Volunteers To Patrol Wheeling Heritage Trails

The Trail Ambassadors were founded in the summer of 2010 by R. "Scat" Scatterday, but this year will be the first full year the group will be on hand to help the community.

"I've endorsed a theme that we're working on. It's four words. See something, say something," Scatterday said.

The Trail Ambassadors are volunteers who frequent the Wheeling Heritage Trails. These ambassadors are there to lend a helping hand to trail-goers and to keep an eye out for those who may be breaking the law.

"There are parts that are not in the city, and they are not going to have the attention to detail that you are going to get from the city departments. So in those cases, it is going to be incumbent on people like us to take more of a leadership role to make sure that they are clear and they are clean," said Wayne Barte, a Trail Ambassador.

The Trail Ambassadors are also on hand to clear the trails.

"Last year after some of the severe storms, we had some debris and trees down on the trails; so, I coordinated with Scat to get the debris removed from the trail," said Susan Cunningham, a trail ambassador.

It is easy to spot an ambassador. They wear fluorescent vests.

"The money for the vests came from some grants through the Wheeling Police Department. Chief Robert Matheny was the leader in that effort," said Scatterday.

Derrick Brassieur and his family are newcomers to Wheeling. They moved to the Friendly City from Louisiana a few months ago. For them, the Trail Ambassadors are a welcomed comfort.

"I think it makes people feel a little bit safer in the area. I think it will bring more families out and with my family, I feel pretty comfortable being out here," Brassieur said.

Right now there are currently 100 trail ambassadors, but Scatterday said he expects that number to reach 200 in the near future.