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Celebrate Trails Day is an annual spring celebration of America’s trails < Back Celebrate Trails Day Rails to Trails Conservancy Apr 26, 2025 Celebrate Trails Day is an annual spring celebration of America’s trails It's Celebrate Trails day! Although ECRT doesn't have an event today, trail enthusiast groups all over the country do! Visit https://www.railstotrails.org/celebratetrailsday/ to learn more about it. Previous Next

Volunteers needed for Springville trail clean-up < Back Springville Trail Clean Up Deborah Stellrecht May 20, 2025 Volunteers needed for Springville trail clean-up Friends, let’s get our hands dirty! Bring a shovel, rake (preferably metal), clippers, garden gloves or whatever you have and come to the Springville Depot’s 1st annual Spring Rail Trail garbage and brush clean-up! We will be getting the trail summer-ready while helping to improve water flow in the ditch across from the Depot. Do as much or as little as you are able to, and no experience is needed! Please sign up here to let us know you're coming. We look forward to seeing you there! We'll gather at the Depot’s rear parking lot and barn at 10 am on Saturday, May 24th , and work until noon. We'll have water and snacks for you! Let's work together to keep our trail beautiful and safe! Thank you, Mary Brummer, President Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail Previous Next

Be seen and heard on the trail during your walk or ride < Back Trail Safety During Hunting Season Kathleen McCrone Nov 17, 2023 Be seen and heard on the trail during your walk or ride Trail friends, be aware - hunting season is underway! If you're heading out on the trail, ensure you, your kids, & your pets wear blaze orange and reflective gear and announce your presence loudly on the trail. Be safe! More safety tips available here: https://americanhiking.org/families-on-foot/hike-safely-hunting-season/ #ericattaraugusrailtrail #ECRT #hikingsafety #trailsafety Previous Next

Lisa, a former Town of Boston Supervisor and horsewoman, became involved with ECRT over 5 years ago to support the equestrian use of the rail trail. You'll most often find her at events, staffing the ECRT outreach table and sharing the progress of the trail with visitors. < Back Lisa Rood Lisa, a former Town of Boston Supervisor and horsewoman, became involved with ECRT over 5 years ago to support the equestrian use of the rail trail. You'll most often find her at events, staffing the ECRT outreach table and sharing the progress of the trail with visitors. Previous Next

Small but enthusiastic group braves the damp, chilly weather! < Back Spring Trail Walk in East Concord Mary Carol Dearing, Tim Bienkowski Apr 13, 2024 Small but enthusiastic group braves the damp, chilly weather! Mary Carol Dearing, leader of ECRT's Springville-Concord Friends group, leads the way on a guided southbound walk on the trail from Genesee Rd to Sharp St. Along way, the walkers shared in friendly conversation and a little local history. Thanks to Tim Bienkowski and Mary Carol Dearing for the photographs of the day. You can view them all at https://photos.app.goo.gl/DAyA3xFbD33ZrU8T7 . Previous Next

Orchard Park Friends of the Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail (ECRT) got together for a group walk of the open trail section from Ellicott Road to Jewett-Holmwood Road on Saturday, March 25th. < Back Orchard Park Friends Walk Deborah Stellrecht Mar 27, 2023 Orchard Park Friends of the Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail (ECRT) got together for a group walk of the open trail section from Ellicott Road to Jewett-Holmwood Road on Saturday, March 25th. Orchard Park Friends of the Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail (ECRT) got together for a group walk of the open trail section from Ellicott Road to Jewett-Holmwood Road on Saturday, March 25th. They met up with a good number of ECRT Board members, Railroad historians and other walkers and friends at the Orchard Park Train Depot for refreshments, a few trail etiquette reminders, and welcoming words by Mary Brummer, President of the ECRT organization. Local officials Matt Hartung, Deputy Mayor of Orchard Park Village, and Scott Honer, Orchard Park Town Councilman, were there to participate in the walk as well. Prior to heading out to the trail, Mary Brummer updated everyone with some highlights of ECRT’s recently finalized 3 year Strategic Plan for future development and enhancement of several sections of the rail corridor, particularly in the Orchard Park and West Falls neighborhoods, with much of the funding for the Orchard Park improvements coming from OP residents and supporters of the trail through a very successful fundraising drive throughout 2021-2022, culminating with the EA2EVL Fondo on October 1, 2022. Walkers were then loaded into volunteers’ cars and shuttled to the Ellicott Road trail entrance. The winds were gusting that morning, but the rains mercifully stopped for the duration of the hour-long outing! Everyone was by the stroll in nature and conversation with friends, old and new. Special thanks to the leader of the OP Friends of the Trail, Nicole Avitahl-Curtis, and her volunteer helpers for organizing this event. ECRT is grateful to all who support the trail by volunteering, donating, spreading the word to friends and supporting our efforts to improve outdoor recreational opportunities for everyone in our community. If you’re interested in becoming a friend of the trail, to be notified by email of future walks and events in your neighborhood, sign up at https://www.ecattrail.org/join . Previous Next

