LYONS — The Trail of Hope has been a place of reflection and remembrance since it opened in 2012.
Along the winding paths where lush flower beds and vegetables grow you’ll see spots dedicated to the memories of loved ones, some of whom found solace at the trail on the grounds of the Lyons Community Center on Manhattan Street.
With each year, it seems there is a new offering at the handicapped-accessible trail, where nursing home residents, people with disabilities, those who have lost loved ones and so many others come to commune with nature — and one another as well.
This year is no exception. This past week, trail founder and Lyons community activist Mark DeCracker held a ceremony to celebrate the Ribbon of Hope, a rock display with colors representing a number of illnesses and life challenges.
But the rocks are more personal than that. At the ceremony — attended by regular visitors to the trail, young volunteers who have helped build the trail and the new display and even state Assemblyman Bob Oaks — people inscribed names of loved ones who lost battles to those illnesses. But there were also rock inscriptions dedicated to the survivors.
That’s where the “hope” comes in.
None of this would have been possible, said DeCracker, without the work of young volunteers from a Christian-based organization called Group Mission and its Week of Hope community service program. The group, consisting of young people from across the country, performs public service projects around the nation, and they have been coming to do work at the Trail of Hope — and at other county spots — pretty much since construction began in 2011.
“Each week we have a different group,” said trail volunteer Carol Kildoyle of Lyons, who said they try to provide a special project for the young people to work on during the four weeks Week of Hope is in the county.
While rain has been a constant challenge during the projects this year, the young people used the nearby community center, where they painted the rocks. Others, including some with developmental disabilities, also pitched in.
The trail, said Kildoyle, helps foster something she thinks is missing in Lyons and in society as a whole: A sense of belonging.
“Years ago, the community used to come together,” she said. “Now they don’t have that feeling for the community.”
The Trail of Hope, she said, serves to counter that.
“It’s a special place,” she said, pointing to the vast array of spectacular plantings, including a butterfly shaped butterfly garden, where colorful monarchs could be seen enjoying the surroundings. “You feel it when you’re here.”
Mary Clise, a habilitation specialist with the day habilitation program from Geneva, part of the state Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, said her group visits the trail at least once a month.
“It’s beautiful. We love it,” she said. “It’s very accessible for our guys in wheelchairs.”
The volunteers are glad they can contribute to the effort.
“Week of Hope is an organization that really wants to be a blessing,” said the group’s leader, Elizabeth Groenhout, during the dedication ceremony. “Thank you so much for letting us be a part of this amazing garden.”
Week of Hope volunteers Olivia Hartmann and Julia Peterson were so moved by what they saw that they wrote about their experience:
“Walking through a park, strolling along the shore, a scenic hike — there are many ways to appreciate the natural world,” they wrote. “But in many cases, nature is inaccessible, due to sickness or disability. The Trail of Hope … has a goal to provide the experience of nature to everyone. Inspirational, handmade, wheelchair accessible — this trail serves not only as a way to enjoy nature, but a way to find hope and peace.”
DeCracker said the contributions the groups make each summer are indispensable.
“They’re here for four days, but they forever have an impact,” he said.
DeCracker also thanked Phelps Cement, Santelli Lumber, Sherwin Williams, Secor Lumber and old Lyons Hardware for their contributions of materials used for trail projects this summer.
Written by Steve Buchiere, Finger Lakes Times. Published 7/31/17
