The journey to a new trail loop connecting Neenah and Menasha got a little shorter today when the Community Foundation announced a $150,000 grant from the Frank C. Shattuck Community Fund.

Frank C. Shattuck

The $3.2 million project built off of the Friendship Trail trestle also received a $200,000 matching gift from Community First Credit Union and a $100,000 tourism grant from the Fox Cities Convention and Visitor Bureau at a news conference held by Future Neenah. The three gifts combined with a  stewardship grant for the state Department of Natural Resources and other contributions put the project less than $1 million from its goal.

President and CEO Curt Detjen announces a $150,000 gift from the Frank C. Shattuck Community Fund.

The grant is a perfect example of how a charitable fund at the Community Foundation allows someone to leave a lasting legacy. Frank Shattuck died more than 15 years ago, but his gift to the community managed by the Community Foundation continues on to support causes he cared about.

Frank was an avid sailor and cared deeply about the Neenah-Menasha area. We are very happy to be able to pay forward the debt Frank felt to the quality of life he experienced here. An architect and active philanthropist, Frank was a descendant of one of the founders of Kimberly Clark Corp.

“Loop the Little Lake” will create a 3.3-mile loop to include the trestle trail and new trestles to be built from the east end of Neenah’s Arrowhead Park near the Plexus headquarters across to River Street, and from Menasha’s Mathewson Street to the trail at Broad Street.

That 5k distance will attract as many as six new race events to the Fox Cities, according to the Convention and Visitors Bureau. From our standpoint, the important result will be an even higher quality of life for people looking to live and work here. The project is to be completed in 2017.

We wish Neenah and Menasha and the fund drive led by the nonprofit Future Neenah the best. We know Frank Shattuck would have thought it was a good idea for the community.

Curt Detjen is President and CEO of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region.