Kudos to Peter, who finally got recognition for all of his fabulous work on the trail, and in the neighborhood in general, in a recent Main Line Times highlight.  When you see him on the trail (and you will see him on the trail, digging up knotweed taproots in the middle of the day), give him a hug.

Volunteer of the Week

“There are those who are known for saying, in effect, “Not in my back yard!” Peter Brigham is an exception. At a meeting of the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners, he stated loud and clear: “Please in my back yard!”

The issue was the Cynwyd Trail, the lateral 2½-mile park being developed on the unused rail bed in Bala Cynwyd. And when Brigham referred to his back yard, he was being literal, not figurative. His property directly abuts the trail, and it will bring numerous strollers and cyclists very close to his home. He’ll be glad they’re there.

Brigham, a soft-spoken man of 70, doesn’t just talk about the Cynwyd Trail. He puts in the sweat work to make it happen. He’s one of hundreds of volunteers who have contributed several thousand hours clearing brush and debris and planting trees, under the aegis of the Friends of the Cynwyd Heritage Trail. Among the debris that has been cleared, he says, has been a variety of historical artifacts now on display at the Lower Merion Historical Society as well as hundreds of tennis balls from the courts of the Cynwyd Club, near Brigham’s home. Train service — and regular maintenance — ended some 25 years ago.

Brigham continues to speak up at the township commissioners’ meetings, and he serves on the township’s advisory committee for the trail’s development, one of two who informally represent the neighbors on either side of the trail. He also spreads the word among his neighbors about efforts to make the trail a reality — and he knows a number of them better than he did before, thanks to the project. To his pleasant surprise he has encountered very little opposition from those who live along the trail’s route.

The 350-acre park will have two paths, one paved and one of crushed gravel, running parallel in some places and diverging in others. It will run from the Cynwyd train station, the terminus of SEPTA’s R6 line, toward the Schuylkill River, passing the Manayunk Bridge and ending at Belmont Avenue. Planning the trail has included considerations of stormwater and erosion control as well as providing emergency access, safety fencing and privacy fencing where necessary.

Brigham was raised in Pittsfield, Mass., where his mother was a prominent local civic leader who became one of the first female United Way executive directors in the nation. After college, in 1961, he joined the Peace Corps very soon after it was created and was sent to Nigeria, where he taught English, French and Latin, and coached track and soccer. When he returned to the States, he studied community organization at the University of Michigan’s School of Social Work and earned his MSW. In 1973 he began working for the newly formed Burn Foundation of the Greater Delaware Valley (later renamed the Burn Foundation) at the Crozer-Chester Medical Center and six years later was selected as its president. Brigham was a key organizer and early chairman of the Federation of Burn Foundations and is still active in the field. He is also active in the effort to raise public awareness of the toxicity of flame-retardant chemicals that are found in upholstery, insulation, textiles and other products, and have been demonstrated, Brigham says, to harm the developing brain and impair sperm development and thyroid function.

Brigham has four grown stepsons and has lived in Bala Cynwyd for 12 years. He’s active with his church, the Old First Reformed United Church of Christ on 4th and Race streets in Philadelphia.

Volunteer hours contributed in weekend work days are carefully documented in order for the trail to qualify for matching funds from both public and private sources for ongoing maintenance and enhancement of the trail. Details about the recently approved design and Phase I budget for the trail’s development will be presented at the annual meeting of Friends of the Cynwyd Heritage Trail on June 14 at 7:15 p.m. at the Lower Merion Historical Society on Bryn Mawr Avenue next to the Bala Cynwyd Middle School.

Though he’s dedicated to the trail, Brigham is quick to emphasize that he is not a key player in the project, and names several who have been more instrumental in organizing it. He also points out that though the trail will abut his back yard, volunteers have come from throughout Lower Merion Township and beyond to help out.”

link:http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2010/06/02/main_line_times/life/doc4c068dfd19175996789740.txt