Memorial to Ike Heign dedicated Sept. 19, 2018
![]() |
The Heign family with memorial stone: Greg, Bob, Mary Lou, Randy and Jeff. The memorial is located along the Pumpkinvine, 100 yards south of Sun Rise Lane.
|
Jim Smith |
<![endif]–>We were there to purchase what we called “the Heign property.” The “Heign property” was not a big parcel of land. It was part of the old railroad corridor that ran through Middlebury and was about one acre in size, a long, skinny piece of real estate which started at Sunrise Lane and extended south about a quarter of a mile. But it was huge to us! Without this 33-foot wide parcel, the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail would pass through the million-dollar US 20 tunnel, go past “That Pretty Place” and end with a whimper about here, in the middle of nowhere. We really needed that piece of land; without it, there was no obvious way to build a trail through Middlebury. But of course, we did not want to look or sound desperate as we made an offer to purchase the “Heign property.”
Heign family with memorial stone: Greg, Bob, Mary Lou, Randy and Jeff. The memorial is located along the Pumpkinvine, 100 yards south of Sun Rise Lane. |
<![endif]–>
After the signing, I worried from time to time about how we could be sure that that condition, that promise, penciled onto the bottom of our Purchase Agreement, would be fulfilled. Six years later, I left the Pumpkinvine Board. Then in 2013, the corridor, to include the Heign property, was transferred to the Middlebury Park Board and the trail was built. And life went on. Then, just a few days ago, a call came to me from John Yoder. I was delighted to learn that after some 13 years, that handwritten promise at the bottom of the purchase agreement was to become reality.