MAYVILLE — The board of directors of Chautauqua Rails to Trails hosted a grand reopening of the Nadine and Paul Webb Trail in Mayville.

Refreshments and a hike ensued. The more than 60 attendees heard from several of the people who helped to make the trail resurfacing with crushed limestone, along with bridge improvements, a reality. Financial support was received from the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, the Ralph Wilson Legacy Fund and in-kind support from the village of Mayville.

“We feel the limestone is an excellent counterpoint to the asphalt trail from the Village Park to Route 430,” said Jim Fincher, Rails to Trails president. “We fully expect to see as many people using the Webb Trail as use the asphalt trail. It will add greatly to the Village of Mayville and our wonderful trail system.”

Other speakers included Webb family representative Ben Webb, county Legislator Bill Ward, D-Mayville and Rails to Trails board member, state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, Mayville Mayor Ken Shearer and Ba Zan Lin of the Ralph Wilson Legacy Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo. In place of a ribbon cutting, the ritual was in the form of a branch-lopping — a maintenance activity of the 30 miles of the Chautauqua Rails to Trails system.

Ben Webb, Webb family representative, is shown lopping a branch during a recent grand reopening of the Nadine and Paul Webb Trail, part of the Chautauqua Rails to Trails system.