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Community leaders, residents and visitors celebrated the grand opening of the Luverne Loop Trail during a ribbon-cutting and “Tour de Loop” bike ride Thursday, June 1.
Mayor Pat Baustian congratulated local leaders and volunteers for their efforts in getting the local trail completed.
“Ten years ago we started putting money in the general fund to make this happen,” Baustian said. “We had a vision 10 years ago, and today is a culmination of many efforts of everybody here who made this happen.”
The Luverne Loop offers 7.4 miles of trail around the outskirts of the city, and by linking to the Blue Mound Trail, the combined route offers more than 13 miles of continuous paved path.
Baustian credited Luverne Economic Development Director Holly Sammons for her planning work and for applying for grants that helped get the trails built.
“Holly has done a phenomenal job on this; she deserves a lot of credit for her persistence and determination to make this happen,” he said.
“This whole project is about 60 percent grants and 40 percent local.”
Grant funding came primarily from the Greater Minnesota Parks and Trails Commission in partnership with the Minnesota Legacy Fund and Minnesota DNR.
At Thursday’s ribbon-cutting Baustian credited local bicycling enthusiast Preston VerMeer for his role in the early stages of planning.
“I’d like to thank Preston VerMeer for all of his passion and vision,” Baustian said. “He said ‘Let’s get a bike trail,’ and he was definitely the driving force with the dream and the vision.”
VerMeer replied, “I love it. You did an awesome job.”
Baustian singled out several other local individuals and public officials, but said the trail was the result of many different people and groups working together.
“It takes a community to make this happen,” he said. “We’re fortunate that we’ve had everyone working toward this common goal. … It’s really a cool thing that ties our whole community together.
Bicyclists participating in the Tour de Loop could pick up ride maps and instructions for entering drawings at five individual stops for prizes that were drawn at 8 p.m.
The event at the trailhead building on East Main Street offered prizes for youth and adults totaling $2,500. They included Trek bikes, bike accessories, helmets, repair gift certificates and more.
“We’re going to try to make it an annual event that’s on the Thursday before Buffalo Days,” Chamber Director Jane Lanphere said about the Tour de Loop.
“It’s going to be a family-friendly community bike ride … and this year because we’re celebrating the completion of this beautiful trail system through our community, we pulled out all the stops.”