On Saturday, December 4, a green ribbon was cut to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Pinellas Trail. Like any birthday celebration, the parents, all of the closest friends, and the people who were there from the very beginning came out to celebrate. There was a heartwarming speech, lots of reminiscing, plenty of embarrassing stories and, since turning 20 doesn’t really call for a cake with cartoon characters, a ribbon cutting ceremony took its place.
“It’s the linear park ribbon of green that unites communities up and down the county,” said Scott Daniels, president of Pinellas Trails, Inc., a citizens volunteer group.
Daniels said knew from the beginning when the trail was only five miles long, stretching from Taylor Park in Largo to Seminole City Hall Park, that it would become the uniting force it has become today among bikers, walkers, runners, young, old and everyone and thing in between. It now covers 37 miles, can be used to travel from St. Pete to Tarpon Springs, and from the hundreds of people that turned out at Taylor Park, nothing has changed.
“It’s exhilarating! Overwhelming! There are a lot of people who love the Pinellas Trail and were kind enough to come out for it. It‘s like a reunion.”
This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2010.
