Today is a happy, exciting and great day for Elkhart County. Tripling the length of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail, makes it a destination that more and more people in our community and the Midwest will want to visit and enjoy.

And although this extension of the trail has been a long time coming, when I ride it, I’m positive that the effort has been worthwhile. It is a fantastic addition to our county park system.

What makes it great in my mind is that it is space where friends and families can enjoy healthy recreation together.

Now I know all the arguments about the economic, transportation and cardio-vascular benefits of trails and greenways. I know that they are great for non-motorized transportation and that they attract tourists who bring money into the local economy. I know that greenways increase property values and make excellent wildlife habitat and wind breaks where there are trees. All that is true.

But, to me, the greatest benefit of a greenway like the Pumpkinvine is that it creates space for friends and family to interact. I learned that fact 21 years ago when our family lived in Oak Brook, Ill., and I rode on one of the first rail-trails, the Illinois Prairie Path, with my wife June and 12-year-old daughter, Mandy. That’s where I saw how trails encourage community and family fun.

So even though the official name of the trail is the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail, in my mind it could just as easily be called The Pumpkinvine Friends and Family Trail.

So today I celebrate this greenway as a gift to friends and families of Elkhart County. My thanks:

• To Elkhart County Park Dept. and park board for their swift construction work;
• To all the supporters of the Friends of the Pumpkinvine who persevered in their support through the years even when they disn’t see much progress in trail construction;
• To our legal team, Jim Byron, Jim Brotherson and Doug Mulvaney who solved many complex legal issues;
• And to members of the Friends of the Pumpkinvine board, past and present, who have given so generously of their time and money to make this day possible.

So, let’s enjoy the sun and the open space. Let’s enjoy the trees and sprouting corn. Let’s enjoy the friends and family we meet and greet on the trail.

And, as we enjoy all those good things, in the back of our minds, let’s remenber that we need to keep working to finish the trail all the way to Shipshewana, It’s not done yet!