The latest news about Maine lakes and ponds.

Updating the Kennebec Messalonskee Trails

April 25, 2011 - Waterville — An update on efforts to connect a 28-mile trail system through five towns will be discussed Tuesday at the annual Kennebec Messalonskee Trails meeting.

Kennebec Messalonskee Trails President Peter Garrett will introduce a new program by several doctors who will prescribe walking to patients.

“The idea is that there will be local maps and trails and directions given out by doctors,” Garrett said Friday. “This is a program that’s unique in Maine so far.”

Another new program will offer guided walking tours led by trail group members, Garrett said.

“We’re aware that some people don’t feel quite comfortable walking on their own,” he said.

The weekday walks will be in the mornings and late afternoons during the summer, he said.

The keynote speaker Tuesday will be Karen Mosher, a psychologist and clinical director for Kennebec Behavioral Health.

She said she plans to talk about connections people can make when they walk.

“Being outside and walking in beautiful places is really conducive to making connections, both with other people and with yourself,” Mosher said.

Everyone knows, for instance, that walking is good for depression, weight loss and dealing with stress, according to Mosher.

But the experience of being outside, thinking and taking in the sights, sounds and smells also is important, she said.

“I grew up walking all over — I grew up on a dairy farm, which was very isolated, in western Pennsylvania and walked all over the place as a child,” she said.

Mosher said she and an aunt would walk through orchards and fields of berries and talk about who lived in the neighborhood, she said. Her aunt would tell her stories about the family.

“It was a real important part of growing roots and understanding who I am and what my heritage is,” she said.

That experience has led to her creating such connections with her own children and grandchildren, she said.

Kennebec Messalonskee Trails run through Waterville, Oakland, Fairfield, Winslow and Benton. They include trails the group started building in 2004, with some added to existing trails, according to Garrett.

“We’ve been adding pieces of trails here and there and we’re beginning to connect them all up,” he said.

So far, $2 million has been spent on the trails, with funds coming from state and federal grants, as well as private donations, according to Garrett.

“Kennebec Messalonskee Trails itself has raised $150,000 and the Waterville Rotary Club contributed $50,000 toward one trail; a lot more has been raised for Quarry Road trails, as well as significant contributions from each of the towns,” he said.

“They are mostly recreational trails but what we’re attempting to do is make the entire community — all five municipal entities — more bicycle/pedestrian-friendly.”

This year major connections will be made from Winslow to the Two Cent Bridge, and from that bridge to Quarry Road trails, he said.

The meeting will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in The Forum room at The Center in downtown Waterville.


Amy Calder, Kennebec Journal, April 2011


Lakes:
Regions: Belgrade


Print this story

Email this story

return to Lake News