Pedestrian Travel

Ruth's Trail connecting all the schools via a network of trails and safe roads is on hold for the time being due to the costliness of infrastructure needed to accommodate wetlands.

The extension of the Scoville Road sidewalk to the Rails to Trails is underway, effective May 15, 2011!

A town-wide comprehensive Pedestrian Travel survey will be administered from May 23rd through June 1st(see survey link under ‘Announcements.’) Survey results will be collected and analyzed by our leadership team and shared with town leaders and the public in July.

Walk and Bike to School programs at RBS, PGS and TBS are alive and well.

Unplugged Infrastructure

Butterfly Habitat ­ Colonial Garden:
Girls from Scouting Troop 66913 are completing their work on "Nature's Gift," a learning garden being installed at the site of an old colonial garden at Pine Grove Elementary School. The garden features flowers, herbs and shrubs attractive to butterflies, and an outdoor learning area that supports math and science curricula. The girls, all Avon eighth graders, are working towards their Silver Scouting Award. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held on June 22nd.

Camp sites:

Avon’s senior Girls Scouting troop installed a wonderful family campsite at River Park, last summer. The site, an easy hike from the parking lot at the Shops at River Park, includes a platform camping area for tents, a large fire pit with log seating around it and mulching around the site. Bring your family for a camp-out this summer!

Countryside Park renovations:

Rick Walker single handedly spearheaded this project with great passion and commitment last spring. CSP is one of Avon's finest recreational gems and Rick and his team of Sierra Club and Boy Scout volunteers participated in a spruce-up day - including trimming, brush clearing, trail making, planting and fence-building. Thanks to town parks personnel for keeping up with the trimming throughout the year.

Two Eagle Scout candidates have expressed interest in working at CSP for their senior projects.

Outdoor Learning:

The RBS outdoor Unplugged Classroom,with its 60-seat amphitheater and beautiful hiking loop, continues to be a favorite learning space for K-4 teachers – year round. Assistant Principal, Larry Sparks, and his ‘Green Team,’ are partnering with state and local resources to develop learning stations around the trail loop and to develop teacher training and curriculum materials to ensure broad and multi-disciplinary use of the space.

UPL and PTO volunteers led a Sing-Along and Hike after school on May 6, to mark the end of `Break Free from TV' week. Participants in grades prek-4 enjoyed singing along to folk songs from their seats in the outdoor amphitheater, and hiking the wooded trail loop.

Unplugged Events:

In partnership with the Avon Historical Society and the Avon Land Trust, UPL will be sponsoring a Geocaching event on Sunday, June 5, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Fisher Meadows. Come explore the outdoor treasures of Avon and learn about geocaching, a modern-day game of hide and seek. GPS units will be available from EMS in Avon, or you can download a geocaching app to your smartphone. Meet Terri and Lee Wilson at the Fisher Meadows trailhead (Old Farms Rd) @ 12:45. Refreshments will be offered afterwards at the Living Museum of Avon (8 East Main St.) Event will be canceled only in the event of heavy rain. Pre-registration is required. Please contact Terri Wilson, 860.674.9769 or terri@computersbylee.com.

The Avon Land Trust is busy readying its newest property - a 17-acre park-like parcel off of Chidsey Road. Stay tuned for an invitation to the site’s official opening this fall.This site will soon become a favorite of Avon nature lovers. It also offers an abundance of natural learning opportunities being explored and coordinated by UPL Board member, Carrie Firestone, an early childhood educator.