Greetings from the David Canny Rountree Branch Trail, PCA's mission is about connections, specifically to connect the community to the Rountree Branch corridor through recreation, conservation and environmental education. Recently we have had some events that have really emphasized these connections: On 9/17 PCA supported National Service day by partnering with the City of Platteville, Platteville Optimists, Rotary, and Kiwanis to plant 80 shrubs along the trail. On a rainy m

Hot off the presses in plenty of time for Holiday gifts—the 2023 PCA Calendar and the children’s book Sassy’s Vacation! The calendar will not only keep your dates straight but treat you and yours to the beauty of the trail all year long. Thanks to all who submitted your stunning seasonal photos, and congratulations to those whose work is featured on the calendar pages: Shannon Baxter, Tamara Bradley, Brooke Brockman, Lisa Cruse, Dianne Edgette, Bob Hundhausen, Victoria Hundha

Mountains can be moved when a community works together. In this case, mountains of dirt were moved to make way for planting 80 new shrubs. This fete took place on September 15th and 17th as a part of the 9/11 National Day of Service. Volunteers from local service clubs and the UW-Platteville Baseball Team coordinated their efforts to add shrubs along the trail from behind Menard’s toward Belmont. The project got under way on the 15th when Myron Tranel made 80 three-foot deep

The Platteville Community Arboretum hosted their 3rd annual Monster Dash on October 8th. We were fortunate to have blue skies and light winds for this event. We offered a 5K run/walk or a 10k run, and every finishing runner received a pumpkin from Vesperman Farms. Winners of each age group also received a half gallon of apple cider. We encouraged runners to dress in costume and they obliged. A vast majority of the field dressed up for this family fun event that included runne

Brooke Brockman’s love of the trail took her by surprise. Before taking her first bike ride there, she hadn’t paid much attention to the trail and its progress. Born and raised in Platteville, Brooke teaches First Grade students at Westview Elementary and now spends any spare moments she can in her “happy place”---on her bike, on the trail. In August of 2016 when the trail was almost complete, Brooke climbed onto a bicycle for the first time in many years. As a kid, she and h

Scott Wright spun his lifestyle-changing health condition into something positive by discovering biking on the Platteville trails. When Scott Wright faced a lifestyle-changing health situation, he turned to the Platteville Community Arboretum Trail for his physical activity. Scott has been using the trail since it started. “The big benefit for me personally has happened in the last few years,” Scott said. He explained that he was a runner and participated in half-marathons. A

Twelve-year-old Colin Fritz, son of Brian and Jessica Fritz, is this newsletter’s featured volunteer. Now in 5th grade at Platteville Middle School, Colin loves to play team sports like basketball, football and baseball. Colin began working on the trail three summers ago when he was only nine years old. On Tuesday mornings he accompanies his Grandpa Gary Fritz to help the crew with weeding, invasive vine removal, trimming—or whatever tasks need doing to make the trail more us

The PCA is fortunate to have four regular trail maintenance volunteer crews every week during the growing seasons spring through fall. The Monday morning crew is well known for being exceptionally hard workers, but are great at making sure they have fun at the same time. Every Monday from April through November, the group meets at the shed bright and early at 8 a.m. Clay Shaffer, PCA Deputy Coordinator and team leader, Wayne Tillotson determine tasks for the crew. This usuall

The Ecology Committee’s mission is to help determine and accomplish the environmental and conservation goals of the PCA. The committee includes PCA Board members and volunteers with a wide range of experience and expertise. Current members are: Scott Budd, Tim Donovan, Dan Flesch, Steven (Spider) Fromader, Mike Penn and Kris Wright. We aim to make the trail both beautiful for users and ecologically sustainable, primarily through the reestablishment of native habitat. Our visi

We're excited to share that $3,400 from our recent raffle was presented to the Platteville Fire Department! PCA prides itself on community collaborations with many groups and appreciates all the Fire Dept does supporting PCA with controlled environmental burns. Thank you to all who supported our raffle! L-R: Clay Shaffer, Gene Weber, Bob Hundhausen, Ryan Simmons (Fire Chief), Dianne Jentz, Spider Fromader