At 10 AM on Saturday, October 12, members of the Friends of the Northern Rail Trail (FNRT) and other community members will ride for the fourth time to honor the memory of Peter Oren Crowell. The ride will start at the Potter Place trailhead of the Northern Rail Trail, and each rider will be free to ride as far as he or she elects, including an optional seven-mile ride to the Danbury General Store.

Peter Crowell was from New London and was key in getting early portions of the Norther Rail Trail built. Peter’s two sons, Peter and Ben, have continued the tradition by making their compactor and grader available each year for trail resurfacing.

“Peter was generous, competent, and a doer, not a talker,” said Alex Bernhard, Vice President of the FNRT. “He was one of the finest people we’ve met in the process of building the Northern Rail Trail. He just showed up at one of our meetings with a contribution in hand – which he wouldn’t relinquish until he was sure we were building trail, not just talking about it. ‘We can do this,’ he said at the end of that meeting, and he was an inspiration. By riding the Rail Trail on October 12, we’re keeping his spirit alive in us and in all who join us.”