SOUTHWICK – This season, riders and walkers along the Southwick Rail Trail will be able to better orient themselves.
The Friends of the Rail Trail have created maps for the kiosks on the Southwick portion of the trail that will be hung Saturday at 10 a.m. beginning with the Miller Street trail parking lot.
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Daniel Call said the commission offers brochures about the trail, which includes a map and its history, but there is nothing along the trail itself.
“For someone on the trail who is not from the area, they may say ‘Where am I?’ and the maps include a ‘You are here’ marker,” said Call.
The map includes directions north to Westfield and south to Farmington, Conn. Call said the maps are the first in a series of posters the Friends group designed.
“There will be another poster with some history and I believe there will be a smaller map that marks local businesses so if someone wants to go into town for something to eat or to shop, they will know where to go,” said Call.
Call said the additional posters would be placed on kiosks later in the season. The Commission also has information on the kiosks, including the rules of the trail.
The trail, which has been popular since its opening in 2011, is administered and maintained by the Southwick Park and Recreation Commission with the help of several local volunteer organizations. The Friends group was formed in 2011, when several local citizens banded together and offered their services to the Commission. Since that time the group has secured state recognition as a tax exempt organization as well as federal non-profit 501 (c)(3) status.
Others from the local community and out-of-state have joined the Friends group, which sponsors an annual July Fourth Bicycle Parade for children and organizes a spring cleanup event, as well as performing various maintenance duties on the trail throughout the year.
