Queen City Family Restaurant of West Reading, recently agreed to adopt a one-quarter mile section of the Schuylkill River Trail for a three-year period.
The adopted stretch is located on the Thun Section of the trail, in Reading, directly across Route 10 from the restaurant. It runs from the historic Fix-Gerber Cemetery to Schlegel Park, incorporating the Powell pedestrian bridge that crosses over Lancaster Avenue.
Queen City Family Restaurant, which is owned by Elsayed “Steve” Elmarzouky, has agreed to conduct two to three trail maintenance projects each year along that stretch of trail, primarily cleaning up litter and pruning overgrowth. Signs recognizing the restaurant as an Adopt-a-Trail participant have been installed beside the trail.
“We adopted a piece of the trail because it’s a beautiful trail that attracts people from the surrounding area,” said General Manager Sabrena Elmarzouky. “The section we adopted is right in front of Queen City. This allows us to watch what’s going on, see how the beautiful trees and bushes are growing, and make sure it’s safe. Conveniently, trail users can see our building and during the peak seasons we do get many customers in bicycle gear. I’m happy to say I’m part of the Adopt-a-Trail program!”
The program was introduced by the Schuylkill River Heritage Area in 2010 to help maintain the Berks and Schuylkill County sections of Schuylkill River Trail, which are managed by the Heritage Area. Since limited funds are available, the Heritage Area relies on volunteers to groom the trail and trailheads along the 30 miles of trail located in those counties.
The program provides opportunities for businesses, organizations and groups to care for a designated section of the trail, ensuring a cleaner and safer environment for trail users.
“We are grateful to Queen City Family Restaurant for adopting a piece of the trail. This enables us to better maintain a popular and very visible section of the Schuylkill River Trail,” said Schuylkill River Heritage Area Executive Director Kurt Zwikl.
Queen City is one of several Adopt-a-Trail participants. Others include Bethany Children’s Home in Womelsdorf, and Penn State Schuylkill Campus, in Schuylkill Haven.
In addition to the Adopt-a-Trail program, the Heritage Area also offers a Sponsor a Trail option that provides opportunities for businesses and organizations to contribute monetarily to the cost of maintaining a section of trail. Even with volunteer labor, the Heritage Area pays about $400 per mile annually on trail maintenance for such items as fuel for mowers, a small stipend for two volunteer coordinators, and equipment purchases, rentals and repairs.
The Schuylkill River National and State Heritage Area, managed by the non-profit Schuylkill River Greenway Association, uses conservation, education, recreation, historic preservation and tourism as tools for community revitalization and economic development. For more information visit: www.schuylkillriver.org.
From Schuylkill River Heritage Area
