Get Involved!

Our next meetings are:

• Tues. Nov. 18 – Trails Club (DeMotte library upstairs) @ 7pm 
• Sat. Nov. 29 – Reason for the Season 5K run/walk (DeMotte) starting @ American Reformed Church
• December – Enjoy the holidays with friends & family!
• Thurs. January 8 – Indiana Trails Advocates Coalition @ 6pm Central (7pm Eastern) via Teams
• Tues. Jan. 13 – Trails Club (DeMotte library upstairs)
• Thurs. Jan. 22 – Bicycle Indiana Statehouse Day 11am-1pm (Eastern) Indianapolis
• Thurs. Feb. 5 – Kankakee River Access Site collaborative team @ 2-3pm in Hebron (town hall community center)
• Tues. Feb. 10 – Trails Club (DeMotte library upstairs)
• Wed. Feb. 18 – Trails Day @ the Statehouse Indianapolis @ 9am (Eastern)
• Thurs. March 5 – Indiana Trails Advocates Coalition @ 6pm Central (7pm Eastern) via Teams
• Tues. March 24 – Trails Club (location TBA)
• Tues. April 21 – Trails Club (location TBA)
• Fri. April 24 – Greenways Foundation Trails Celebration annual luncheon
• Sat. TBA – Jasper Jaunt annual County Bike Ride event
• Tues./Wed – May 5-6 Indiana Walk & Bike Summit @ Omni Severin Hotel Indianapolis
• Thurs. May 7 – Indiana Trails Advocates Coalition @ 6pm Central (7pm Eastern) via Teams
• Tues. May 12 – Trails Club (DeMotte library upstairs)
• Tues. June 30 – Trails Club (DeMotte library upstairs)

PHOTO BY ANNE KINGMA

The Jasper County Trails Club March 18 meeting included (back, L to R) Dan Lagestee, Carol Lagestee, Steve Lucas, Rodney Urbano, Brian Hoffman, Joyce Thomason, Randy Thomason, Michelle Lagestee, Jeff Boer, Mike Guerrero, Jeff Schepel, Diane Metros, Michael Lamp, James Metros. (Front, L to R) Kathy Lucas, Stacy Hoffman, Julie Perkins, Khepri Hazel, Char Groet, Angelica Potts-Bramlage. Not Pictured: Anne Kingma (photographer), Grant Allen & Jennifer Rearick.

DeMOTTE — The Jasper County Trails Club welcomed Executive Director Khepri Hazel of the Greenways Foundation to its meeting at the DeMotte Library on March 18, 2025.

Hazel discussed how the Greenways Foundation helps trails around the state. Purchasing a Greenways license plate (“I Support Trails”) helps fund the organization’s work in trail advocacy and building. Contact your representatives and legislative assistants regarding HB 1001 to resume funding for Indiana’s Next Level Trails program.

The TrailReady Indiana initiative equips communities with the tools and resources to be prepared for when trail funding opportunities arise, which include, but are not limited to, updating comprehensive plans with a pedestrian safety and trails focus and a Trails Master Plan, which is also a part of the Parks Master Plan.

The importance of including the Vulnerable Road Users and those with disabilities (including non-visible disabilities) when creating ordinances, policy changes and design was also discussed.

You can find out more about their work at  https://www.greenwaysfoundation.org/

Other special guests present were attorneys Steve and Kathy Lucas of the Prairie Trails Club, who shared their wisdom and experience while helping build the Erie Trail in North Judson, which is a part of the Great American Rail-Trail, American Discovery Trail and US Bike Route 35. The Lucases are regional trail leaders and mentors to the Jasper County Trails group.

Other planning discussion included reviving the Jasper Jaunt bike ride, which will is scheduled for Saturday, June 14 starting in DeMotte and finishing at Fair Oaks Farms this year. The Jasper County Economic Development Organization has been helping with information from previous Jasper Jaunt bike events.

Sponsors of the event so far include the Jasper Newton Foundation, Franciscan Health (Rensselaer) and Belstra Trucking.

The Jasper County Trails Club is planning to do a bike light giveaway to help with rider safety. The club is currently finalizing other details of the event, with sign-ups likely occurring after April 1.

The club meets monthly and is open to the public. It is a bipartisan county-wide group of driven volunteers working together on the goal to preserve paved biking and walking paths that connect communities. Trails bring a huge value add to the recreational enjoyment, quality of life, public health and active transportation safety of a community. The goal is to connect the communities of Jasper County by way of land and water trails.

Club members would like to see more people outside and active in nature with the possibility of an equestrian trail and are currently working with the Kankakee River Basin, Indiana DNR, JCEDO, Town of Hebron, Indiana Dunes Tourism and the NWI Paddlers Association to figure out a nearby river access point along the beautiful and historic Kankakee River for kayakers.

You can follow the Jasper County Trails Club on YouTube and Facebook or check out  https://www.jctrails.club/ The club invites community members on this adventure and to “keep exploring,”

The next JCTC meeting is on Tuesday April 22 at 7 p.m. at the DeMotte Public Library in the upstairs East Room.