Service honored

On May 14, Bob Rusch was recognized for 50 years of outstanding volunteer service for the Ice Age Trail Alliance.

The Ice Age Trail is 1200 miles long and showcases the landscape left behind by glaciers from more than 12,000 years ago, per the Ice Age Trail Alliance. About 700 miles of the trail is complete at this time.

Rusch moved to the area in 1972, when he was elected District Attorney of Taylor County. His volunteer work for the Ice Age Trail began in 1974. He notes that the Ice Age Trail building effort “started out with so very little.” To recruit trail builders in the 70s, Rusch turned to “young people who were interested in improving their village” from the Rib Lake Chapter of the U.S. Junior Chamber of Com- See RUSCH on page 13 merce. Additionally, Rusch secured funding for the construction of the Ice Age Trail from the county board and helped lay out Taylor County segments, using his legal skills to work with landowners to establish trail easements.

Since beginning his volunteer work in the 1970s, Rusch has helped the Ice Age Trail Alliance “grow up into an effective and productive organization.” Presently, there are 87.2 miles of the Ice Age Trail in Taylor County, which is the most of any county in Wisconsin. Ice Age Trail Alliance staff and volunteers like Rusch are the driving force for this progress.

At this point in his volunteer career, Rusch most values “the people, camaraderie, and friendship” associated with the Ice Age Trail. He enjoys meeting new people on the trail and appreciates those alongside him who made the trail possible.