Are you interested in gardening? Would you be interested in volunteering to help build, plant, and maintain the butterfly garden that Newton Trails is installing along the Cricket Frog Trail between West and Spring Streets in Covington? Do you have plant material to donate? Would you be interested in creating and maintaining your own pollinator garden somewhere along the Trail?

These things are possible and if you are interested, please contact Newton Trails board member Greg Richardson at gregr147@gmail.com.

The butterfly garden on the west side of Covington is an expansion of the garden started by Michael and Chrissy King last spring. The expansion has been made possible with the help of Michelin Tread Technologies and Becton-Dickinson (BD) employees who helped dig out the railroad ballast adjoining the Trail and helped build the railroad tie retaining wall. The Satsuki Garden Club donated money to buy topsoil which Ed Hutter delivered and helped spread. Others have donated time, money, and plant material. The garden is focused on providing food and host plants for butterflies whose populations are declining across the United States.

Newton Trails is giving space to Newton County Extension's Master Gardener Program for a garden on the corner of Pace and Stallings streets in Covington. That garden is being designed by Noah Dilday, a graduate student in the University of Georgia's landscape architecture program with input from Ashley Best, Newton County's Extension Agent. Dilday's expertise has been made available through the Archway Partnership being overseen by Newton County Tomorrow.

It is too early to say much, but Newton Trails is also aware that the Town of Newborn is planning to install a garden area in the trailhead park it plans to build off Timberlake Drive. Efforts are underway to extend the Cricket Frog Trail from its current terminus at Zeigler Road to that new trailhead.

APRIL GROUP BIKE RIDE - MARK YOUR CALENDARS

The next Regional Group Bike Ride is scheduled for April 26, 2025.

Meet 9:00 a.m. @ Covington Park & Ride, 6203 U.S.278 NW, Covington, GA 30014.

          OR 

Meet 10:30 a.m. @ Big Creek Park Trailhead, 1600 Old Alabama Road, Roswell GA 30076. It's 52 miles from Covington.

When we arrive, please drive through the lower parking lot, over a couple of hills, and park in the upper parking lot close to the trail entrance. Restrooms are available. 

We will ride the beautiful concrete and boardwalk Big Creek Greenway Trail through the woods and along the river for 10 miles to the Big Creek Halcyon Trailhead and then across the street for lunch at Cherry Street Brew Pub, 6640 Town Square, Alpharetta GA 30005, 770.696.4229. Lunches are $20-$30. They have clean spacious indoor seating as well as outside seating with games.

The trail changes to asphalt and sidewalk for a short distance, about 1.5 miles, between Union Hill and Halcyon. PLEASE WEAR YOUR HELMET.

Yep, Newton Trails folks rode the Big Creek Greenway back in 2012!

See anyone you know?

Where we will have lunch.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, Newton Trails has to date installed 22 trail benches, 10 pet waste stations, 7 trash cans, 2 bicycle racks, and one portable toilet along the Cricket Frog Trail. We cannot give enough thanks to those who have invested in these trail amenities!

Although we have as many of these items as are needed along the Trail within the City of Covington, we would welcome additional donations for elsewhere.

If interested, please contact Duane Ford at duane@newtontrails.org.

Here is what we need:

• A bench for placement along the Trail between Soap Opera Laundry and Hesters Package Store in Covington.
• Two, or maybe three, benches for locations between the Covington Bypass and Zeigler Road, specifically one somewhere near Piper or East End roads, one near Starrsville, and one near Beaver Park.
• A few benches, a pet waste station, and a trash can for placement along the new Trail section between Zeigler Road and Newborn or in the new trailhead park that the Town of Newborn is building.
• One bench to fill an empty site along the East Side Trail.

There also may be the possibility of locating a few benches along the Oxford Trail in partnership with either the City of Oxford or Oxford College of Emory University.

Newton Trails appreciates and here recognizes the contributors who so generously supported our work since our Spring 2024 Newsletter which was sent out April 3, 2024. If you see an error or omission, please let Newton Trails know at info@newtontrails.org. We want to get it right!

For information about our Donor, Sponsor, and Supporter Recognition Program, please visit www.newtontrails.org/donor-recognition.

DIAMOND ($10,000 or more)

Beaver Manufacturing

City of Covington

Mayfield Ace Hardware

George Haymons

Newton County

Pratt Industries

PLATINUM ($5,000 - $9,999)

Animal Medical Clinic

General Mills Covington

Greg and Lisa Herring

Hay-Dearing, LLC

Jerry Bouchillon

Newton County Water & Sewer Authority

GOLD ($2,500 - $4,999)

Keenan Media

SILVER ($1,000 - $2,499)

Becton-Dickinson

Burge Club

Lowell Chambers and Melanie Sheets

Duane and Sheri Ford

Ginn Motor Company

Debra and Rich Griffith

Mark and Lisa Hanson

John and Susie Keck

Dalton and Lisa Knox

Nitro 2 Go

Norris and Francie LIttle

Michelin Tread Technologies

Alexander and Betsy Morehouse

Oxford College of Emory University

Peachstate Construction

Greg and Tamara Richardson

Turf and Tree Wizards

United Bank

Miriam Wheeler

COPPER ($500 - $999)

Carmen Aaron

Caroline Buckner

Christy Blanchford

Bridgestone Golf

C-Town Bikes

Pete and Gail Carter

Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal

Bill Couch

Epic Events and Entertainment

Gary Massey Agency, Inc.

The Geoffroy Firm PC

Georgia Unlimited Roofing and Building

GWES, LLC

Sarah Higinbotham

Hoss Fly Studios

Rosalind Howell

Scott Hubbard State Farm Insurance

Craig and Jan Hudson

Keck+Wood

Lavish Studios

Longleaf Hospice & Palliative Care, LLC

LRC Promotions

MG Law

Newton Federal

Peak Steel Contractors, LLC

Piedmont Newton Hospital

Julie and Carter Rogers

Sellars Auto Solutions

Rodney and Julia Sheets

Specialty Cartridge

Southern Bicycle League

Juanita Thompson

Judy and Steve Tilmont

Jonna and Chip West

Roberta and Ed Winnicki

Woodstock Furniture & Mattress Outlet

SUPPORT NEWTON TRAILS BY FOLLOWING THESE LINKS

The mission of Newton Trails, Inc., is to promote, develop, and sustain a connected system of greenway trails which support vibrant, healthy, and prosperous communities and the conservation of natural habitats, plants, and wildlife.