Friday night sparked a lively time at the OHCO District as community members gathered to support Newton Trails.

Newton Trails held its annual fundraiser on Oct. 3. This year’s theme was Oktoberfest, featuring a live polka band, German food and drinks.

“I think it was a very huge success,” said Chip West, board chair of Newton Trails. “I think everybody had a good time, and we raised a good amount of funds to help support the trails in Newton County, and I think it was hands down a success.”

Newton Trails is a nonprofit organization, unaffiliated with any local governing body or business entity. Rather, the organization is made up of unpaid volunteers who take time out of their busy lives to contribute to the betterment of the trail system in Newton County.

Due to the nature of the organization, Newton Trails is heavily reliant upon donations and fundraising to maintain—and expand—the county’s trails.

Though some of the funds go towards general maintenance, like leaf-blowing and posting signage, West said that there is a greater purpose in mind: Expansion.

“This year, we're planning to connect the Eastside Trail to the Cricket Frog Trail and add a trail head off of East End Road,” West said. “And we're also expanding, trying to get into Porterdale with the Cricket Frog Trail, and we will be, as was presented at the event, our next huge project is to work on getting a trail from the Eastside Trail down [Highway] 278 all the way to the Rivian plant and the edge of Newton County.”

The group's major endeavor—a trail down Highway 278 to the Rivian plant—has been unofficially referred to as the ‘Dream Trail.’ The trail would include spurs into Eastside High School and Georgia State University Newton Campus.

But West said that there are several stages to getting a new trail created.

First, for this project, they need to work with the Georgia Department of Transportation to obtain permission to build a trail along Highway 278, as it is a state highway.

Next, they would need to get the funding and engineering secured. Trail engineering ensures that the proposed path is paveable.

“There’s several bridges that will be required, one specifically to get over the Alcovy River, and then there's other areas where it's just not smooth along the side of the road,” West said. 

After those steps are complete, they can begin working with contractors to construct the trail.

Beyond increasing interconnectedness within Newton County, the Dream Trail will bridge access into neighboring counties.

“It'll get us in a position that we can work with Morgan County and Greene County to get to Union Point and connect to the Firefly Trail and the Hi-Lo Trail,” West said. “So hopefully in the next five years we'll be able to ride from Newton County into towns in Newton County all the way to Savannah and Athens.”

Despite plans for the Dream Trail, local interconnectivity is not being pushed aside for the sake of larger undertakings. West said that Newton Trails plans to have all of the towns and cities in the county connected within three years. 

Trail expansion will benefit runners, walkers and bikers, certainly; however, Newton Trails’ vision is greater. West believes that by connecting trails to businesses, they can bolster economic development.

“The other thing we want to do with the expansion of the trail is to expand the economic benefit of the trail and start focusing on the businesses that are on or near the trail to help people—trail users—to know that these businesses are there, that these restaurants are there,” West said.

This is partly the reason why Newton Trails decided to hold its Oktoberfest fundraiser at the OHCO District. The Cricket Frog Trail comes right behind the event center, offering immediate access.

Ultimately, the event itself proved to be a good time for all. But the funds donated to Newton Trails that evening go further than some realize. 

The donations pour directly into increasing interconnectivity in Newton County.

“We are all reliant on the people that donate and this fundraiser that we did this year,” West said. “And that's how we operate, and that's the funds that we operate from.”