Author Archives: uvlocalvores

We enjoy hearing stories of how the MRG is being used, for getting to work, to the grocery store, to CCBA when a road is closed, or, in this case, getting home from the eye doctor.  Thanks to Alan Schnur for sharing his story!

My regular eye exam on the Miracle Mile in January required drops to be put in my eyes. I, therefore, could not drive, and needed an alternative way to reach my appointment and return home. I considered several options: 1) asking a friend to drive me, wait, and drive me home, 2) take a taxi, or 3) take the Advance Transit Red Line bus from Colburn Park to the Miracle Mile. I decided to take the AT bus to be sure I arrived on time.

After leaving the doctor’s office, wearing my sunglasses, I remembered an exciting previous experience trying to cross to the bus stop on Route 4 without a crosswalk. Not wishing to repeat that experience, I thought of the Mascoma River Greenway. It took a few tries to find the unmarked path near the Price Chopper parking lot that descends to the Greenway, but when I found the path, getting down to the trail was easy as the snow was already packed. Once on the Greenway, I could easily walk to the recently completed bridge over the Mascoma River, behind The Timken Company — the one with the fantastic view over the Mascoma River. It seemed quite a few people had been walking the trail as the path through the snow was nicely packed. After crossing the bridge, I reached the paved section of the Greenway and found it groomed for walkers (with half the trail left with the original snow cover for cross country skiers).

It was a delightful walk through the quiet, peaceful, beautiful white wonderland. (And healthy too, since I was out in the open air and didn’t have to look around for anyone coughing or sneezing during the January high flu transmission season.) At my slow pace, it took about 40 minutes to reach the High Street end of the Greenway, with the time passing by very quickly. Almost too quickly.

The Mascoma River Greenway is now a fourth, and I think better option for going to my eye doctor. Once the snow melts, the trip will become even more convenient when traveling by bicycle. As promised, the Greenway is a great resource for the Lebanon community!

Alan Schnur

Lebanon

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Many of you may know Frank Gould, Co-Chair (with Paul Coats) of the MRG project, friendly MRG promoter at the Leb Farmers Market, and someone working hard to solve the problem of access at both ends of our Mascoma River Greenway .  .  . trying to make connections

Connections Count

The river twists itself,

coiled like an upset snake

beneath the railtrail bridge.

I watch it slither away,

beyond the oaks and maples

which shadow grasslands,

after slipping east through

neighborhoods and woods.

I walk beyond the bridge

along the rail corridor

where trains at one time

carried freight, passengers

and American life into

the valleys of our village.

Today, the trains are gone.

Its corridor is transformed,

derailed, cleared and paved;

a greenway to give locals

access to their community,

to their health, to their self,

to their American life.

Today they find this path

for comfort and calm,

for daily, scenic exercise.

They stroll their new-born;

bicycle with their kids;

walk to a grocery store

and home with filled bags.

They’ve found their walk

or ski to movies, to eat out,

or to their jobs and back.

Rush-hour traffic absent.

They visit friends they meet,

talk about the friendly walk,

and wonder why the trail

closes at dysfunction junction?

Why shopping malls exist

only well beyond trail’s end?

How might we reach out, they

ask, to unfold our community?

                        Frank Gould   2017