By Anna Skinner
Being an early advocate for the construction of the Monon Trail through Westfield, Alyn Bernell has been all about the Monon since he started encouraging the trail in the early ’90s, but there’s one part of the trail he hadn’t seen.
To honor Bernell and his advocacy, the initial mile of the Monon Trail through Westfield was named after him in 2009. Due to health and age, Bernell never got the chance to see the marker in person. That is until the city stepped in, deciding to take him on a guided golf cart tour through that mile of the Monon.
“I am extremely pleased things have turned out the way they did. The people I worked with on various committees and a whole lot of other people were active and interested in the community,” Bernell, now 84, said. “We told the local population that the Monon would be a very good thing. It could connect people and have a good effect on the entire community.”
Through his Monon Trail days, Bernell lived in Westfield for 37 years. Now, he lives in a senior apartment home in Indianapolis. When he promoted the Monon, Bernell said he made an effort to join as many groups as possible, such as the parks committee and the Chamber of Commerce, saying he totaled at about seven or eight.
But Bernell made his project personal, too, claiming he went door-to-door in Carmel at houses along the projected route of the Monon, convincing the residents why it would be beneficial to allow construction of the trail right outside their door.
“We went and talked and did a good sales job on why they should promote it and permit it to go past their property and how good it would be for them in addition to the rest of the population,” Bernell said. “We had fun doing things like that.”
According to the City of Westfield, Bernell also “went so far as to charter a private plane to scope out the proposed route from the air during the initial planning stages.”
Although he makes a conscious effort, Bernell doesn’t get on the Monon as often as he would like. But when he does get the chance, he said he enjoys bicycling with friends on the trail.
“I’ve become an older fellow now, and I’m very fortunate to have some people help me out there and carry my bicycle for me in the back of their vehicles and help me greatly to enjoy the Monon,” he said.
Bernell’s guided golf cart tour included himself, Parks Director Melody Jones, Communications Specialist Zach Burton, Communications Specialist Erin Murphy and Karen Bohn. Burton attached a video camera to the golf cart to record Jones and Bernell on the tour, which can be viewed at vimeo.com/139704124.
“Alyn was so instrumental in getting the Monon started in Westfield,” Mayor Andy Cook said. “Alyn played an important role in Westfield’s past and our future as years later we are still focused on trail connectivity.”
An information board on Bernell and his successful attempts to progress the Monon through Westfield can be seen at the trailhead at Greyhound Pass.
“I hope for the future and believe strongly that it will happen beyond my hope that the Monon will stretch out to Sheridan and beyond,” Bernell said.
ABOUT THE WESTFIELD MONON TRAIL
Length: 2.9 miles
Hours: Sunrise to sunset
Connects to: Midland Trace Trail, Anna Kendall Trail, Little Eagle Creek Trail
Next phase: Phase 5, a pedestrian bridge over Ind. 32. No completion date has been decided. Source: westfield.in.gov
