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Trail benefit makes a great date

• John Lorson: The Rail Trail Naturalist
• July 16, 2021
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It’s not all that often that I take my wife on a “real” date. This is according to her, of course. If you ask me, we’ve pretty much been on one continuous date for the past 35 years. (A comment to which Kristin would likely respond, “Thank you for that observation, John, but no one actually asked you.”)

My dates typically involve bicycles, hiking boots, canoes or fishing poles, and there’s quite often a smelly dog included in the mix as well. Sitting in a restaurant in a collared shirt watching someone refill my water glass three times while I select from a menu of 25 different entrees is more akin to torture than romance to me. I’ve never been one for fancy, not even Ponderosa Steakhouse fancy. In my book the little adventure I dragged her along on last Friday qualifies as one of the best dates ever, and the profound absence of fancy was likely the key.

As is well known in these parts, I spend a portion of every work day riding to and from my office on the Holmes County Rail Trail. The trail is a glorious testament not only to the work of its incredibly visionary founders, but also to the community that surrounds it. Support for the trail is broad-based and borders on astounding. Folks work hard to make sure the trail remains a shining example of community cooperation and also continuously endeavor to enable its growth toward the goal of reaching from the top of the county near Fredericksburg all the way to the bottom near the Bridge of Dreams in Gann.

To that end, a fundraiser takes place each summer that brings an incredible amount of money for the trail’s upkeep and expansion. On a related note, Holmes County is ranked No. 1 in Ohio by SmartAsset in its annual “Most Generous Counties in the U.S.” survey. Neighboring Wayne County is ranked No. 4. Gathering, giving and raising money for a good cause is a way of life in our area — a tradition that often astounds those in the world beyond.

So how do these two things come together — this whole idea of taking my wife on a date and a fundraiser to benefit the trail? I would have loved to take her to the auction itself, but we were knee deep in the Bluegrass, visiting our grandson in Kentucky on that day. Instead, I dragged her along on my own little effort to do what I could for the cause.

The Trail Benefit Auction features all sorts of wonderful stuff, and folks from every type of business, craft or trade donate the best of what they’ve got to offer. For a guy like me, whose strongest efforts yield little more than an entertaining sentence now and then, the best I could do in terms of a donation was to offer myself, complete with head full of stories to be told to the highest bidder. My greatest fear was no one would bid at all, and I would be left mumbling senseless anecdotes to myself on a bench along the trail.

Thankfully, a generous auction-goer did step up, and I was booked as the entertainment at a company/family picnic. Kristin’s “big date” was tagging along out to the country and a beautiful Amish farmstead where I had the distinct pleasure of sharing some of my most entertaining experiences from the trail with a whole group of new friends.

I explained to the crowd that Kristin serves as my “back-up memory” should I get stuck in the middle of a story. But her greatest contribution is providing a living “laugh track” as I can always rely on her for a chuckle at just the right moment. I can’t wait for next year’s auction to do it all over again. Maybe I should just offer myself and Kristin as a package deal? Either way, I’m likely to call it a date.

Remember, if you have comments on this column or questions about the natural world, write The Rail Trail Naturalist, P.O. Box 170, Fredericksburg, OH 44627, or email jlorson@alonovus.com. You also can follow along on Instagram @railtrailnaturalist.