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Twilight Walk to benefit Montour Trail
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The Arrowhead section of the Montour Trail that runs through Peters will be the setting of the annual 3-mile Twilight Walk on July 27 to benefit Friends of the Montour Trail.
The walk, which begins at 8:30 p.m., can be started a two locations in Peters: Farmhouse Coffee/My Big Fat Greek Gyro at 502 Valleyboork Road or St. Petersburg Center at 210 Valleybrook Road.
"We have two starting locations because neither site has sufficient parking," said Sue Headley, organizer.
Registration is $7 and begins at 8 p.m. at both locations. Walkers will be given a glow necklace to help light the way along the luminaria-lit trail.
The only wheeled vehicles allowed are baby strollers.
"Walkers can proceed at their own pace because the event is not a race,'' she said.
The Twilight Walk began in 2004 and has been held ever year since, drawing as many as 500 walkers.
This year's participants are invited to bring a chair and stay for live entertainment by disc jockey Bryan Lee of BML Entertainment from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the St. Petersburg Center, where complimentary refreshments and food booths will be available.
The Arrowhead section of the trail was constructed and is maintained by Peters Township and pre-dates the Montour Trail. The township purchased 100 acres of the railroad right of way in 1985, and the 3.5-mile-long Arrowhead Trail, which runs from Route 19 to Brush Run Road in Peters, was resurfaced with asphalt in 2002.
"Although the walk is along the Arrowhead trail, the funds collected will be used to maintain the other crushed limestone sections of the Montour Trail that run through Peters," said Ms. Headley, of Bethel Park. "Maintenance includes putting down new limestone, purchasing fuel for and repairing the lawnmowers used to cut grass along the trail, removing downed trees, bridge and tunnel maintenance, bench maintenance along the trail and port-a-potty rental."
The Friends group also schedules a fundraiser in October called Penny Day, during which hikers and bikers are asked to put pennies in jars positioned along the trail.
"It's quite an effective way to raise a couple hundred dollars," Ms. Headley said.
The Friends group has 10 members who meet at 7 p.m. the first Monday of each month from May through September at Farmhouse Coffee; the rest of the year the meeting place is Peters Community Recreation Center at 700 Meredith Road.
The 46-mile-long Montour Trail runs from Moon near Coraopolis to Clairton, where it connects to the Great Allegheny Passage, a trail system that stretches more than 330 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. Six different Friends groups cover a section of the trail, which also has a spur to a parking lot at Pittsburgh International Airport and also connects to the Panhandle Trail near McDonald. That trail runs 29 miles to Colliers, W.Va.
The Montour Trail is paved with a smooth surface of crushed limestone and can be used for nonmotorized activities such as bicycling, walking, running, cross-country skiing and nature appreciation. In certain sections, horseback riding is also permitted but not on the improved trail surface.
Details: www.montourtrail.org and 412-835-3011.
First Published July 12, 2012 12:00 am
