Important Rails-to-Trails auction at Harvest Ridge
Holmes County Rails-to-Trails relies on the annual Rails-to-Trails Benefit Auction to support its effort to maintain a healthy trail. The auction, complete with plenty to eat, will take place at Harvest Ridge near Millersburg on Saturday, June 10.
When Holmes County Rails-to-Trails Coalition founded and funded the trail that now traverses one end of the county to the other, it was an opportunity to create a safe haven of travel for buggies, bikers and walkers.
What resulted was so much more, especially having experienced the recent pandemic where social distancing and mental health struggles abounded. The trail provided a path of solitude and serenity for many, one way to rejuvenate and refocus. It was just another product of what the trail has meant to Holmes County.
On Saturday, June 10, the 18th annual Holmes County Rails-to-Trails Auction will take place at Harvest Ridge near Millersburg, where the public can come and support the trail as it continues to meet the needs of both locals and tourists in so many ways.
Investing in this trail that provides both transportation and recreation continues to be vital to a community that involves a mishmash of traffic featuring vehicles, buggies, bikers and walkers.
“This is a very significant and important fundraiser for us,” said Jen Halverson, director of the Holmes County Park District, the organization that heads up the care for the trail. “This is our one big thing we do every year to help fund the maintenance and development of the trail. We have a beautiful trail, and it has been used by everyone from Amish buggies and bikers to recreational walkers, joggers and bicyclists. We are fortunate to have the kind of support from our community that allows us to build and maintain something this important to our county.”
The day will feature a large breakfast featuring breakfast sandwiches, cream sticks, fresh fruit, doughnuts, orange juice and coffee and a lunch menu consisting of barbecue chicken, pulled-pork sandwiches, corn dogs, noodles, a salad bar, pie and ice cream. There also will be a bake sale with locally made fresh bread, pies, cookies, fry pies and more.
Breakfast will begin at 7 a.m. with the general auction starting at 9:30 a.m. A silent auction also will begin at that time and run through 1 p.m. That portion of the auction will include quilts, furniture and plenty of items from large to small.
The outdoor item auction will begin at 10:30 a.m. with items like a Playmor Swing Set, a Snapper walk-behind mower, a Toro walk-behind mower, a tiller, an open buggy, a surrey, lawn furniture, a Big Green Egg grill, a pony, a brush mower and more.
Specialty items will hit the auction block beginning at noon. Featured will be a white oak timber frame pavilion, a coffee bar, a grain bin gazebo, a LuxCraft fire pit, roll top desks, a grandfather clock, a whiskey barrel tables set, plenty of outdoor furniture and more.
All of this is to raise funds for the upkeep, beautification and improvements on the trail. The 16-foot-wide trail extends through the majority of Holmes County and plays a critical role in travel, safety and recreation. Over the past two decades, the trail has become a highly used and appreciated part of the county.
According to Halverson, the Holmes County Rails-to-Trails Auction Committee
is made up of around 20 couples from the Amish community who divide up different areas of the auction and also tackle different areas of the map where they go promote the auction and get support, whether it is monetary or donated items.
Halverson said the parks department and trails coalition are extremely grateful to the Amish community for taking on such a big and critical role in the auction. She said the group’s ongoing commitment to taking on various roles helps drive the functions of the trail forward.
A shuttle service will be available from Hipp Station in Millersburg, which abuts the trail, to Harvest Ridge. Those driving buggies and bikes can park at the station and travel in, and there also will be plenty of parking available at Harvest Ridge, 8880 state Route 39, one mile west of Millersburg.
For more information call 330-674-0475 or email holmestrail@embarqmail.com.