Tim Bienkowski Nicole Avitahl-Curtis As an active ECRT volunteer, Nicole has participated in numerous trail cleanups and promoted the trail at many public events. She also leads the ECRT Friends group of Orchard Park and has organized several community walks. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Nicole spent most of her childhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her father was a musician from Romania who, at the age of 29, emigrated to the U.S. with her mother of German descent and he became a symphony conductor at several universities. Nicole and her husband, Rory Curtis, met while they were both scientists working in biotechnology research. They have three daughters together. After living in Boston, Massachusetts for about 20 years, Rory accepted a position in WNY in 2016, and they relocated to Orchard Park with their youngest daughter, Zoe. While living in Boston, Nicole often cycled on the Minuteman Community Bikeway there. She was introduced to ECRT about 5 years ago when she attended a Town Hall meeting in Orchard Park. Nicole immediately recognized the need for trail development and decided to become involved. Nicole loves spending time outdoors as a family, to get fresh air, exercise and appreciate nature. She enjoys biking, running and walking the trail. She believes it helps people connect with each other, and rejuvenates them while communing with nature. Nicole also volunteers for the Orchard Park Girls on the Run and Heart and Soul groups, coaching young girls to run 5K runs and teaching them life skills. Nicole assists with her daughter's musical organizations, too, as Zoe is a trombonist in local Marching and Jazz bands, competes in state competitions, and is a member of the Erie County Fair Marching Band. Nicole relates, “I feel very blessed to be able to live in such a beautiful area and be able to be involved in these great projects. We’ve really enjoyed the community and the friends we’ve made here. I hope I can have a positive impact on the rail trail.” Learn more about becoming a volunteer here . August 27, 2024 Written by: Tim Bienkowski Previous Next < Back

Recently retired, Murray spent his entire career at Praxair and its former parent company, Union Carbide. Following college in 1981, he joined Union Carbide Plastics and Chemicals in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada as a project engineer. After assignments in plant operations and new product production at that facility, he transferred to the gases division in Toronto. This eventually became Praxair Inc. and Murray held assignments in operations, maintenance, plant operations, facilities planning, and sales before becoming Managing Director for Canada in 1999. In 2002, he transferred to the Tonawanda, New York technical center to assume responsibility for North American industrial gas operations. His next assignment in 2005 was President of Praxair Asia, based in Shanghai, China with accountability for the South Korea, China, Thailand, and India regions. He returned to the United States in 2009, again based in Tonawanda, to lead the global operations and procurement groups and, subsequently, to lead the Global Supply Systems (GSS) group that was responsible for the development, design, project management, and construction of the non-hydrogen facilities for Praxair. Murray held this role from 2010 to 2015 until his retirement. Murray received a BASc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA from York University (Toronto). < Back Murray Covello Recently retired, Murray spent his entire career at Praxair and its former parent company, Union Carbide. Following college in 1981, he joined Union Carbide Plastics and Chemicals in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada as a project engineer. After assignments in plant operations and new product production at that facility, he transferred to the gases division in Toronto. This eventually became Praxair Inc. and Murray held assignments in operations, maintenance, plant operations, facilities planning, and sales before becoming Managing Director for Canada in 1999. In 2002, he transferred to the Tonawanda, New York technical center to assume responsibility for North American industrial gas operations. His next assignment in 2005 was President of Praxair Asia, based in Shanghai, China with accountability for the South Korea, China, Thailand, and India regions. He returned to the United States in 2009, again based in Tonawanda, to lead the global operations and procurement groups and, subsequently, to lead the Global Supply Systems (GSS) group that was responsible for the development, design, project management, and construction of the non-hydrogen facilities for Praxair. Murray held this role from 2010 to 2015 until his retirement. Murray received a BASc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA from York University (Toronto). Previous Next

