us clear the trail and use our online reporting forms to let us know what they did and how long it took, and to let us know if there are any larger maintenance issues we need to take care of,” Stoudnour said.
Because of the flexibility, being a trail adopter is a great volunteer activity for families, she added. The trail starts at Flagpole Hill in Vershire, then passes by Westshire Elementary School in West Fairlee and Samuel Morey Elementary in Fairlee. In Orford, the trail passes by Rivendell Academy before joining the Appalachian Trail at the top of Mount Cube.
In addition to being used by the public, the trail regularly serves as an outdoor classroom for students in the district, Stoudnour said.
Trail adopters can sign up online at www.rivendelltrail.org by visiting the “Trail Maintenance” page. Hours and any maintenance issues can also be logged online, so people can volunteer entirely on their own time.
“Becoming a trail adopter is a nice and relatively simple way to give back and help maintain a trail you use,” Stoudnour said. “For those who enjoy hiking on forested trails, it can be an enjoyable and fun way to get yourself out more often, and (the volunteers) are an important part of keeping the trail in good shape.”
For more information on the trail or volunteering, visit www.rivendelltrail.org.