The 3 prime groups who have driven the Community Mural Park, with its gorgeous native pollinator plant garden (with over 2,700 plants!), to become a wonderful success met at the London 101 Bar & Event Center for a self-funded celebration to appreciate the community spirit. A fun time was enjoyed by all…maybe inspiring an annual do!
After some 25 years of wandering, FMCPT finally lands in a new office and storage area thanks to our good friends at MATCO Services. Room enough for all of our trail equipment, ride and event items, plus a small office space. And we now use MATCO’s conference room for our meetings, so everything is close to “home.”
After years of effort, the Community Mural Park officially opened with a formal ribbon cutting ceremony on June 30, 2023. The turnout was tremendous and the support for the project has been amazing! A true “community” effort brought to life this wonderful welcoming to trail travelers arriving from the east.
Gene Pass
June 12, 1933—September 27, 2022
If you ever rode the Ohio to Erie Trail (OTET) through London, it is very possible that you either saw or met Gene Pass. Gene knew no strangers. Gene was one of the founding board members of the Friends of Madison County Parks and Trails (FMCPT)…one of our most prolific members. Gene Pass rode the trail through the summer of 2022, but succumbed to leukemia at age 89.
(Click the “Our dear friend…” title above to see the wonderful “Remembrance Tribute by Alan Knowles of the Friends of Madison County Parks and Trails”.)
Our official groundbreaking ceremony for the Community Mural Project happened on Celebrate Trails Day 2021 (formerly “Opening Day for Trails). Mayor Pat Closser, Park Board Commissioners Tony Xenikis and Chris Wallace, Madison County Historical Society Board President JT Byrd, Marlin Bradley with the Madison County Engineer’s office, MATCO CEO Van Viney, and FMCPT Executive Director Wayne Roberts all broke the ground officially today…along with Maddoxx!
Lots of folks involved – from FMCPT to MATCO Services to the Madison County Historical Society to the London Visual Arts Guild to local businesses and political folks – who’ve started to bring to life the “Community Mural Project” along Roberts Pass by the MATCO building. The initial ground clearing begins the “it’s real” part as we develop “stories” to tell via art on 17 mural panels to greet visitors as they arrive from the east. A small park and walking path is envisioned.
The challenges of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic didn’t stop FMCPT and the Madison Soil & Water Conservation District from holding perhaps our best Prairie Appreciation Ride ever – masks and social distancing included! The new ride brochure, developed by MSWCD’s Julia Cumming, was such a hit that we created one for the Geology Tour Ride in November and turned both into digital flipbooks available to all on our web site.
The COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020 caused many people to hit the trails – biking, walking, running – as there were so many things you otherwise couldn’t do, so trail use soared. However, social distancing and “stay at home” orders led to the cancellation and/or postponement of many trail-related events across the country.
Jack McDowell was an FMCPT Board Director for several years and one of the most prominent persons in central Ohio to help propagate local wildflowers and prairie grasses (one species is unique to this area of the world). The Friends hope this memorial will encourage people to reflect on McDowell’s words: “May the work I’ve done speak for me.”
Jerry Miller (shown) and other FMCPT members constructed 2 large display cases to showcase local amenities that trail travelers might enjoy and also maps to show the approved bicycle routes through London to cross the trail “gap.” One is where Roberts Pass ends entering London from the east and the other where the Prairie Grass Trail begins leaving town on the west side.