City to honor philanthropist, volunteer Dave Belew
Trail along Great Miami River to be renamed for him.
HAMILTON — Biking has been something Dave Belew did as a kid when his family lived in Falmouth, Kentucky.
It didn’t stop when he and his family moved to Hamilton when he was a fifth-grader because, as he joked, “my bike came with me.”
“We’ve always enjoyed biking,” he said of his fam- ily, which later included his late wife, Marge, and kids. He eventually got a two-person bike for Marge and himself.
The 3,000 or so miles he’s likely ridden on the asphalt of the Great Miami River Trail could earn the former Beckett Paper Co. president naming rights for the trail. But it’s because of his work getting the trail built that Hamilton City Council — upon request by the Hamilton Community Foundation — agreed in November to bestow the honorary naming of Hamilton’s section of the Great Miami River Trail, from Joyce Park to Rentschler Forest, the Dave L. Belew Trail.
Those who led the charge to get the naming honor called Belew “a driving force” in getting the trail built. He said that term may be “strong,” but does not deny his leadership and effort.
“I worked hard,” said the 92-year-old resident at Westo- ver Retirement Community in Hamilton. “We had a lot of hurdles to overcome,” which included many trips to Columbus.
Belew was chairman of the Hamilton Community Foundation board in 2001 (he served on the board of trustees from 1961 to 1994 and 1995 to 2003), during the 50th anniversary year. The trail expansion was one of the four gifts the foundashine, at the Fitton Center on South Monument Avenue. RSVPs are being requested for attendance, which can be done by emailing the foundation’s director of Donor Services, Jacob Stone-Welch, at jstone@hamiltonfoundation.org by Friday.
“Without Dave’s tireless work, the northern extension of the trail would not exist,” said Stone-Welch. “Not only did he advocate for the trail to pass through Hamilton since its conception, he also continually led and supported efforts to complete it.”
“It is because of these efforts that Hamilton is a bit more beautiful than it was before,” Stone-Welch said.
The Dave L. Belew Trail is along the Great Miami River Trail, which is more than 90 miles from Waterworks Park in Fairfield to the rear of Graceland Cemetery in Sidney. The GMRT is part of the larger Miami Valley Regional Trail network, which provides access to more than 350 miles of paved trails.