“May we all follow Dave Belew’s trail in life and in recreation,” said Mayor Pat Moeller during the ceremony at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts, near one of the trailheads that now bears a sign marking the trail’s honorary name.
Belew, 92, said he was “deeply humbled” by the recognition.
“I find it hard to find the right words because I feel very undeserving of all this, but, boy is it swell,” he said. “Maybe we ought to have more trails.”
Belew, who spent decades on the board of directors at the Hamilton Community Foundation, was the chairman during the organization’s 50th anniversary nearly a quarter century ago. Instead of having a party to celebrate the milestone year, he led the charge to give the city of Hamilton six gifts, one of which was the trail expansion.
“We wanted to do something for the community,” he previously told the Journal-News.
The Dave Belew Trail runs from Joyce Park to Rentschler Forest MetroPark and is part of the more than 90 miles of the Great Miami River Trail, which is more than 90 miles from Waterworks Park in Fairfield to the rear of Graceland Cemetery in Sidney. The GMRT is part of the larger Miami Valley Regional Trail network, which provides access to more than 350 miles of paved trails.
More information
To learn more about the Dave Belew Trail, and the activities along the trail, visit hamiltonfoundation.org/news/belewtrail.
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