Swimmers Raise $785 for Helena’s Centennial Trail (IR article)

Peggy Stringer organized a fun New Year's Day swim to benefit the Centennial Trail. Way to go Peggy!


Quoting from the IR article: "Sixty-two Helena swimmers ranging in ages from 11 to 90 swam a mile at Capital City Health Club on New Year’s Eve. Evan Eck had the fastest time, swimming 1,800 yards in 23:50. Aubrey Curtis came in second with a time of 26:15. Amanda McGowan topped the female swimmers with a time of 26:35, followed be Deb Grebenc with a time of 26:44. The youngest swimmer, 11-year-old Jessilyn Ecklund, finished in 35:37. Her mother, Bobbie Eckund, has just started swimming and finished in 42:00."

Paver Order Form Available

The Friends are selling brick pavers as a fundraiser for the Centennial Trail. An order form is available here, and you are encouraged to donate for one or more bricks to help build the trail. We request that your donation be at minimum $100.

Bricks may be inscribed with your name, the name of a business or organization, or the name of someone you wish to honor. Again, proceeds will be used to complete Helena's Centennial Trail.

These brick pavers will be placed at the site of a meeting spot along the trail, located in Centennial Park. This meeting spots for cyclists and walkers will feature a place to sit, get a drink of water, and will feature a kiosk with maps of the trail, announcements, and so forth.

Thanks for your help. Through buying a brick paver, you are not only leaving your mark along the trail, you are helping us all get it built.

Brick-Selling Campaign and Ales for Trails Event

The Friends’ next fund-raising event will be a paver-selling campaign. Starting in mid-2011, the Friends will be asking for a minimum donation of $100 to buy a paver. The donor could choose to have their name or the name of a loved one inscribed on the paver. The bricks will be used to pave an area along Centennial Trail that is in Centennial Park. The area will be a resting spot with a drinking fountain, benches and informational signs.

Plans are also coming together for an “Ales for Trails” event on May 20, 2011, with local beer and music at the Fairgrounds!

Phase One Construction Schedule

Progress continues to be made towards the goal of completing the Centennial Trail.

The City of Helena submitted the Community Transportation Enhancement Program (CTEP) project application to the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) in September 2010. CTEP funds are federal surface transportation funds set aside for transportation enhancement projects which include projects like bicycle and pedestrian facilities. CTEP pays for up to 86.42% of the project leaving a local match requirement of 13.42%. This local match amount is what the Friends of Centennial Trail are helping to raise.

· The Friends have raised $8,000 to date. These donations have come from individuals, businesses, the Helena Bicycle Club, and through a bike raffle in which Great Divide Cyclery and Big Sky Cyclery each donated a bike.

Construction Details

Below is the Phase One Construction Schedule as recommended by the Non-Motorized Transportation Advisory Committee (NMTAC).

Recommended Order	Section of Trail	Description
1	Henderson Crossing	8-foot wide bridge and 100-foot approach east and west to join existing gravel trail for safety and convenience
2	Centennial Park to National Avenue	Paved trail along Burlington-Northern Railroad right-of-way, including reflector posts, lighting, connects existing Main St. underpass with National, required due to BN donation, for safety and convenience and to ease maintenance
3	I-15 to Billings/Blaine	Paved and lighted pathway with benches, providing access to retail and connected to MDT; provides facilities where there are none; for safety and convenience and to ease maintenace
4	North Montana to I-15	Full project includes bringing up both sidewalks to ADA requirements and repair 1,300 feet paved SUP, includes lighting; for safety and convenience and to ease maintenance. Alternative: Bike lane only striping and signage.
5	Joslyn to Henderson	Paved with lighting, SUP along existing BN easement for safety and convenience and to ease maintenance
6	Henderson to Benton	Paved with lighting, SUP along existing BN easement for safety and convenience and to ease maintenance

Raffle Winners MacBride and McLaughlin

Friends of Centennial Trail raffle ticket winners Bill MacBride and Beth McLaughlin won respectively a kid's Specialized Strider bike, and an adult-sized Giant Boulder SE mountain bike. Proceeds from this last summer's raffle will go to help build Helena's Centennial Trail, a partially built multi-purpose path stretching from Spring Meadow Lake to the East Helena bike path.

Two bikes were donated for the FOCT raffle - a Specialized  Strider bike from Great Divide Cyclery, and a Giant mountain bike from Big Sky Cyclery. Almost $900 was raised through the raffle with funds to go towards improvements to the Centennial Trail.

The Friends thank Big Sky and the Great Divide for their support, and thank all those whose raffle donations helped us move a little closer to a completed trail.

Friends of Centennial Trail

The Friends of Centennial Trail are raising funds to complete Helena’s backbone west-east walking and bicycling route. We are working with the City of Helena’s Non-Motorized Transportation Advisory Council, and Prickly Pear Land Trust.

We hope to begin construction in 2010. When the Centennial Trail is complete you'll be able to walk, run, or bicycle from Spring Meadow Lake to East Helena on automobile-free trail; or on some segments, on a safe bike route or sidewalk.

We are raising funds to complete the Centennial Trail, in part to be used as matching funds for non-motorized transportation grants. For example, your gift of $100 leverages an additional $700 federal funds match. Your donation will go a long way. Please make your check payable to the Prickly Pear Land Trust, and please note in the memo field that your gift is for the Centennial Trail Fund. You may mail your tax deductible check to:

Friends of Centennial Trail

P.O Box 634

Helena, MT, 59624

Your gift will help complete the Centennial Trail and help make Helena, already a great place, a safer, more convenient, and more enjoyable place to walk and ride bicycles. Thank you.

Friends of Centennial Trail, http://centennialtrail.blogger.com
Prickly Pear Land Trust, http://pricklypearlt.org