ED-Central


In This Issue


Register and reserve your seat for the next Rural Economic and Tourism Development Seminar, March 6-7, 2008 in Robstown, TX! Just $149 per person secures registration, meals and excursion. Registration deadline is February 3, 2008 and is limited to the first 200 registrants.



Currently, the Trail de Paris in Paris, TX is comprised of 2.58 miles of road in the City of Paris. It started life as a rail line owned by the Missouri Pacific Railroad. When the railroad decided to abandon a stretch of the rail line in 1996, it was rail-banked by the Greater Paris Development Foundation from Paris to Clarksville (33 miles). That was the first step to link 20 small communities and create a destination venue for cycling and ecotourism.

Register and reserve your seat for the next Rural Economic and Tourism Development Seminar, March 6-7, 2008 in Robstown, TX! Just $149 per person secures registration, meals and excursion. Registration deadline is February 3, 2008 and is limited to the first 200 registrants.

The Community of Robstown, together with the Texas Engineering Extension Service, AdventGX and the Office of the Governor, invite you to join regional leaders at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds, March 6-7, 2008 for a regional forum on rural economic and tourism development. The seminar is targeted at rural leadership and aims to provide best practices for a regional approach to rural economic and tourism development. Economic development executives, city administrators and elected officials, including city council members, county commissioners and judges are encouraged to participate and will receive continuing education credit.

Seminar topics include, “Assessing the State of the Region – The Rural Opportunity”, “4A and 4B – The Numbers Behind Economic Development”, “Experiential Tourism” “Retail Development Strategies for Rural Regions”, “Community Marketing and Branding”, “Technology Tools for Economic Development” and “Forming Alliances and Partnership”. Registration for this experienced-based educational event includes breakfast and lunch both days, dinner on March 6th and a tour of Knolle Farms (transportation provided).

Once a renowned dairy, Knolle Farms now operates as a bed and breakfast, retreat, and working ranch that raises Red Angus beef cattle and horses. Activities at the ranch include bird watching, canoeing and kayaking, fishing, hiking and biking and skeet shooting. Dinner from the world famous Cotton’s BBQ will be served at Knolle Farms providing an ideal venue for networking among regional leaders. For more information about the seminar and to register online, visit www.ed-central.com/retds. For additional information, please contact ED-Central at info@ED-Central.com





If he had his way, Earl Erickson would be able to travel from Paris along nearly 150 miles of trails to Texarkana, Farmersville or other communities without meeting a single vehicle. His preferred mode of transportation might be a trail bike or he might take a more leisurely hike along the way. Regardless of how he traveled, the trail only would be shared by others on bikes or on foot – nary a motor in sight!

Currently, the Trail de Paris is comprised of 2.58 miles of road in the City of Paris. It started life as a rail line owned by the Missouri Pacific Railroad. When the railroad decided to abandon a stretch of the rail line in 1996, it was rail-banked by the Greater Paris Development Foundation from Paris to Clarksville (33 miles). That was the first step to link 20 small communities and create a destination venue for cycling and ecotourism.

But let’s step back before that and start at the beginning.

Earl retired twice – once in 1987 from his engineering profession with Atlantic Richfield and again in 2003 from his position in Pasadena, Texas where he served as Parks and Recreation Director. As a relative newcomer to Paris in 2003, he was sponsored by his son and daughter-in-law to become a member of the 2003-04 Leadership Lamar County class. He proposed the construction of the first off-road recreational trail in Paris as their community service class project. The class unanimously agreed.

They planned to develop a multi-use trail system along a portion of the property owned by the Greater Paris Development Foundation under federal rail banking restrictions for the development of biking trails. They solicited corporations, civic groups, organizations and individuals for donations and in-kind contributions to develop the first stage of what is intended to be part of a longer trail system.

Currently, the 2.5 miles of asphalt trail extends from 12th Street southeast to Loop 286 in Paris. The multi-use route includes a canopied stretch that rivals parts of New England fall color fest, according to Earl. One member of the leadership class used his skills as a landscape architect to create a vision of depots as amenities along the trail. Keeping to the rail theme, the depots would serve as rail heads and rest stations along the trail.

Extension of the trail will take it to other parts of Paris and include residences and neighborhoods as well as other destinations. Currently, the trail is expected to link users to schools, parks, and the sports complex. Opportunities for expansion are limited only by money and not by imagination and vision.

Earl would be the first to say the development of the Trails de Paris is the result of a collaboration of like-minded individuals and organizations. The Friends of the Trail de Paris partnered with the Greater Paris Development Foundation and are actively engaged in looking for ways to support their passion – the extension of the trail in Paris and beyond. Members of the Friends of the Trail de Paris use every opportunity to talk with individuals and groups in communities surrounding Paris. They encourage residents in other communities to join together and develop the trail system and sponsor events to raise awareness of this resource in their own back yard.

Congressman Ralph M. Hall expressed support for the trail system and suggested an alliance of communities to promote development of the trail system, pointing out the advantages of numbers to leverage fund-raising efforts. As with other worthwhile endeavors, money – or rather the scarcity of money – is a stumbling block. The Friends of the Trail de Paris are actively engaged in writing proposals for grants or other ways of furthering their passion of extending the trail system beyond Paris. They see the trail as a recreational resource; more than that, they see it as an educational opportunity for students and residents of the area as well as a way to promote healthy lifestyles.

As it goes through Paris, the trail is home to wildlife and plants that residents often do not see. The local master naturalist group identified several dozen different tree species adjacent to the Trail de Paris; the friends of the trail partnered with Paris Junior College and the City of Paris Parks Department and installed markers that draw the walker’s attention to these habitats that provide refuge to deer, raccoon, birds and other wildlife that live in the vicinity. The canopy that covers many parts of the trail provides a colorful burst of color during the fall rivaling that of New England’s well-known Fall Foliage tours that attract visitors from around the country. The Trail de Paris could become a tourist destination throughout the year and be an economic development driver for communities that provide access to other portions of the trail system.

There’s no end to the ideas that emerge during a conversation with Earl – his vision is expanding and the people joining his efforts to develop this resource continue to increase. Join Earl and his friends on a stroll or a ride along the Trails de Paris – you’ll be glad you did!