Meet our Mid-Valley: Teen builds new river trail for Keizer
This is part of a weekly series introducing readers to individuals who are passionate about our Mid-Valley community.
Visitors and residents in Keizer now have a new trail to walk along the Willamette River, thanks to the work of a local teen.
Niklaus Elder, a member of Boy Scouts of Salem Troop 20, worked with Keizer Parks and Facilities manager Robert Johnson to construct a new trail for Palma Ceia Park for his Eagle Scout service project.
Service projects, a high achievement for those in the Scout program, are intended to benefit the community and involve extensive planning, volunteer hours and leadership.
Elder said he was drawn to the idea of creating a trail after helping his older brother with his Eagle project to revitalize a 20-mile trail in the Santiam Pass.
The 15-year-old sophomore from Keizer worked on the project from September to October.
Elder worked to fundraise $2,118 for the trail work — $2,000 of which was donated by the Local 290 Plumbers and Steamfitters in Tualatin. He said the donations were vital to the creation of the trail.
Elder said his project entailed almost 324 hours of work, which were provided by members of his church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salem 1st Ward, 24 church missionaries and members of his Scout troop.
Together, they cleared 60 yards of blackberries, English ivy, dead trees and fallen logs at the park, located at 900 Cummings Lane North.
Volunteers then used 52 yards of dirt, 56 tons of gravel and 181 cinderblock pavers to craft the trail.
Elder said he wanted to build a safe trail for people in the community to enjoy the Willamette River.
"The new river access trail at Palma Ceia Park that Nicklaus Elder and his fellow scouts built is a huge addition to one of Keizer’s smallest parks," parks division manager Johnson said. "Prior to the construction of this new trail, you had to zig-zag down the hill on an old social trail that did not provide good access."
The trail drops down to the Willamette River in a unique location in Keizer where the river bends. From this bank, people can look south towards Salem or west towards Keizer Rapids Park.
"I have seen a huge influx of people utilizing this access point to go down and see the river," Johnson said.
Johnson said the city plans to add benches on the riverbank during the summer months. They currently have a viewing bench at the top of the bank and picnic tables under a small fir tree grove near the front of the park.
If you have an idea for someone we should profile for this series, email Statesman Journal senior news editor Alia Beard Rau at arau@gannett.com.
Reporter Whitney Woodworth covers city hall, economic development and business for the Statesman Journal. For questions, comments and news tips, email wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Meet our Mid-Valley: Teen works to build river trail for Keizer
