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Sports

'Signs' of Spring at Kent Parks Open House

Panels that will line The Portage Hike and Bike Trail on display today

Friday’s snowy blast won’t inspire many folks to take a hike today, but the just might.

The parks department unveiled 12 new 26-inch-by-56-inch state-of the art interpretive panels, which will be posted along The Portage Hike and Bike Trail as it winds its way through Kent. The signs are on display today at the Old Jail in Fred Fuller Park between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
 
The signs will be placed along trail from Breakneck Creek to Middlebury Road.
 
Jim Tucker, owner of Tucker Image Design Group, designed the signs, but he credits the depth and breadth of information presented through the “fantastic historical research” done by Kent residents Emliss and Cathy Ricks.
 
Thanks to the work of Cathy Ricks, the environmental education specialist for Kent parks and recreation, and her husband, Emliss, a retired Ohio Department of Natural Resources preserve manager, the signs provide historical context for various points along the trail, including how Breakneck Creek got its name. (According to a letter from an eyewitness, the name was decided in 1786, when Hugh Blair broke his neck there.)
 
When Kent Mayor Jerry Fiala stopped by the Old Jail to see the completed signs Friday, he said they brought back memories. Among the many photographs highlighting Kent’s industrial past are several of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad and railroad yard.

“I can’t think of a better way to educate people as they walk down the trail,” Fiala said.
 
Other signs identify rare and indigenous plants and animals that can be found along the trail. One describes, in some detail — but not so much an engineering degree is required to understand it — how the water reclamation process works at the Kent Water Treatment Plant. That sign will be posted on the trail near the plant.
 
Director John Idone said the signage project was funded by a federal Community Development Block Grant. In addition to the signs, the $25,000 grant also covered other trail amenities, including park benches, picnic tables and trash cans.

Idone said sign installation is dependent on the weather, and he hopes installation will be completed by mid-April.

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