Shown is Spike Ford, one of the founders of the Syracuse Wawasee Trail Committee and his daughter, Tracey Ford, who was recently named the new executive director of the committee. She takes over Jan. 1 and plans to continue the momentum the committee has had in 2024. Photo by Deb Patterson.

By Lauren Zeugner
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — As 2024 comes to a close, the Syracuse-Wawasee Trails Committee is excited to be heading into 2025 with a new executive director, Tracey Ford.

Ford is no stranger to the area as her family has lived on or near Lake Wawasee since the 1940s. Her dad, Spike Ford, was also one of the founding committee members.

Ford has a background in corporate sales in account management where she did sales strategy, marketing initiatives, key negotiations and even event planning.

In talking to the trails committee, it felt her experience would be a good fit.

“It’s a great time,” she said. “I’m happy for Amanda.”

Amanda Plank, the current executive director, will be taking over an animal rescue in Albion after the first of the year; however, she will remain involved in the trail committee as a member of the fundraising committee.

Ford said her coming to the Syracuse-Wawasee Trails Committee was a very organic process. Her father spearheaded the Mudd Lake Trailhead. While discussing a future trail head with Plank, Ford mentioned to her she was interested in getting more involved in the community. Plank invited her to a trail committee meeting. After learning Ford was looking for a job, Plank suggested the committee talk to her about the job.

Ford noted she has a head for sales and a heart for the trails, just what the committee was looking for to keep the project moving forward.

“It (the trail committee) was a real passion project of my dad,” she said.

Before the trail committee was formed, Spike Ford noticed there was no safe way for residents or visitors to immerse themselves into a different part of the lake.

Because of his passion, having a trail system in the area quickly became a family passion.

Ford herself is an avid trail user, usually with her golden doodle, Gus, who was adopted from New Hope Pet Rescue. She said one of her favorite parts of the trail system is by Conklin Bay where she’ll often see abundant wildlife.

Ford said her plan is to continue the momentum Plank and the committee started in 2024.

“It’s a great committee. I’m looking forward to working with them,” she said.

One thing she’d like to do is take the existing trails to the next level by providing educational touch points, such as signs highlighting native wildlife that live in the area.

She also plans to lean into her dad’s expertise.

“There is a lot of knowledge to be tapped into,” she said.

Noting trails are about connectivity, Ford said she’s already seen how the trails connect residents, but she’s also likes to see them connect the Syracuse-Wawasee trail to other communities.

She’s looking forward to talking with the Syracuse business community about how to improve the existing trail system and where they want the trail to go.

For 2025 the initiative will be the Wawasee South project. Already the trail committee has secured a $250,000 grant from the K21 Health Foundation for phase one

As for her dad, he’s excited to see his daughter give back and grow the community. He believes she can bring a new lens and a new eye to the project.