Volunteers with the Aurora Lions Club are working to make sure the Virgil Gilman Trail in Aurora looks nice this summer, as part of the Adopt-A-Park/Trail program, an ongoing initiative of the Fox Valley Park District.
The group from the Lions Club has been working monthly – including most recently on Aug. 25 – to clean up the trail, with the effort to continue at least once a month through October, organizers said.
Fox Valley Park District Community Outreach Coordinator Ivan Chambers said the Adopt-A-Park/Trail program is an important one.
“This initiative … is designed to engage local organizations and businesses, service clubs and neighborhood groups to help maintain and beautify the Fox Valley Park District’s parks, public space, trails and green space,” he said. “There are a total of eight organizations that are currently participating in the six-month program that runs from April through September, but we keep the time frame kind of loosely. If someone wants to start in June, they’re more than welcome.”
Chambers said the program has been a success.
“From last year, the total pounds of trash and debris collected from groups was 643 pounds of trash, and we had 177 volunteers last year in the Adopt-A-Trail program alone, which would be equal to 241 total volunteer hours. That saved the park district nearly $4,000 in man-hours,” he said.
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Aurora resident Randy Brown, past president of the Aurora Lions Club, said he started the club’s participation in the Adopt-A-Park/Trail effort during his recent presidency and that the Gilman Trail effort was launched in June.
“We had 13 people that came out and we did it again in July and now in August,” he said last week. “We chose this location because we asked the park district what they needed and that’s what they requested of us.”
Volunteers from the Lions Club last week said the clean-up initiative is vital.
Marsha Bock of Aurora said she joined the Lions Club last September and that “my brother-in-law is a member, and I’m newly retired and was looking for something to do to volunteer.”
“I’ve been here for all three of these (clean-up events),” Bock said. “For me, it’s cleaner than when we showed up. There are still people that need to think before they toss things. I don’t live by here, but this is all our community, and we need to leave it a better place than the way we found it.”
Mary Arch of Aurora said she came for the first clean-up effort and was back a second time and that “I think doing this is important for the looks of the town and also for the environment.”
“That global warming we talk about – this matters,” she said
Bock added that another important component is “just the camaraderie and being a service organization and showing that everybody out there can just do one little thing.”
Joseph Beary of Aurora admitted the camaraderie with fellow Lions was part of the allure, adding that “it’s a good thing to do.”
“I like to do outside stuff. I raise monarch butterflies and I brought my grandsons last time as they were out of school and they enjoyed doing this too – you know, pass it on,” he said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
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