Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Help ‘Pave the Way’ campaign to raise funds for DC trail



A campaign is underway to “Pave the Way” in hopes of raising enough money to complete the remaining work on the Dassel-Cokato Trail.

DC Trail committee member Irene Bender and her sidekicks, Brenda Johnson and Sara Rufer-Keskey are challenging the community to come up with their own ways of fundraising for the project.

Two years ago, the trail, originally constructed in 1996 with funding from the Minnesota Department of Education, the cities of Dassel and Cokato, the DC School District, and the townships of Cokato and Dassel, was in serious need of repair and resurfacing.

With support from the cities, school district, Collinwood and Dassel townships, along with individual donations, nearly $112,000 was raised to complete approximately 3.4 miles of the trail. Half of the remaining $11,000 will be used to seal coat the driveways along the trail, Bender explained.

There is still approximately two miles of trail, adjacent to the Cokato golf course, that needs to be repaired and resurfaced. The cost estimate to complete this portion is $30,000, according to Bender, who noted that $20,000 is what would need to be raised for the project.

Rather than organizing one big fundraiser, the committee decided to get the community involved and come up with individual ideas to raise money for the cause.

Some ideas that were suggested to help “Pave the Way” were to put out a tip jar at businesses, have a garage sale, donate a baby-sitting job, have a kids lemonade stand, save loose change, etc.

The campaign will run now through mid-August and checks from the individual fundraisers may be made out to Dassel-Cokato Trail, ISD 466, and sent to 4852 Reardon Avenue SW, Suite 1400, Cokato, MN, 55321; or to the City of Cokato, PO Box 1030, Cokato, MN, 55321.

The goal is to have the trail completed by the fall.

“We’re just hoping for a lot of enthusiasm,” Bender said, adding that she hopes to get the whole community involved because the trail belongs to them.

Upcoming events

The “Pave the Way” committee is working on a few fundraising ideas of its own, including a walk/run on the trail and a Zumbathon.

Bender explained that the group would like to get people to participate in a walk/run along the trail Saturday, Aug. 9 in conjunction with the three-on-three basketball tournament at the Dassel-Cokato High School.

In addition, the committee is in the planning stages of a Zumbathon led by Brenda Johnson and Wendy Moore.

The date is yet to be determined.

Look for more information on these events and the fundraising efforts in future editions of the Enterprise Dispatch.

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