Lori Yeich has been involved with the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail as an early user and state official since day one in the mid-1990s.
Seeing the trail achieve its 30th anniversary in 2026, honored Saturday with a Taste of the Trail fundraiser, was a special moment for her and many individuals involved in making the trail happen.
When completed in 2028, the LVRT will span 25.7 miles from Swatara State Park in northern Lebanon County to the Lancaster County line near Colebrook to the south.
“It’s very, very humbling and I’m so grateful for the partnership with Lebanon Valley Rails to Trails, the county officials, PennDOT, and local volunteers,” Yeich said. “None of this would have happened without them. And none of it would have happened without a local champion, such as John Wengert and his board.”
Yeich told LebTown one of the greatest joys of her job as a regional supervisor of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources was helping the Lebanon Valley community realize its vision for its rail trail.
“The greatest joy that I get in my work is to work this long with this organization and then see it come to fruition after all this time. And then to see people enjoying it, riding their bikes, walking, walking their dogs, generations of people on it, and then connecting to the communities that the trail goes through, such as the Jigger Shop in Mount Gretna and other places that as a kid I went to,” Yeich said.
Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn, Yeich’s boss at DCNR, echoed her sentiments about the trail’s evolution being community-driven during comments made during the ceremony. (PennDOT secretary Mike Carroll also highlighted separately the value the trail has as a mode of transportation during his brief remarks.)
“The most gratifying thing about the work is to see people like you and come to places like this and celebrate the great work that you’ve done over three decades,” Dunn said.
She noted the LVRT as an asset within the overall trail system in Pennsylvania.
“The trail system of Pennsylvania, and it’s one of the best in the nation, is built on the backs of dedicated volunteers like all of you. And it’s so gratifying to go places like this and meet you in person and see the work that you do,” Dunn said. “This is a spectacular trail. I’ve been on it, I’ve hiked it. It’s spectacular, and what you’re doing for the future.”
She noted what LVRT president John Wengert said earlier in the ceremony.
“I think John said it well. You’re paying it forward to future generations. Never underestimate the value of that. So when I got the invitation, I thought, yeah, I have to be here. I want to celebrate with these folks. They really deserve it,” Dunn said. “Hats off to your 30 years and I’m sure the next 30 is going to be just as gratifying.”
In noting that Pennsylvania’s rail trail system is a $20.4 billion industry annually and employs 177,000 workers, Dunn told LebTown afterwards that their presence has a positive impact on rural communities like the Lebanon Valley.
“Someone might think, well, how’s this really helping me? If you live in a rural community and there’s like a little corner grocery store where you stop for milk and eggs and bread, that little store in the high season is getting a lot of revenue from making the sub sandwiches and selling sodas and selling ice and stuff to (trail) visitors,” Dunn said. “So that store’s existence year round is being boosted by the tourism economy and the recreation economy. So it helps all of Pennsylvania, not just the people using the recreational amenities.”
“Rail trails around the commonwealth and around the country contribute to the outdoor economy of local communities,” Yeich told LebTown. “Many of these rail trails go through places that were once industrial towns and they have revitalized them. Through my work, I’ve seen businesses pop up alongside trails. And these are businesses that are sustainable, are locally owned and that’s what makes trails so special.”
Wengert told LebTown that he was introspective earlier in the week with the pending 30th anniversary celebration being held on Saturday, June 6.
“I just kept thinking about the past 30 years, and all of a sudden it put everything in perspective that 30 years from now I’ll be 89 years old and I don’t really know how to describe it,” Wengert said. “I want to be sitting in some chair in the shade just being a VIP, a special guest for the 60th anniversary. But it’s been a long strange trip and it’s been a lot of fun.”
Mark Wilson, Wilson Engineering, spoke to LebTown about his company’s long-standing involvement with the LVRT.
“Half of my business is rails and trails, and I was a bridge engineer who liked to bicycle,” Wilson said. “Rail trails were the perfect mix. ‘Cause every one of these rail trails has a lot of old bridges. Sometimes they need new bridges. So yeah, being that I’m a cyclist, this is perfect.”
Lebanon County commissioners Bob Phillips and Jo Ellen Litz also shared with LebTown their thoughts about the trail as an asset within the Lebanon Valley.
“The rail trail is one of the best investments the county has made, but it’s the relationships that we have with the PennDOT folks and other Harrisburg funders and the rail trail volunteers,” Phillips said. “It’s a great thing and it works well. It’s just a very good example of what we can do when we work together.”
Litz heralded an asset she says many people are in the process of discovering.
“It’s priceless. I mean, truly it is,” Litz said. “I’ve talked to people here today who said they moved here from New York. They come here from everywhere because our land is beautiful. We have recreation like the rail trail for hiking, biking, horseback riding. How many communities do that? How many can get the people to come together, the volunteers and the businesses and the government, the commissioners, to work together to make something like this happen? This trail that we are creating is helping to guarantee a life of quality and that our future is sound.”
As part of the ceremony, LVRT recognized volunteer and grant writer Tom Kotay with its 2026 Trailblazer Award and Yeich with its 2026 Friend of LVRT award.
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