Friends of Anne Arundel County Trails
Our Mission is to promote, protect & enhance
the trails in Anne Arundel County.
Friends of Anne Arundel County Trails is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization of dedicated volunteers helping to promote, protect and enhance the multimodal trails of Anne Arundel County. The organization encompasses the B&A Trail, the BWI Trail, the Broadneck Trail and the WB&A Trail as well as new trails being designed or constructed. Friends support the Trails, County Staff and Park Rangers of the Department of Recreation and Parks and work with many partners, all of whom are dedicated to the trail systems in the county.
Funding Sources:
- Memberships
- Lasting Gifts from Individuals and Businesses
- Gifts from Community Organizations
- Gifts and Grants from Charitable Organizations
- Grants from County, State, and Federal Governments
The Friends of Anne Arundel County Trails is organized with an annually elected Executive Committee and a Board of Directors appointed by the Board. Each board member is a working chairperson of one of the various activities or projects of the organization.
Friends Board of Directors:
- Diane Evans, President, Jonas & Anne Catherine Green Park, & Trail Talk Editor, Lasting Gifts Bricks
- Darilyn Marinelli, Vice President, Recording Secretary, WB&A Trail, Lasting Bench Gifts.
- David Greene, Treasurer, Past President, Concert Series & Website
- Jack Keene, Immediate Past President, Planet Walk Chair, Caraker Plaza
- Angela Braunschweiger, Grants
- Sigrid Kingsbury
- Maribeth Love, South Shore Trail
- Ed Parker, Broadneck Trail
- Chris Pesota
- Tim Yarbrough
- Becky Ziegler, B&A Trail Flowerbed Coordinator
Our Project History
The following projects are supported by the Friends of Anne Arundel County Trails. Most of them have been designed and implemented by the Friends. Some are complete and others are ongoing.
The B&A Trail Park used the abandoned Baltimore & Annapolis Railroad right-of-way. It was purchased in 1981 and converted into the B&A Trail Park in 1990. This trail is one of the most successful in the United States. It has been duplicated many times throughout the country. It is estimated that 2 million people visit the Anne Arundel County trails every year.
Hatton Regester Green was the first pocket park added to the B&A Trail. Land adjacent to the trail in Severna Park was purchased in 1995. The Green was designed and planted by the Friends and was completed in 1999. Gardening in the green is supported by local garden clubs and individuals. May and September concerts are given at the gazebo for everyone’s enjoyment.
Millennium Trails is a national program to enhance the trails in the United States. Hillary Clinton chose the B&A Trail as the location for her Millennium Trails keynote speech. Donations were made to create art and place it on the trails designated Millennium Trails. The B&A Trail Park was one of those trails. The Trail’s Millennium Green, a two-mile linear garden, is located in Glen Burnie.
Planet Walk is a representation of the solar system scaled to fit on the B&A Trail. The distance from the sun to Pluto has been shrunk to 4.7 miles on the trail. The location of each planet is marked with a descriptive sign. Two sculptures, representing Sun and Pluto, have been constructed. The sun Sculpture is located at the Stan Lebar Plaza. Stan was founder of the Friends.