Bike Trail to a National Treasure

This room is real, Ben. And that means the treasure is real. We're in the company of some of the most brilliant minds in history because you found what they left behind for us to find, and understood the meaning of it. You did it, Ben, for all of us - your grandfather, and all of us. And I've never been so happy to be proven wrong.  -- Patrick Henry Gates, in National Treasure

Scene from the movie, National Treasure (2004)

Patrick Henry Gates, fictitious treasure-hunter, played by Jon Voight, congratulates his son, Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage), in a climactic scene of the 2004 movie, National Treasure.  The pursuit of the “national treasure” requires decoding of a series of clues, including one written on the back of the Declaration of Independence.  Maybe you saw this movie and remember the scene.

Patrick Gates’ exclamation to Ben was an invitation to movie viewers to imagine their excitement upon finding such a treasure.  But, notice that the excitement was not focused entirely on the monetary value of the treasure.  Instead, Patrick wants Ben (and the viewers) to “treasure” the experience of being there…in the company of some of the most brilliant minds in history because you found what they left behind for us to find, and understood the meaning of it.  The exciting moment, framed by Patrick’s passionate words captures for me the excitement and interest you and l ought to have when we visit a historic place, or handle an artifact and try to understand the meaning of it.

In this blog article, my aim is to interest you in joining three co-leaders and me on another kind of “national treasure” hunt.  If you decide to join us, bring your bicycle and plan to meet at the Prairie Grass Trailhead, 280 W. High St., London, Ohio, at 8:00 am, Saturday, July 29, 2017.  This annual Prairie Appreciation Bike Ride is sponsored by the Friends of Madison Co. Parks and Trails, and the Madison Soil and Water Conservation District.  You can ride at your preferred pace and distance, and we will stop along the way to observe what I will call “national botanical treasures”—prairie wildflowers and grasses that are descendants of historic plant populations that once covered large tracts of SW Ohio, the Midwest, and Great Plains.

Prairie Coneflower in a SW Ohio prairie remnant.

Bring your imaginations and be ready to ride back into history.  Get ready to imagine while you stand along the Prairie Grass Trail Bikeway in the quiet freshness of a summer morning that this was once part of an expansive Tallgrass Prairie.  Then, after the railroad tracks were laid two centuries ago, this remaining, narrow stretch of rails, ties, slag, and prairie became a protected haven from the plow, agricultural weeds, and pesticides.  But, they were not protected from regular fires ignited by either lightning or sparks from the trains that whistled by.  Fires were just what the prairie plants needed since they were well adapted to survive fire, unlike many of the woody shrubs and trees that have now invaded these “remnant prairies” now that the railroad is gone.

Royal Catchfly, a rare prairie wildflower is restricted to only
a few locations along the narrow Prairie Grass Trail

So, bring your observation skills, your imagination, and your questions. Invite friends and neighbors, and bring your children—junior age and older often ask the best questions. You will observe some of our attempts to manage these “national treasures” like Royal Catchfly and Prairie Coneflower.  Learn how you can grow and incorporate these or other nectar-rich plants like the Milkweeds into your own flower gardens.  And, learn how local organizations and industry partners are expanding their commitment to land stewardship around our country.

Hope to see you next Saturday, July 29.  If you live too far from SW Ohio to attend, you may want to “visit” several of the websites below.  Or better yet, maybe you can locate and join a conservation or land stewardship group in your area.  Chances are you will find new friends who have become interested in “national botanical treasures” located in “natural areas” as refuges for native plant and animal species.

