ROTARY CLUB OF KENNETT SQUARE
Serving our community since 1949

Rotary International Centennial Project

In 2005 Rotary International celebrated its 100th anniversary. In recognition of this milestone, each Rotary Club had a special Centennial Project. The Centennial Project for the Rotary Club of Kennett Square was the Red Clay Trail Project.

The Rotary Club of Kennett Square is leading a coalition of area service clubs, environmental groups, municipal governments, other private organizations and individual volunteers to construct a hiking/jogging trail through the heart of the Borough of Kennett Square, paralleling more-or-less the east branch of the Red Clay Creek. As proposed, the trail will connect the town’s major recreational areas, including Anson B. Nixon Park, the YMCA, the History Museum, the community pool, the South Street basketball courts, and the Kennett High School ball fields/courts.

The trail, currently referred to as the Red Clay Trail, is the Club's "Centennial Project", and will be completed in three years to coincide with Rotary International's 100th anniversary. The project is divided into three phases, each of approximately one year's duration, and has a projected budget of approximately 1.3 million dollars.

Because the proposed trail route overlapped the greenway area sketched in the Borough’s Comprehensive Plan, both the Borough of Kennett Square and the Kennett Area Park Authority [KAPA] were quick to lend their invaluable support to the project. Similarly, because it was hoped that the trail eventually would connect to trails in Kennett Township, and because of that Township’s historical support of KAPA, Kennett Township also readily supported the trail project.

As with most civic projects, our Club believed that the chances of success could be maximized through cooperation between the affected municipalities and the volunteer community. Consequently, in addition to the above governmental bodies, the following organizations were solicited by our Club, and agreed to provide funds, expertise and/or volunteers for Phase One of the centennial trail project:

Brandywine Conservancy
Kennett Area YMCA
Kennett Fire Company
Kennett Lions Club
Kennett Masons
Kennett Run Charities, Inc.
Red Clay Valley Association
Rotary Club of Kennett-at-Longwood
Stroud Water Research Center

Representatives from these organizations, along with local government officials, serve on a "Trail Committee" chaired by the Rotary Club of Kennett Square. The Trail Committee's task was — and remains — threefold: (1) to acquire trail rights-of-way; (2) to raise sufficient funds; and (3) to engineer and construct the trail.

The Trail Committee has applied for several substantial grants to develop and construct the foot bridges, underpasses and other major facilities necessary to fully complete the project. In the meantime, enough money was generated to purchase materials sufficient to begin construction of certain segments of the trail. These initial segments are being constructed entirely by volunteer labor, drawn from members of the above organizations, as well as from "at large" volunteers affiliated with no specific trail organization. This volunteer effort is supplemented by donations of heavy equipment and operators from the following companies:

Frezzo Brothers Mushrooms
Kaolin Mushroom Farms, Inc.
Longwood Manufacturing Corporation.
M&P Custom Design, Inc.
Mercer Restorations, Inc
R. Thompson Excavating
Technivate, Inc.
Wallace Landscape Associates, Inc
W.D. Wells & Associates, Inc.
William P. McGovern, Inc.

Anyone interested in volunteering in any capacity on the Trail Committee should contact Kennett Rotarian and Trail Chairman Mike Perna at 610-444-0933.

For more information, contact:
Elizabeth Rhoads
Rotary Club of Kennett Square, PO Box 291, Kennett Square, PA 19348
(610) 388-2626