New Shaffer Trail is dedicated at BC3
BUTLER TWP — In dedicating Butler County Community College's Shaffer Walking Trail, BC3 alum Mike Franko, who helped found the college's first cross country team, said that the campus' serene grounds “have served thousands upon thousands” who enjoy the outdoors.
Even more outdoor enthusiasts now will be welcome to enjoy the campus as the one-mile-long walking trail was dedicated Wednesday morning at the BC3 Field House trail head. The trail presence “is very much tied into” the college's goals of promoting physical education, beautification of the campus and making a safe place to recreate, said BC3 President Nick Neupauer.
The blacktop-covered trail is open to the public from dawn to dusk, and trail users may buy a campus parking pass, valid for one year, for $10 at the campus police office in the Student Success Center. After-hours parking is available in the south parking lot off Old Plank Road.
The trail is for pedestrians only. Bicycles and skateboards, as well as tobacco use on campus, are prohibited. Pet owners are expected to pick up after their animals.
The trail snakes around the hilltop campus, offering quiet places to rest on a bench or view the surrounding country. Each of the eight benches, as well as several concrete bollards, will be marked by plaques noting donors who contributed $500 or more to the project.Jim Taylor, BC3 Education Foundation board president, called the trail “a wonderful example of what can be accomplished through public and private partnerships” and thanked the Butler County Commissioners for their financial support.The trail is named for E. Bertrum and Esther Shaffer, whose estate donated $334,000 to BC3 in 2011, the largest estate gift in the foundation's history.BC3 used that money and county money to pay for the project. E. Bertrum Shaffer was BC3's first academic dean. He also twice served as the college's acting president and is credited with designing the college seal. He retired from BC3 in 1976 and was named professor emeritus. Esther Shaffer also was a lifelong educator.Tedesco Construction of White Oak in September was awarded the $592,000 contract for trail construction.