Wayne Roberts, Exec Dir., FMCPT with co-leaders
Julie Cumming, Matt Silveira, and Karen Stombaugh

And, for all of us, may our interest in the historical and biological heritage of our neighborhoods and of our nation increase.  May we and our children be able to say, we have found what they left behind for us to find, and [we are willing to learn] the meaning of it--and to value it enough to be good stewards or “keepers” of it as we are commanded to do in the Dominion-Stewardship Mandate in the Book of Genesis:

Then the LORD God took the man
and put him into the garden of Eden
to cultivate (serve) it and keep (preserve) it.
                                              – Genesis 2: 15

RELATED SOURCES:
Botany Along the Prairie Grass Trail
Fundamentals of Conservation, Part 2 "Serving with" Creation
Fundamentals of Conservation, Part 3 "Serving with Our Neighbor"

Taking in the Treasures on the Towpath Trail

Last week, I was blessed with the opportunity to pack a lunch, load up my bicycle, and drive to the John Glenn Grove trailhead just south of the City of Massillon, in Stark Co., Ohio.  This nicely landscaped park is the staging area where motorists become cyclists or pedestrians and enter a sort of time portal afforded by the Ohio-Erie Towpath Trail.    

The Ohio and Erie Canal, and Towpath (Early 1800's)

The Towpath Trail follows the portion of the historic Ohio and Erie Canal that once extended from Cleveland to New Philadelphia.   The entire Ohio and Erie Canal provided a continuous inland commercial waterway connecting locations between Lake Erie and the Ohio River at Portsmouth.  The canal was constructed during the 1820’s and carried freight from 1828 to 1861 at which time railroads began to offer a more economical alternative.

"Reach for the Stars" memorial to Senator John Glenn

Soon after I had unloaded my bike and positioned my water bottle and snack provisions, I realized that the John Glenn Grove was designed to inspire its visitors.  My inspiration began as I walked my bike past a statue titled “Reach for the Stars”  in honor of Glenn, one of Ohio’s sons who served his country as a war pilot, astronaut, and  U.S. Senator.  As I studied the likeness of John Glenn with his outstretched arm reaching for the stars, I remembered the news of his heroic feat as the first astronaut to orbit planet Earth, in 1962, while I was a freshman in high school.   As I left the Glenn statue and entered the towpath of the Ohio and Erie Canal, I realized the awesomeness of the “time portal” I had just stepped through.  Only one century separated the era of a man orbiting the Earth from the era of the Ohio-Erie Canal.

Ohio-Erie Towpath Trail near Massillon, Ohio

As I mounted my bike and rode down the shady canal towpath toward Navarre, Ohio, I was drawn by the historical significance of this unusual bike trail.  Following me on the left was a remnant of the Ohio-Erie canal, sometimes containing standing water, sometimes appearing swampy or even dry.  On my right was the Tuscarawas River which originates near Hartville, in Stark County, flows westward into Summit County and then southward through cities and towns like Massillon, Navarre, Bolivar, Dover, New Philadelphia, and finally, Coshocton where it joins the Walhonding River.   I felt the canal and the river guiding me southward toward the place of my birth, in Dover, Ohio.  I also remembered the place of my growing-up days as a farm boy on the banks of a tributary, the Sugar Creek (South Fork) which was just downstream from the town of Sugarcreek, location of my graduation from Garaway High School.

The Ohio-Erie Canal with Bottomland Deciduous Trees

The Tuscarawas Valley was not only my home during my early years, but it was the subject of a memorable field trip during one semester at Malone College led by my botany professor, Dr. Charles C. King.  We studied not only the flora of the valley but also its geologic history, and how the glaciers had scoured the landscape and rerouted the paths of the Tuscarawas and its tributary, the Sugar Creek.   As I bicycled around a bend in the towpath, with both the canal and river following in roughly a parallel fashion on either side, I reflected on God’s goodness in affording me an opportunity to study under “Charlie” King who loved the excitement of “interpreting the landscape” through knowledge of the geologic history and its influence on the current native plant communities.

