The Shadow
On Saturday evening, just after 6:00 p.m, Clifton Forge held a ribbon cutting ceremony during their “Light the Creek” event at Sensory Trail.
Initially, the event was put on pause as the white Christmas lights above the podium went out, but that didn’t stop the good people of Clifton Forge from making the best of things. The crowd began to sing, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” in unison —for the most part— over the next several minutes. Some folks took advantage of the cookies, donuts, and hot chocolate being served while others sang along to the festive Christmas music being played on the loudspeakers just a few feet away from the podium.
Then, the town Mayor, Jeff Irvine, got the lights working and Jenny Oeltjen —President of the Clifton Forge Main Street Board of Directors— took to the microphone to welcome the eager crowd to the special event. “The purpose of this evening’s gathering, obviously, is to celebrate another milestone in the development of our Sensory Trail alongside Smith Creek,” Oeltjen said. Oeltjen then introduced Mayor Irvine to the microphone who, alongside Town Manager Chuck Unroe, said a few words prior to the official ribbon cutting.
“Welcome to the lighting of Sensory Trail,” Irvine said, before beginning his brief speech, most of which included thanking the many people who made the event possible. He started with all those who made donations to the lights for the Sensory Trail. While Oeltjen mentioned that some were donated, the rest were made possible because of the sizable donations from a grant from the Alleghany Foundation, the family of Charlene Hammond, and the Clifton Forge Dairy Queen. During a later speech by Oeltjen, she thanked Nina Scherotter, whose vision and design played a crucial role in making the event possible.
Unroe, the last speaker of the night, then stepped up to explain how the idea for the path at Sensory Trail was born in the mind of John Moser. Moser, a local father with a disabled son, wanted a place that persons with disabilities could enjoy. “…This trail of lights came to be because of love,” Unroe said. “The love of John Moser for his son, Dawson, and all people with disabilities, the love of Mayor Irvine for his hometown, the love of the Hammond family for their husband, father, grandfather, and brother, the love of Clifton Forge Main Street for making our town a better place, the love of Gayle Hillert to continually help and support them in that effort, the love of the owners of the [Clifton Forge] Dairy Queen to support the town that they operate in, the love of our dedicated public works crew who works to keep the town operational and presentable for us at all times, the love of the Alleghany Foundation for continually sponsoring and funding activities throughout the Alleghany Highlands to make it a better place to live, the love of Nina [Scherotter] and both the design to help our small town realize our dreams. But most of all, the love of all of you [citizens] who make our town what it is….”
