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2010 Cedar Valley Trails Festival

The 15th Annual Cedar Valley Trails Festival begins today and there are several new twists to the celebration this year. The Senior Cruise, which takes place today at the Cedar Falls Community Center, is rather labor-intensive, but well worth the effort. Rosemary Beach has spearheaded this event and arranges for folks from assisted living centers to explore the trails via a narrated van cruise. What a wonderful opportunity for those who may not have gotten out on their own. Participants will be familiarized with the ease of access to the trails and be encouraged to visit them again. In past years we have demonstrated the use of three-wheeled bicycles that offer extra stability and this year participants are being treated to a view of the newly installed prairie animals. Thanks to donations from Bob and Rosemary Beach, Joan and Saul Diamond, John and Mickey Runchey, Don and Delores Tamisiea, the Cedar Trails Partnership, the Shimek Family, and the Bureau; a series of cut-outs representing animals native to the prairie lands of Iowa grace the park. George Shimek and his crew have created a doe and buck, snake, turkey, bobcat and fox to accompany the buffalo and calf already located on the south shore of North Prairie Lake. Thanks to the Cedar Falls Parks Division for getting these pieces installed in time for the Cruise.

Another exciting addition to the Trails Festival is Community Main Street’s involvement Saturday morning. Cedar Falls Community Main Street is hosting a community breakfast featuring “Chris Cakes Pancakes” at Gateway Park from 8-10am. This is between the Cedar Valley Trails Festival 5K and the Tour de Valley Ride. Everyone is welcome and tickets can be purchased at the park or before the event by calling 277-0213. In addition, downtown merchants are celebrating the festival with a sidewalk sale from 9 to 3pm.

The Opening Ceremonies will take place at the Waterloo Center for the Arts on Thursday evening beginning at 5:30pm and in addition to kicking off the festival, the recent installation of the Prairie Pathways way finding and interpretive signage project will be celebrated.

While committee members consider it a labor of love, the festival does require a good deal of effort to pull off. Thank you to Bob Morgan for serving as the Cedar Trails Partnership President and Festival Chair and to Susan Lewis, Larry Buchholz, Rosemary Beach, Peter Komendowski, Sue Dufel, Lori Eberhard, Kay Meaney and Redgie Blanco. It’s great to welcome newcomers Cassie Luze and Michael Loux to the committee. Fresh ideas and creativity are always welcome! In addition to the planning committee it’s important to recognize the special efforts put forth by the city, county and state parks for maintaining the trails throughout the year and for giving them a little extra polish for this weekend. Area police departments also assist throughout the weekend and especially during Saturday night’s Candlelit Night Ride. Thank you to the Cedar Falls Jaycees and Cedar Valley Cyclists for taking on the monumental task of placing and lighting the 5,000+ candles required for Saturday night’s Candlelit Night Ride. Thank you also to the many sponsors who make it possible to produce the festival, which is a major fundraiser for the Cedar Trails Partnership. Proceeds from the festival and other Partnership activities are used to fund enhancements to the trails.

A full schedule of events can be found at www.cedartrailspartnership.org. We encourage you to come out and enjoy the trails.