Hundreds Volunteer At Trail On MLK Day

Martin Luther King Jr. Day has in recent years become known in part as a day for volunteer efforts. That helped attract workers to Monday's Cynwyd Heritage Trail cleanup session, but work on the trail is happening far more often than once a year.

"I've been out here probably a dozen times," said Bala Cynwyd resident Dan Mazo, a member of Friends of the Cynwyd Heritage Trail. He lives half a mile from the trail and said he started volunteering on cleanups in 2008: "Looking at the before pictures from back then, it's unbelievable. It's phenomenal to see."

Mazo and his 12-year-old son Max were two of more than 250 people clearing brush, rocks and tires from a riverside spur of the trail, directly across the Schuylkill from the deck of the Manayunk Brewery.

"It's a little more than we expected," and up from 200 last year, said Sarah Francis, the event's volunteer coordinator. "I think it's going to keep growing every year."

About half the volunteers were St. Joseph's University students, Francis said, while another 30 or so came from The Phelps School in Malvern, a dozen came from Bryn Mawr College and many of the rest are members of Ivy Ridge Green—caretakers of trails on the Philadelphia side of the river.

"Is this astounding or what?" said Lower Merion Board of Commissioners member George Manos. "There's something about the trail and the idea of the trail that seems to reach people. I think it's the idea of a suburban community that's built-out that you would never think would have something like this."

Schuylkill means "hidden river" in Dutch, though volunteers are trying to reveal the river to future trail users. Luckily, Francis said, weeds and vines have retreated this time of year.

"Winter is a great time to work. (Snow) doesn't really slow us down. The only thing that slows us down is freezing rain," said Francis.

The Cynwyd Heritage Trail, Ivy Ridge Trail, Schuylkill River Trail and others are supposed to all link up, years from now, into a contiguous trail network. The city this month received a $1.3 million grant to forge a trail over the Manayunk Bridge, and Lower Merion last month appropriated its funds for the Cynwyd Heritage Trail.

"This is a really good season for us," Francis said.