Partner, Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham LLC Environmental/Brownfields, Land/Use Zoning, Energy, Municipal, Administrative and Litigation Attorney < Back Marc Romanowski Partner, Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham LLC Environmental/Brownfields, Land/Use Zoning, Energy, Municipal, Administrative and Litigation Attorney Previous Next

Partnership will gather and analyze Community feedback < Back ECRT and UB invite Public input on trail plans Mary Brummer Sep 10, 2024 Partnership will gather and analyze Community feedback As part of its ongoing effort to develop a multiuse recreational trail in the Southtowns, ECRT is specifically targeting input from residents in Orchard Park and Colden for their viewpoints on trail development. “It has been some years since we sat down with residents and formally collected their thoughts on the project. As we consider developing the next sections of trail, we will be guided by the visions of each community”, said ECRT President Mary Brummer. State University of New York at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning has structured a fall semester graduate course around the process of community engagement. Two free workshop-style meetings will be facilitated by the UB Planning graduate students to gather ideas, dreams, visions, and concerns from residents. UB faculty, Dr. Kelly Gregg, advised, “Engaging community stakeholders will be a critical part of the design process and project development for the ECRT. The students are looking forward to meeting with residents and helping to understand all viewpoints and ultimately assist the ECRT in project development.“ Meetings will be held in two locations and will build on each other, so interested residents are asked to attend both sessions for the full duration. The first meeting will take place at the Orchard Park Community Activity Center on September 25 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm . The second meeting will take place at the Colden Fire Company on October 30 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm . Pre-registration is required and may be found below and at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094AA5A62CA5F9CE9-50690046-ecrt#/ . Following the two engagement meetings, the UB students will synthesize the community feedback into future visions for building the trail. These visions will be presented at a summary meeting and public celebration held on December 10 at 6:30 pm at the Orchard Park Community Activity Center . In addition to the community engagement sessions for Orchard Park and Colden a community wide survey is underway to better understand residents’ perspectives of existing and future use of the trail. The survey link is https://sunybuffalo.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6SDQzg4sOV2yB5I?Q_CHL=qr and the QR code is below. About State University of New York at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning: Embedded in our urban contexts here and around the world, we approach the study and practice of architecture, urban planning and real estate development hands on, full scale, and all in. The University at Buffalo's School of Architecture and Planning offers graduate and undergraduate paths of study in architecture, urban planning and real estate development, all within the most comprehensive public research university in the Northeast. Learn more about the life and programs of the school at https://archplan.buffalo.edu/ . Previous Next

Steve has over 32 years of banking industry experience as a Financial / Strategic Planning Consultant to the Banking Industry and previously served as Chief Operating Officer of FinPro Inc. Steve currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors at Country Bank in MA. Steve is an avid biker and trail rider and has ridden on a wide range of rail trails across 12 states. Steve believes the Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail is a very valuable asset to the Western NY community and is excited by the opportunity to work with the talented and dedicated group at ECRT to complete and open the entire 27 miles of trail to public use. < Back Steve Musso Steve has over 32 years of banking industry experience as a Financial / Strategic Planning Consultant to the Banking Industry and previously served as Chief Operating Officer of FinPro Inc. Steve currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors at Country Bank in MA. Steve is an avid biker and trail rider and has ridden on a wide range of rail trails across 12 states. Steve believes the Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail is a very valuable asset to the Western NY community and is excited by the opportunity to work with the talented and dedicated group at ECRT to complete and open the entire 27 miles of trail to public use. Previous Next

A small but keen group got together last week to spruce things up! < Back Volunteers Beautify Orchard Park Depot Grounds Kathleen McCrone Jul 13, 2025 A small but keen group got together last week to spruce things up! A small but keen group got together last week to refresh the mulch around the evergreen trees at the OP Depot. ECRT thanks the volunteers for their labor and the OP Village Department of Public Works for the mulch. We're told that fun was had by all! Previous Next