Congratulations Governor Beshear! I'm sure I speak for many of my Carter County neighbors in wishing you much success as our new Governor.

My name is John Grace and I am writing to request your endorsement of our local rails-to-trails project.

I'm a volunteer working with the rails-to-trails project here in Carter County. We have recently completed the acquisition of the old 
Eastern Kentucky Railway (later C & O) passenger depot in Olive Hill. The depot will be one of the principle access points for a trail that 
will eventually connect the towns of Lawton, Olive Hill and Grahn. Our trail segment is in turn a portion of a regional trail system which 
will one day link Lexington with Ashland.

We are presently negotiating right-of-way agreements with local property owners. Rails-to-trails projects are a relatively new phenomenon in 
Kentucky, and we have found that to gain public support for our trail system we must educate our local community about the many 
advantages walking trails offer.

One of the tasks that I have taken on is the publication of a brochure/newsletter which we will use to introduce the community to the rails-to-trails concept, 
address questions/concerns about living with a publicly accessible trail, and inform the public as progress is made on our trail. We expect to publish the 
first brochure in early spring and follow up with trail progress reports two or three times a year. I have set aside a page in the brochure to 
feature the names of prominent local, state and national leadership who know that a trail system like ours benefits the health and quality of life of the 
community in countless ways. With your permission, I would like to add your name to our list of supporters. If you would care to add a few words of endorsement, 
I would be most pleased to include them in the brochure.

Your endorsement, along with those of other community leaders, will be critical to the success of our trail project.

A draft of our brochure may be found at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~kycarter/Rails_to_Trails/The_Tygart_Valley_Trail3.pdf

Thank you for your time and for your consideration of our request.

John W. Grace

jwgrace99@yahoo.com

Tygart Valley Trail volunteer