Shelton Day, Eh

A raw and gnarly Saturday that felt like we were headed to northern Canada turned into a beautiful Fall Sunday for Shelton Day on October 4, 2015, and that brought out the crowds.

What had been forecast for possible showers turned into a warm afternoon when the sun was out and we might have had our biggest turn-out ever for Shelton Day.

Our booth was strategically positioned again between Dunkin' Doughnuts and Bricks and Barley Tavern thanks to Sheri's planning.  Bill noted that there seemed to be a number of new folks who just moved into town and were really interested in what we had to offer.  We had a record number of people who signed up to be on our e-mail list for upcoming hikes, events, and work parties.

We had a good time talking to all our friends and neighbors, trail volunteers and curious newcomers, tourists and local politicians stumping for office.   Thanks to Officer Wooden for coming up and letting us know about keeping the Pine Lake Kiosk filled with maps. We probably hit a record number of maps and other trail and open space literature that we handed out.

Rich had a display of all the fun activities of the past year and was giving away information on the websites and Trails Blog. Some of things people wanted to know about were which trails were handicapped accessible or bikeable (Riverwalk, Shelton Lakes Recreation Path).  Which were good for pets (Paw Path by the Dog Park, Nells Loop Trail, others).  Where you could go fishing (Silent Waters, Hope Lake, Gristmill Trail on Mill Street, Boehm Pond Trail).  Where was a rugged trail (Paugussett Trail).

One of the topics of discussion was how safe are the trails given the article yesterday about the flasher that the Shelton Police caught back in May.  Long Story Short : the trails are very safe and enjoyable, and we had a fun time coming up with different ways to describe the chase when the Police arrested the idiot.

We also talked about The Adventures of the Shelton Bear, bobcats, coyotes, turkeys, Eklund Garden, Birchbank Mountain, our farms, and all the other open space features that Shelton is known for.   

Here's Bill, Rich, Sheri and Jim working the booth.  It's tough taking good photos from bright sunlight into shadow, one of the downsides to the nice Fall afternoon.

We got to sample some of the food and beverages offered by all the booths and local businesses.  At times the Trails Committee was forced to go into "Executive Session" to check on the progress of the Giants game.

Rich was trying to make sure everybody got all the maps they needed and letting them know about the hikes.  Jim was willing to trade some of his sure-fire, can't-miss fishing tips in exchange for signing up for volunteer work parties.

Our trails are all maintained by volunteers, so if you enjoy using them consider coming out to help maintain them at one of our trail work parties; they can be a lot of fun.

It was a great day, and we were very successful in reaching out to a lot of local residents; some new and some old-timers, about Shelton's trails and greenways.  Thanks to the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club for letting us participate in another Shelton Day.