City looking to spark new interest in trail volunteers
Rockmart officials are hoping to reignite a passion among members of the community to take pride in the look and upkeep of the Silver Comet Trail.
An organizing meeting was held Thursday, Feb. 11, at the Silver Comet Trail Welcome Center located next to Seaborn Jones Park to brainstorm ideas on how to get local residents and businesses more involved in the portion of the 61.5-mile bike and walking trail that is inside the city limits.
Rockmart Mayor Sherman Ross and other city officials were in attendance, as well as Randy Cook with Keep Polk Beautiful. The group discussed possibilities such as getting designated trail rangers or local businesses to adopt specific sections of the trail and be responsible for picking up litter and other minor maintenance.
They also discussed trying to clear some of the vegetation along the sides of the trail, especially along Euharlee Creek close to downtown Rockmart, to provide better views of the surrounding property.
Ross said he hopes that church groups, civic clubs and families will be interested in either being trail rangers or working on community service projects related to the trail.
“I think during this time, with everything that is going on, people are looking for something positive to do, and this would be a great way to attract some attention to the trail and all that it does for our community,” Ross said.
Construction on the trail, which runs from the Alabama state line through Polk County and ends in Smyrna, began in 1998. Rockmart’s section was one of the earliest parts of the trail that was completed, with several volunteers keeping up with it at the time.
Over the years some of those volunteers have been unable to continue as the trail expanded through the middle of the county and into Cedartown on it’s way to the state line.
Another meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. at the Rockmart trail head. The public is invited.