Pale Impatiens (I. palida), Jewelweed (I capensis),
and Wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia)

Tall Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)
prefers wet soil of riparian areas

I decided to concentrate for the next few miles on native wildflowers and trees of the canalway.  I was not disappointed.  Much of the roughly 10-mile towpath trail from Massillon through Navarre to Bolivar is shaded by bottomland tree species like Silver Maple and American Elm.  Often the canal water was covered by a bright green layer of Duckweed (Lemna) or another related genus of these tiny aquatic flowering plants.  But most of my attention was drawn to the wildflowers growing along the banks of the canal and on slopes down to the river.  It was intriguing for me to imagine a canal boat in tow by horses or mules making its way up the canal amid a variety of summer wildflowers decorating the banks and slopes above.  I  photographed a few of the more notable ones (click on photos). 

Nichols Bakery, Navarre, Ohio

Scene from three eras:  Canal, Railroad,
and Bikeway; note Purple Loosestrife

 As I passed through Navarre, I was treated by the fragrance of baking bread at the Nichols Bakery.   Crossing busy U.S. 62 and cycling beside an active railroad, I was again impressed with the variety of forms of transportation bustling all around the towpath and canal corridor.   Readers of Oikonomia might recall that I have elsewhere written of an instance, now very common, where even the railroad has been deemed obsolete and, in many cases, has been replaced by bicycle trails (See “Fundamentals of Conservation, Part 2 "Serving with" Creation – Article #1: History is Important.” 

Memorial plaque for Rep. Ralph Regula

Trail crossing at Ohio Rt. 21, Navarre, OH

At the Ohio Route 21 intersection, at Navarre, I paused to read a plaque in memory of former U.S. Congressman, Ralph Regula, another son of Ohio who was highly respected in the Tuscarawas valley.  The portion of the towpath trail on which I was riding was named the Congressman Ralph Regula Towpath Trail Park in his honor.

During the approximately five miles of towpath trail from Navarre to Bolivar, many scenic views greeted me along the trail, and glimpses of the agricultural landscape beyond the river corridor became more frequent.   At the Stark-Tuscarawas Co. line near Bolivar, the Tuscarawas makes a sharp, 180-degree bend and heads back northward for a mile or so before bending again sharply southward to resume its flow toward Dover-New Philadelphia.  But, my destination was the Dolphin Street/Rt. 212 trailhead.  Near the trailhead is where I would realize the greatest treasure of today’s bicycle trip:  the opportunity to share words of Truth from the Scriptures with an 89-year-old man.  I had known him indirectly in my early years through a dear friend from my school days at Dundee Elementary and Garaway High School.  

The years have changed our modes of transportation, our heroes, our ways of earning a living, and even our friendships; but, the answers to life’s greatest questions, “How do you find meaning and purpose in this life?” and “Where will you spend eternity?” remain the same.  The answers are found in God’s Word.  I pray that this man, and perhaps others in his family through him, will heed the words of Life I shared.  Words that God allowed me to bring to him on a bicycle on that August afternoon, along the obsolete canal and the ever-flowing river.

How about it?  What has been your most memorable bicycling experience?   Have you used an historic bikeway?   Most importantly, do you know where your path is leading in this life and into eternity?  The Bible leaves no doubt that God loves you and has an amazing plan for your life.  The following are just a few of the passages that emphasize the “path to eternal life” through faith, and also the importance of God’s redeemed children SHARING their faith with those who may not know:

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
By this the love of God was manifested in us,
that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world
so that we might live through Him.
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us
and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
                                                        1 John 4: 8-10

But what does it say?
"THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"
--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord,
and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes,
resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses,
resulting in salvation.   For the Scripture says,
"WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
"WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."
How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?
And how will they hear without a preacher?
How will they preach unless they are sent?
Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET
OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!"
                     Romans 10: 8-11 (Uppercase words from Old Testament)


Related Articles:

“Our Stewardship Is About God, Not Us”  Oikonomia, October 31, 2011
“What Are the Four Spiritual Laws?”  Outline of the Gospel, a “sinner’s prayer”, and assurance of salvation.