Published: November 14, 2004 12:00 AM, Last Updated: November 13, 2004 4:20 PM

Mary Nelson walks along the southern portion of the Cardinal Greenway. On a recent birthday, she walked the whole length of the trail from the southern most section all the way to Gaston. Kyle Evens

Community of Year: Mom, 67, walks trail to teach kids a lesson

By Seth Slabaugh
seths@thestarpress.com

MUNCIE - When she turned 40, Mary Nelson decided to show her three daughters the importance of exercising when you reach middle age. She began jogging.

Now that her daughters are middle-aged themselves, Nelson is showing them the value of exercising when you reach senior-citizen status. She stretches, lifts weights, and does full-body workouts on a stationary bicycle.

For her 67th birthday, Nelson walked the Cardinal Greenway through Delaware County, from the Henry-County line to Gaston, a distance of 20 miles.

"It was a goal," said Nelson, who lives between Oakville and Luray in rural Henry County. "I just wanted to see what it all looked like."

Her conclusion?

"It's beautiful," she said. "It's a nice, smooth surface, so you're not going to fall. They have rest rooms spaced at pretty good intervals. Everybody I met was congenial. I like the fact it's a rails to trail. My grandfather and great-grandfather worked for the railroad. And the nature part is really wonderful. There were lots of trees and birds."

And it wasn't crowded when Nelson was on the trail. "I saw horses and cows, not many people," she said.

On her first day on the trail (she spread the walk out over several days), Nelson saw a deer 50 feet away. After a staring contest, the deer ran away.

For her birthday last month, Nelson's daughters looked at Cardinal Greenway's wish list, and in honor of their mother bought a picnic table and chairs that will be used at the renovated, century-old Wysor Street Depot, the headquarters of the trail organization.

The daughters, Claudia, 47, Carolyn, 46, and Cathy, 45, are all Muncie Northside High School graduates.

Claudia walks often on trails in Fairfax, Va., where she lives. Carolyn, of Bethlehem, Pa., goes to the gym every day at 5 a.m. Likewise, Cathy, who also lives in Bethlehem, goes to the gym every day at 5 a.m. Cathy also runs several times a week and bikes. She has run in the Boston Marathon and the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C.

"I think I accomplished what I set out to do: setting an example for them to keep physically fit," Nelson said. The benefits include positive thinking, peace of mind and good health, Nelson said.

Thirty miles of Cardinal Greenway have been built: 20 in Delaware, eight in Grant and two in Richmond. Thirty miles remain to be built. The next phase, seven miles between Prairie Creek Reservoir and Losantville, is scheduled to go to bid this winter. That would leave 23 more miles of trail to be constructed from Losantville to Richmond.

When they become senior citizens, maybe Claudia, Carolyn and Cathy will walk the entire 60 miles in honor of their mother - and take her with them.