Rotary seeks bench sponsors to help with refurbishment of Hunters Bay Trail

By Don McCormick

If you are a frequent user—or even just an occasional user—of Hunters Bay Trail, you will know what a gem it is. It has been in existence for over 20 years and, because of its heavy use, was starting to show its age a bit.

Enter the Rotary Club of Huntsville, a supporter of the trail from its outset, to freshen up the trail.

The club’s environment committee under the leadership of Adrian Musters started their project last fall with some landscaping, tree planting, and repainting the Rotary Pavilion at Avery Beach Park.

This winter they are in the process of building benches that will be located all along Hunters Bay Trail from Centre St. to Orchard Park in prime scenic locations. A prototype has already been installed at Avery Beach Park. The plan is to build and install 12 such benches. The benches have been designed by John Humphrey, a retired custom finish carpenter, with attention paid to solid construction and solid anchoring in concrete foundations so they will withstand heavy usage.

A key aspect of the fundraising for the project is to offer trail users the opportunity to sponsor a bench. The cost of sponsorship is $450 per bench and includes a name plate on the bench with three lines of text.

Anyone interested in sponsoring a bench can do so by visiting rotaryclubofhuntsville.com.

The club plans to complete construction of the benches by April or May 2021 and, as soon as the Town can place the anchors into the ground, to complete their installation by June 1, 2021.