Cruise Raises $164,000 for Trail Repair & Ferry!

From Local Motion

On July 11th, a capacity crowd of 150 trail enthusiasts boarded the Northern Lights to take a special trip up to 'the cut' in the Causeway.  See photos here! It was part of The Big Fix -- Local Motion's $1.5M fundraising campaign to repair the Island Line Trail from the record 2011 flooding and to relaunch dramatically expanded Bike Ferry service. The energy on board to finally complete the 14-mile Burlington / Colchester / South Hero trail was palpable. Honorary Co-Chairs Bill & Carole Hauke announced a $100,000 challenge grant as the boat paused next to the causeway. VTrans Secretary Brian Searles told the crowd that Local Motion is the most effective advocacy organization he has seen and reiterated the the State's support for this spectacular trail. Campaign Co-Chair Cathy Frank said that the flood had a huge silver lining in rallying the community together around fixing and completing this spectacular trail. Huge thanks to Lake Champlain Transportation Company and Gobeille Hospitality for donating the boat, the fuel and the food for the event!  Thanks also to photographer Doug Goodman and musician Joe Cleary for donating their services. The campaign has raised $1.37M -- with just $130,000 to go! We need you! The sooner we complete the fundraising, the sooner the works gets done.  If you want the trail fully open with Bike Ferry service in 2013, we need to finish the campaign soon.  Donate today and your gift will be matched 1:1 by the Haukes!