Family donates funds for bike shelter in honor of rider Mark Call
When longtime Hutchinson resident Mark Call would telephone his mother in California to give her updates on his life, he frequently talked about gardening, sports and riding the bike trails in Hutchinson, recalled his brother, Greg Call.
“She liked to hear about his bicycling experiences,” Greg said. “So, after he passed, she asked ‘What can I do to keep Mark on the trail,’ to keep his memory alive.”
Greg, who also lived and rode bikes in Hutchinson for many years before moving back to California, reached out to Bob Updegraff of Harley’s Bicycles, who went to the Vitality Team of Reno County. They came up with the idea of a dedicated shelter for cyclists on the trail.
Steel for the new structure, which will mark a trailhead of the Jim P. Martinez Sunflower Trail in Rice Park, is going up this week.
The project, which the Call family is naming “Mark’s Respite,” is just south of the Rice Park shelter building, on the Martinez trail.
Celebration of the trail shelter
While it won’t be complete by this weekend, Greg Call will fly in from California, and members of the Vitality Team of Reno County will host a memorial ride in Call’s honor on Saturday.
The event will feature two guided rides.
One of 12 miles, starting at 8 am, will head northwest out of the park up Hendricks Street and on some county roads, circling back to the park, said Hutchinson Recreation Director Tony Finlay.
The other, a six-mile ride starting at 8:30, will follow the Martinez trail to Carey Park and back.
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A ribbon-cutting with refreshments is scheduled at 9 am at the shelter site in Rice Park after the rides.
The event is free and open to the public. Residents should meet at the Rice Park Community Building, 44 Swarens St.
Mark Call moved here in the mid-1970s, after finishing college, to work at Western Foods. It was owned by his grandfather, NH Benscheidt. Both he and Greg Call worked there until the plant shut down.
“He was an original member of a bicycle club years ago, the Hutchinson Headwinds,” Greg Call said. “They rode a lot back in the day. But life happens, and he quit riding for a long time. He started picking up riding again in 2008. He’d go 20 or 30 miles, mostly along trails, and he’d do hot laps in Carey Park. “
When visiting home in California, he’d borrow a bike and they’d often go to bike races, Greg Call said.
“He wasn’t what I’d call a hard-core rider,” said Greg Call, who himself rides 3,000 to 4,000 miles a year. “But he liked to ride.”
Mark died Oct. 12, 2020, at age 66.
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A bicycle repair station and charging station
Along with the family’s $ 18,000 donation, another donor is covering the cost of concrete, and the park department, besides providing land and labor, is adding a drinking fountain and small picnic table at the site.
Hutch Rec is also funding a bicycle repair station similar to three others around town, including air and tools to make minor bicycle repairs, Finlay said.
“With the donation they made, we were able to purchase a 16-by-16 steel picnic shelter,” said Hutchinson Parks Director Justin Combs.
Made by Coverworx Recreational Architecture of Warren, Michigan, it’s relatively easy to install but will take several phases of work, Combs said.
“It will primarily serve as a trailhead and place for bicyclists if they want to sit and cool off in the shade,” Combs said. “I don’t anticipate families will bring their picnic lunch to sit and eat there. There are other shelters in the park for that. This is to serve trial users who are cycling or jogging or walking. ”
It will be the third such shelter on the Martinez trail, Combs said. The others are in Carey Park and between Woodie Seat and Avenue A.
They plan to run electricity to the site, Combs said, to install security lights and have a public charging station.
Once the steel frame is up, crews will install sidewalks and a concrete pad, and then attach the roof.
“We need the pad for the scissor lift to hang the roof,” he said. “It’s an all-steel roof. The construction is a little backward. ”
With favorable weather, they hope to have the project completed in three to four weeks, Combs said
“We have another shelter very similar to this (construction-wise) at Vic Goering Park, and we’ll be working on them side-by-side. We’ll pour the pad for one and then for the other, put the roof on one and then on the other. “
The shelter in Vic Goering Park, 1801 James St., is a 20-by-30 picnic shelter started last fall, he said.
Neither Combs nor Finlay ever met Call but both appreciate the family’s donation and Call’s love of cycling.
“We’re very happy about the partnership with the Call family and Hutch Rec. They’ve done a lot of work to see the project to fruition, ”Combs said.