BRIDGTON – A workshop, “Healthy Trails to You,” will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Friday, March 4, at the Bridgton Community Center on Depot Street. Light refreshments will be served.

“We are organizing a system of healthy trails,” said Bridie McGreavy, workshop organizer. She said, “We’ll have an opportunity to listen to people who have been-there-done-that, inventory existing trails, brainstorm funding and set up an organization.”

McGreavy, watershed educator for the Lakes Environmental Association, has applied for a grant to build local trails.

Carmen Lone, Healthy Communities organizer, hopes that “everyone comes with their ideas and enthusiasm. We’ll work on bike trails, walking trails, snowshoe trails. Who knows, maybe we can even design a paddling trail.”

David Kinsman, leading the charge to convert the old roadbed from Fryeburg to Hiram, will show how the national Rails to Trails system works at the local level. Kinsman represents the Mountain Division Alliance, based in Fryeburg.

At the state level John Balicki, bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the Department of Transportation, will present an overview of how other groups have set up and accomplished their goals.

The summit’s sponsors include Healthy Maine Partnerships, Lake Region Healthy Communities Coalition, Lakes Environmental Association and the Casco Open Space Committee. Residents from Bridgton, Casco, Denmark, Naples and Waterford are also helping to organize the summit.

“We want to come away from this meeting with tools in our hands,” said Steve Collins, a retired mechanical engineer. “After the coffee break we’ll organize into small groups to tackle specific issues such as planning funding, building and using the trail network.”

All are welcome. To reserve a space or for more information, people are asked to call McGreavy at 647-8580.

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