The public is invited to a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony for the Lions Way Bike and Pedestrian Pathway in Bluffton at 4 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 21, according to Richard Ramseyer, chair of the pathway board.
The event takes place at Comfort Inn, 117 Commerce Lane, at the eastern entrance of the pathway. The pathway follows the abandoned Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad from Comfort Inn to its western entrance near Tower Automotive, 18717 County Road 15.
Lions Way was named to recognize the efforts of the Bluffton Lions Club and Bluffton Lions Foundation, which spearheaded the project.
The bike and pedestrian pathway project measures seven-tens of a mile and was built at a cost of approximately $123,000.
The dedication program includes an invocation by Rev. Kevin Mohr of the Bluffton Area Ministerial Association, comments from Ramseyer, Judy Augsburger, Bluffton mayor, and Katherine Kreuchauf, president, The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation.
A Foundation provided one-half of the funding of the project.
The pathway vision is to create a bike and pedestrian pathway connecting Bluffton to Riverbend and Maple Crest on the west side of Bluffton, and to State Route 103 business district on the east side.
Members of the Bluffton Pedestrian and Bike Pathway Steering Committee are Richard Ramseyer, Laura Voth, Greg Denecker, James Harder, Jon Rich, Dima Snyder and Fred Steiner. Village liaisons are Mitch Kingsley, Everett Collier and Jamie Mehaffie.
