FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 20 April 2001

CONTACT:
Karen Votava 401-789-1706
Tony Barrett 207-833-0939
www.greenway.org
www.americanhiking.org/events/ntd/index.html

GATEWAYS EVENT

Beginning segments of long-distance trail to be celebrated on June 2nd

WAKEFIELD, Rhode Island --- The beginning segments, or ÔGatewaysÕ, of the East Coast Greenway will be officially designated on June 2nd, National Trails Day. The northern Gateway in Calais, Maine will be simultaneously designated along with the southern Gateway in Key West, Florida via a live audio-visual link. The event will symbolize the connection between Calais and Key West provided by the East Coast Greenway, the 2,600 mile multi-use trail for bicyclists, equestrians, walkers and the physically challenged that will stretch along the eastern seaboard of the United States. The Cities of Key West and Calais will be proclaimed as "Sister Trail Cities" and Gateway trailhead markers, gifts from each city to the other, will be unveiled. Although tourism is a common theme, local products have been exchanged to reinforce other symbolic ÒlinksÓ between the two Gateway cities. Florida cigars, key lime juice and aloe sunscreen are among the products to be distributed free in Maine, while event participants in Key West will receive over a dozen Maine specialties like blueberries, venison mincemeat and mustard produced from the last commercially operating stone-ground mustard mill in the world.

The East Coast Greenway, the Òtrail connecting cities,Ó is one of 16 National Millennium Trails in the US and will link nearly every urban center along the eastern seaboard from MaineÕs Canadian border to the southern tip of Florida. The East Coast Greenway Alliance partners with local, state, and national agencies and organizations to promote the establishment, preservation and use of this long-distance multi-use trail system. "The entire 2,600 mile corridor has been mapped and although only 32 local trails have been designated to date, the designation of these two Gateway sections is a significant milestone of the plan to have 80% of the Greenway to be off-road by 2010," said Dave Dionne, the Chair of the East Coast Greenway Alliance.

The Gateways event in Calais will not only showcase the Calais Waterfront Walkway but also highlight the recently announced State-funding for 2.6 miles of the DownEast trail connecting Calais and the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge. The Gateways event in Key West will showcase one of the most unique rail-trails in the country, the 106-mile Overseas Heritage Trail. There are planned bicycle rides and walks in both Key West and Calais along the sea and the historic railroad corridors - corridors that once connected these two cities by train, and which now connect them with a trail.

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