Fund Drive Kickoff for Still River Greenway

Greenway fundraising chairman Molly Oddo received a check for $5,000 from Christopher Pitt, President of Northwest Community Bank, during the fund drive kickoff outside the Burrville Store on May 7. Photo/Robin Gourd

Bonnie Andrews is a member of the Sue Grossman Still River Greenway Committee.

The Sue Grossman Still River Greenway, a recreational trail that has been nearly six years in the making, launched its first major fundraising drive on Tuesday, May 7. The fund drive kickoff was held at the Burrville Store, long planned as the midway point on the trail, which has been designed for walkers, joggers, bicyclists, roller bladers, wheelchairs, and cross country skiers—nearly any non-motorized form of transportation.

Although volunteers have accumulated $175,000 so far, an additional $200,000 is needed to meet the $375,000 match required under the terms of the federal grant. (Local efforts must raise 20% of the $1.8 million federal grant earmarked for the trail.) The funds must be accumulated by August 31.

Well known Torrington resident Molly S. Oddo has volunteered to serve as chairman of the fundraising effort. Art Mattiello, also of Torrington, has headed a committee of volunteers who have met monthly to plan the trail since its inception in September of 1996. Mattiello said construction of the trail is expected to begin in January, with phase one completed by the spring of 2004.

The trail will run along the east side of Winsted Road from Harris Road in Torrington to Rowley Park in Winsted—about five miles in length. While the entire trail has been designed, the current fundraising effort will cover at least the first three-mile section of paving.

In recognition of the project's first significant financial contribution of $50,000, the trail was renamed in honor of the late Sue Grossman, wife of Torrington businessman Paul Grossman. The Grossman family members are staunch advocates of family-oriented recreation such as the type the trail will provide.

At the fund drive kickoff on May 7, Northwest Community Bank in Winsted contributed the first of three $5,000 installments to the fundraising effort. Members of the fundraising committee will be contacting other businesses and individuals in the Torrington-Winsted area for additional help to make the trail a reality.

Individuals may also contribute by sending donations to the Torrington Area Foundation for Public Giving, PO Box 1133, Torrington, CT 06790. This foundation has contributed to the effort and has held donations in trust from a number of other local volunteer organizations, schools, and individuals who have donated the first $175,000 in matching funds.

Recreational trails are a form of passive recreation that have met with success in nearby communities such as Farmington, Avon, Simsbury and, farther away, in Cheshire, Amenia, NY and Northampton, MA. Since its beginning, the Sue Grossman Still River Greenway has been planned to benefit all area residents.