Holmes Chamber brings outdoor life into focus at meeting
While not completed yet, the Holmes County Rails to Trails project between Killbuck and Glenmont will be paved as part of the trail coursing through Holmes County. The trail continues to be one of many areas for outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy in Holmes County.
The Holmes County Chamber & Visitors Bureau is present for many reasons, but one of its main focal points is bringing people together to better understand how interacting with one another and within its membership is beneficial for all involved.
In a county so reliant on tourism, one area that has been somewhat overlooked when it comes to tourism and enticing people to visit the county has been the outdoor and nature activities present within the county, which continues to grow.
On April 1, the chamber offered some insight into the natural and recreational opportunities for people to enjoy by bringing together several important figures in the outdoor recreation and nature and conservation realm to share about some exciting growth taking place.
“On their own, these individual groups have their own respective passion projects and they are doing great things, but when we bring them all together, we have this incredible force that increases our quality of life here and increases our health while at the same time creating more exciting opportunities to invite even more tourism,” said Tiffany Gerber, chamber executive director.
She said not only that, but their cohesive effort is also instrumental in preserving land and keeping Holmes County’s natural appeal as strong as ever.
She said having them all come together for an event like this only increases their networking ability and enhances the county.
She pointed to activities like birding, biking, canoeing, hiking and exploring nature as exciting new ways to promote Holmes County.
Trevor Berger, Holmes Soil & Water Conservation District program manager, moderated the event that featured a panel discussion from Jen Halverson, Holmes County Park District executive director; Tate Emerson, Killbuck Watershed & Land Trust executive director, and Jason Biltz, board member for Legacy Point Park.
According to Berger, getting everyone together for this important gathering was a chance for several area agencies devoted to conservation to share their vision of the future as well as what is taking place currently.
“We were excited when the chamber called about doing something like this,” Berger said. “We’re thrilled to be able to get the word out into the community about all of the things we’ve got in this county that maybe people don’t realize, and these speakers are right in the midst of all of these new neat conservation practices we have.”
He went on to talk about the idea of developing a united website that would inform both local and visiting people about all of the natural forms of entertainment, natural locations to enjoy all things nature and more.
“This type of thing is the first step toward doing that,” he said.
Halverson said this opportunity to share with the community everything going on concerning the variety of natural resources at the disposal of the community.
“We (the speakers and our respective organizations) live and breathe this every day, and it’s easy for us to assume the general public knows what we’re talking about and knows what we’re doing,” Halverson said. “But they don’t come to our board meetings and may not know everything about this, so this is a good way to remind them that we’ve got some great natural assets in the county.”
Those assets include Holmes County Rails to Trails, the Killbuck Land Preserve and Killbuck Watershed, James L. Crissey Memorial Pool, pickleball courts, Deer Run Park and the ballfields, Big Prairie Lake Memorial Park, Timothy Baker Amphitheater in Millersburg, Deer Run Park Disc Golf Course, The Wilderness Center, Doughty Gorge near Charm and the newest addition, Holmes County Legacy Point Park.
She said it is exciting to see more outdoor natural resources cropping up throughout Holmes County.
“It allows our residents to get outside and get active, and we also have to remember that we have this tourist base that comes in quite regularly and these provide them other reasons to be here and reasons to come back,” Halverson said.
Emerson spoke at length about the KWLT’s recent efforts in and around the Killbuck Watershed, including its plans to connect nature trails to the existing Holmes County Rails to Trails project as well as to the Village of Killbuck’s downtown revitalization work that is taking place.
He went on to talk about how important this grant funding is to setting aside land dedicated to nature and conservation and also talked about the many grants the group has secured in order to make the acquisition of land and ensuing conservation practices possible.
Emerson said that while his group has done an immense amount of work in recent years, these types of events help more people understand exactly what the KWLT is trying to accomplish.
“We’re talking about seven different conservation grants from three different programs, so there are millions of dollars that have come into our county,” Emerson said. “Working with everyone on similar goals and focusing on the idea that we are making this a great place to live while preserving our land is really exciting.”
Biltz focused on Legacy Point Park, which will soon be open to visitors after being reclaimed from its former landfill days.
He said they are working closely with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in getting Legacy Point Park open and said the board’s main goal was to help EPA capture the vision of transforming the 260-plus acre landfill into a mesmerizing and beautiful park for all to enjoy.
“We’re basically talking about turning trash into treasure,” Biltz said of reclaiming the former landfill. “This is going to be a lot like a state park with walking trails, mountain biking, equestrian trails and observation areas. It’s one of the most unique properties I’ve ever been on, and we are using the existing infrastructure of what was once there to our advantage.”
Upcoming activities for area residents include a public hike on the Killbuck Watershed property April 19 and a tree planting partnership on April 22 at Legacy Point Park.
The future remains bright for Holmes County’s nature and outdoor activity opportunities, and with all of the respective entities working together, it should provide another crown jewel in Holmes County’s ability to attract visitors while replenishing the hearts and spirits of its residents.