Throughout the years, the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail has been keeping the trail in pristine condition, with tools, know-how and more than a little elbow grease to shave off the root bumps, fix the cracks and paint the hazard stripes so the cyclists can enjoy one of the best bike trails in the area. That all came to a screeching halt in November when someone broke into their storage area near the trail and stole close to $3000 in equipment including a generator, batteries, leaf blower, gloves, folding saws, drills and pressure sprayer.

Twenty other storage sites in the same Arlington location were broken into as well. In the process, the thieves

shattered their National Park Service award, a crystal plaque the group won for their efforts

The storage area for the Friends group is in Arlington said Judd Isbell, the president. They reported it to the police but they don't have high hopes that the equipment will be recovered. The claim process is time consuming and since they are a volunteer group, their amount of time to put into it is limited. 

"We are thankful for the incredible support we've received from the community that has helped us not dwell on the bad things that happen in life and refocus on continuing to do the good things that build a safer trail and restore its environment for future generations," Isbell said. The biggest setback was the loss of the generator which will delay finishing bump removal work, the Friends say.

Although the Friends group suffered a loss and it dampened their enthusiasm briefly, they bounced back this last weekend to take part in the Scottish Walk in Old Town, and removed vines along the trail. "It took four events, 80 volunteer hours and 100 thirty gallon bags to remove the invasive kudzu vines that were obstructing sight lines on this high crash bridge," they wrote on social media.

“Help restore our faith in humanity by signing up to volunteer or making a donation. All donations will be matched up to $11,200 until Dec. 31,” they wrote.

They got a couple of positive responses on social media. "Just contributed! Thank you for all you do to keep the trail beautiful and safe!" said Daniel Lagana. 

"My son and I are volunteering for a couple of events! We can help Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail while he also earns community service hours!" said Cheri Snyder.

The following are the links to volunteer: https://buff.ly/34TeOeP or donate: https://buff.ly/3kzUYxF