- By Deborah Trumbull
- Around Town
Despite rumors to the contrary, the Lansing Center Trail is open and ready for walking the dog, jogging or running, watching birds, exploring plant and animal ecology, taking photos of sunrises or sunsets at top of Shoemaker Loop (the northern most loop) trail, or picnicking at Girl Scout Garden by the Trail parking lot.
Very soon there can be an ice cream cone waiting for you at Scoops!
Construction for the new housing at Milton Meadows is progressing rapidly. Construction of the Salt Point Brewery will begin soon. During the time of construction, one small section of the Lansing Center Trail will be blocked off. However, the remaining sections of the Trail are still open.
The Friends of Lansing Center Trail (FLCT), a not for profit corporation, takes care of the regular Trail maintenance throughout the year. This Spring the Friends have scheduled a trail cleanup day May 18, 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.
Those who use the Trail might have noticed that there are several different loops on the trail, in addition to the children's story book trail which leads directly to Scoops Ice Cream.
The FLCT worked over the winter with the Town Historian, Louise Bement, to research names of old Lansing families who had owned land on or near the Center Trail location. The loops have been named after these pioneer families.
- Areas of Knettles Loop will be inaccessible during contruction of Milton Meadows Apartments.
- John Ozmun came from Orange County, NY and ran a sawmill in the 1840s on land adjacent to the Lansing CenterTrail.
- Richard Townley, for whom Townley Creek was named, arrived in Lansing from Pennsylvania.The family had sold land in Pennsylvania in 1788 to Frenchmen to create a village to house Marie Antoinette and the Dauphin. They never made it to Pennsylvania.
- Jacob Shoemaker came from Stroudsburg, PA and farmed 203 acres. This loop is near the foundation of Shoemaker's home.
- Knettles, a farmer, was active in local politics. He counted himself a Democrat until 1855, when he became a Republican.
- Terpening Corners was the name given to a major intersection near the Lansing Center Trail. Terpening is an old Dutch name.
- Hedden's Creek runs through the Lansing Center Trail. Aaron Hedden came to Lansing in 1802, and died in 1864 at age 81.
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