Nurturing Community – Friends of the Gandy Dancer State Trail

FRIENDS OF GANDY DANCER STATE TRAIL

Friends of Gandy Dancer State Trail is a registered nonprofit with a board of directors, youth ambassadors, members and volunteers. Their mission is to promote, maintain and enhance the Gandy Dancer State Trail for people powered activities.

Area youth are an integral part of the Friends of Gandy Dancer’s mission. Their creative ideas produce healthy, nature-based activities both on the trail and off the trail. Activities such as “Book & Bike” and “Rock Painting” have generated praise from local libraries, families and area businesses. Teens residing in Burnett and Polk Counties can apply to become a Youth Ambassador by filling out the application at www.gandydancertrail.org. Parental consent is required.

Geocaching on the Gandy is an outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache container hidden at that location. There are more than 340 geocaches along the Gandy Dancer State Trail and more than a million worldwide.

Watching birds on the Gandy Dancer can be enjoyable while hiking, biking or cross-country skiing. The key to finding them is three-fold, the most obvious being using your eyes and ears. However, most important may be habitat; many bird species are adapted to specific habitats while others are more generalists and are found in several habitats.

Last fall, Friends of the Gandy received a grant from Northwest Alliance Community Foundation (NACF) to help purchase a Trishaw for their Cycling Without Age program. A Trishaw is a three-wheeled electronic cycle navigated by a “pilot.” The Friends of the Gandy will train 12 people to pilot the trishaw. This program allows seniors and people with disabilities to experience the joy of “cycling” again.

Trails and open spaces need people to protect and promote them. The Friends rely on memberships to help achieve a safe and engaging experience for all who use the Gandy Dancer for people powered activities. If you hike, bicycle, live adjacent to or frequent the trail; if you enjoy the nature programs with bird, plant and wildlife experts; if you enjoy the trail’s scenic value and rural communities; if you want to support the health benefits that hundreds of school children and people of all ages enjoy, please support the Friends of Gandy Dancer! To contact the Friends of the Gandy, email FriendsofGandy@gmail.com or visit their website at www.gandydancertrail.org.