We received the best news this week! Gov. Eric J. Holcomb and Indiana Department of Natural Resources Director Dan Bortner announced that Bluffton is one of the 38 communities that will receive funding from the Next Level Trails Grant.
This highly competitive grant has awarded us $404,035 to finish the last segment of the interurban trail from Walmart to Lancaster Park. This trail is part of the State’s visionary system for the 85-mile Pokabache trail from Bluffton to Pokagon State Park.
Statewide there will be a combined $65 million for 77 miles of new trail development as a part of the third round of the Next Level Trails program. With matching funds from applicants, this round is expected to generate a total investment of more than $102 million.
We are so thankful to the Wells County Foundation for awarding us $100,000 to jump-start the required matching funds and to the many local donors who contributed to the project. Our grant writer Lori Shipman, Engineering Resources Inc., and Roger Thornton have been instrumental in this process, and we are beyond excited to bring these funds into our community!
While we are on the subject of trails, you may soon notice a few small metal boxes in a few locations. Those boxes are trail counters to help collect data on pedestrian usage.
This has been a joint effort between NIRCC and the Pokabache Trail Coalition. The intent at this time is for the counters to be permanent.
NIRCC plans to install infrared trail counters at the following Bluffton locations — the Rivergreenway east of the Howard Rich Pavilion area, and the Interurban Trail next to Hott Family Dentistry.
May is right around the corner, and that means that it is time for the annual Murder Mystery Clue Parks Edition Game. This is an excellent opportunity to put on your detective hat and search the trails in Bluffton to solve the following crime.
Mrs. Mary Mischief was caught littering in the parks, and one of our staff has had enough of her treating our parks like a garbage dump! Who couldn’t handle Mrs. Mary Mischief cluttering up the parks? Are you a good enough detective to determine which Parks Department employee finally snapped? Who did it? Where did they do it? What weapon did they use?
Search high and low for paper clues along the trails that mention a suspect, weapon, or location that wasn’t used in the crime. You will need to walk, bike, or run on each path/trail to make sure you don’t miss any evidence.
Clues will be hidden along the Rivergreenway, Roush Park Trail (925 W. Silver St.), Pickett’s Run Story Walk Loop (400 E, Washington St.), and the Interurban Trail to help solve this crime. Please do not touch or remove the clues!
Once you have figured out this mystery, visit the Parks Department Facebook page and post that you solved the crime and how many detectives are in your family. One lucky family will be drawn to win a prize! Don’t give away the answer online; we want to keep this fun going and give everyone a chance to figure it out.
This mystery will be available from May 3 to May 31. You can print a check-off sheet from the Bluffton Parks Department website: https://blufftonindiana.net/data/uploads/2022/03/Clue-Muder-in-May-2022-flyer.pdf
Make sure you get outside this weekend and enjoy the nice weather!
