Bill Truran, left, and Bob Nicholson at the picnic table. (Photo courtesy of Bill Truran)
During late summer, on a pleasantly warm and sunny day, I had a friendly hike and talk with one of our county’s great movers and shakers.
Bob Nicholson invited me to meet him behind the Sparta Historical Society’s Van Kirk Homestead Museum. I rolled up in my sports car and he greeted me with abundant enthusiasm - a wide grin and bubbling energy. For a man of 96, how rewarding is that?
We walked a freshly cut pathway, a carpet of green grass with the hint of brown earth underneath, downward among the saplings and young growth of birches and maples. The path was embraced by the wild berry bushes that created an undergrowth that hemmed us in and kept us straight on our journey.
After about 100 yards of gentle descent, we reached the flat expansive vista of the Wallkill River. At this point, the river is mostly hidden, running wide, slow and shallow and nestled among many bogs and sedges that occupy the wetlands of the Wallkill.
The wetlands seem serene, mostly quiet and sheltered from the bustle of speeding cars and people in a hurry with timebound tasks. Many birds fly and scurry about as they look for insects or berries that enrich their lives; some hawks hover overhead with a broader view. The water will seep into the earth and replenish our aquifers and wells.
Out of mind to most citizens, there is a rich bounty of life ever present here. The river is an essential resource to our health and world.
The Wallkill provides a gateway to our history. The Lenni-Lenape called the river Twischsawkin. The Dutch first called it Palse after New Paltz, which they founded after 1609, and later realized that the river stretched far to the south, then named it Wallkill as it’s been ever since. “Kill” means riverbed to the Dutch and there’s a Waal River in the Netherlands.
“Look at this site,” said Bob with his ever-present excitement. “To our left is Sparta High School and to our right is Sterling Hill Mining Museum. Establishing a pathway along here can provide a real opportunity for people to hike and observe our lively natural surroundings.”
Such energy he has. Along with his son, Robbie, they have been instrumental in our county, preserving the past and vitalizing the present. For example, they were key participants in the carriage house at Van Kirk that today holds an antique vehicle and artifacts from our farming and rural heritage.
I am totally onboard with this thought, and I added to it. “There’s the rails-to-trails that is developing, with the DEP (state Department of Environmental Protection), from Franklin to Sterling Hill. And the opportunity to make rail-to-trail development from Franklin Junction to the Gingerbread Castle and Wheatsworth Mill.”
Bob appreciated this with interest, so I continued. “And a short distance further beyond Hamburg, again following the path of rails-to-trails, would bring the possibility to go up to the not-to-far away Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge and with that continuing to New York state and beyond.”
We invigorated each other with ideas to preserve and improve our local heritage. Bob is a person who will get things done, a man of vision and a man of action.
What is not to love on a beautiful day, meeting an old friend, talking about the wonders of our world and the richness in our life and about what could be?
Bob is one of our county leaders who will work to accomplish good things. Our meeting was one of those days where you enjoy the activity and come away with more energy than when you arrived.
Want to know more? Want to support (even with just with your email address), the opportunities to build the trails?
Feel free to put your email address on the list of supporters and comment if you want online at truran.com/rails-to-trails-project/
Bill Truran, Sussex County’s historian, may be contacted at billt1425@gmail.com