A $1-million donation has been earmarked for trails in Kalona. At their recent meeting, the Kalona City Council accepted the donation from the Shiloh Committee. The walking and biking trail will connect the Kalona City Park and the Southtown Recreational Area, which features a playground, dog park, and splashpad. Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh explains, “We are well underway on the planning and hopefully in the near-future the design phase to make that a reality. So we’re very excited about the generous gift from Shiloh, who we’ve partnered with on the acquisition of land and subdivision that’s currently Northridge and all the successes out there, and we had a park come online in the fall and we’ll do a grand opening in the spring for that. And it’s just been kind of a whirlwind out there and we’re excited to have some resources to be able to put towards a project that’s been on a lot of people’s minds for a while.”

The committee’s donation also provided funds for a food pantry and an endowment in honor of Dave Tornow for a scholarship for students pursuing careers in the trades.