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Cleanup crew hits the bike trail

Milford 4-H Club adopts Bike Circle trail

Staff photo by Connor Cummiskey Hunter Dauer, 9 (far right), organized an Adopt a Park or Trail cleanup of a segment of the Bike Circle Trail Saturday. Roughly eight people from the Milford 4-H Club showed up the beautify the trail.

NEW ULM — The first people to adopt part of the Bike Circle Trail performed their initial cleanup Saturday.

Hunter Dauer, 9, and about eight other members of the Milford 4-H Club walked the roughly half a mile from where 12th North Street intersects the trail to 7th North Street.

“I think the bike trail is really pretty and that it should be preserved and you can see it from the highway and people can really notice (trash),” Dauer said.

They carried shovels, trash bags and gardening tools. In a red Radio Flyer wagon they hauled a cooler full of snacks and some weed killer. Along with picking up trash the adopters were there to eliminate invasive plants they found near the trail.

The project is an expansion on Dauer’s earlier 4-H project. He previously cleaned up trash on the road running past his house.

To continue to reduce littering, Dauer had to expand this year, because this is the project he is entering into the Brown County Fair in August.

Dauer adopted the trail through New Ulm’s Adopt a Park or Trail program. He approached the Parks and Recreation Commission during its May meeting to get permission.

At that meeting Assistant Park and Recreation Director Cheryl Kormann said it was the first segment of the trail to be adopted.

The program aims to serve as an avenue for citizens to help clean, beautify and develop parks and trails around New Ulm.

Under the program groups can cleanup litter, sweep rake and pull weeds as they see fit. They can also serve by painting, planting vegetation or more intensive work under the supervision of the Parks and Rec. Director Tom Schmitz.

Groups must complete 25 hours of service per year minimum. Those who do not risk forfeiting their adoption status, according to the city’s website.

Anyone interested in adopting a park or trail can find the application process online at the city website: ci.new-ulm.mn.us under the Parks and Rec. tab.

“We encourage you to adopt a park or trail too, because it is good for the environment and it helps clean up,” Dauer said.

ccummiskey@nujournal.com

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