Barrett’s Paving Company Donates Services to Tribe
Jul 2, 2012
The Tewathahita Walking Trail at Generations Park is being paved – thanks to some generous help from Barrett’s Paving Company. They started and finished the work on Friday June 29, 2012. “We saved a significant amount of money through this help from Barrett’s,” said Tribal Chief Ron LaFrance. “We also appreciate the assistance on this project from Barrett’s and hope that community members will express their thanks to them.” The Brass Horse provided a complimentary lunch for the work crew.
The tribe will save about $40,000 in labor and equipment use according to Rob Henhawk and Ernie Thompson, the Director of the Tribe’s Planning and Infrastructure Department. Barrett’s Paving provided the labor and machinery to pave the trails. This included a paver, a roller, a water truck and five crewmembers. “As a company here in this region, we like to give back to the community,” remarked Sylvain Gross, Regional Manager of Barrett’s office in Watertown. “We are part of the community and want to be a good neighbor. We are here to support.”
“This is the next logical step to improve the walking trails and the property in general,” noted Tribal Chief Randy Hart. “I’m sure the paving will result in reduced maintenance costs and be a safer surface for people to walk on.” The trail, originally designed by the late Travis Solomon, is about two-thirds of a mile in length and has benches and training stations located along the way. The trail became a reality resulting from a meeting between Kim McElwain, Lynne Thompson and the Franklin County Public Health, Healthy Communities Capacity Building Initiative. They applied for grant monies and got the whole thing rolling. This funding, along with numerous community fund-raisers, much time and labor from Scott Loran and donations from many Akwesasne business enabled the trail project.
The tribe installed the trail to provide a safe venue for people to stay in shape. “The roads in Akwesasne tend to be narrow with heavy traffic. Walking on the roadsides is not always the safest option anywhere,” added LaFrance. “People can walk and run safely on the trail, even in bad weather and when it starts getting dark outside.” About 100 people use the walking trail on a daily basis.
The trail is located in Generations Park, next to the Akwesasne Senior’s Center. The park is a sports and recreation complex that includes a playground, lacrosse fields, soccer fields, parking lot, a picnic pavilion, restrooms and a baseball diamond. The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe is developing this property into a major sports and recreation complex. “This is all part of the sports, health and youth programming plan,” said Thompson. “It will eventually include the additions of a new multi-sports playing field, the Diabetes Center for Excellence and a multi-purpose field house.”
For more information contact David T. Staddon, Public Information Director at 518-358-227 ext. 286.