Marshall County Connection board member Randy Brown, Marysville, took a large set of scissors and snipped the ribbon held by Marysville Chamber of Commerce members at the trailhead of the Blue River Rail Trail Saturday as adults and children applauded.

About 100 people gathered for a barbecue lunch to celebrate the grand opening of the first two miles of the picturesque rail trail, built on a former Union Pacific railbed along the Big Blue River.

Many had already participated in the inaugural run/walk that drew more than 80 participants from downtown Marysville up Seventh and Eighth streets onto the trail.

Brown, a local physician, said he’s obviously pleased the trail can contribute to healthy lifestyles. But he also hopes it will help promote tourism to the area and encourage appreciation of nature.

Board members for Marshall County Connection, the support group developing the trail, welcomed members of the Nebraska Trails Foundation to Saturday’s lunch.

The foundation helped acquire the land a few years ago that would become the rail trail, a 13-mile stretch from just north of Marysville to the Nebraska line.

Ross Greathouse, Lincoln, a founding member of the Nebraska foundation, praised local residents who took on the task of re-building bridges and grading and surfacing the initial two miles of the path with crushed limestone.

“They’ve really done an outstanding job,” Greathouse said.

The red-roofed covered bridge, he said, should prove an attraction to the trail. The bridge is about eight-tenths of a mile from the trailhead.

Greathouse said the only way to get to the covered bridge is to walk down the trail.

“There’s such a great bit of forestry and wildlife, what a great alley that is to walk down,” he said.

The linear park, Greathouse said, could be a “tremendous outdoor classroom” for area science, history and fitness teachers.

“They ought to do research on the trees and identify some of them from an age standpoint,” he said. “I’m guessing there’s some 100-year-old cottonwoods out there.”

Private donations and foundation grants paid for the work and materials. Marshall County Connection continues to solicit local donations for the trail’s continued development.

A $15,000 gift from Ed Lincoln, Wichita, whose family has supported trails in Kansas and Nebraska, will allow for the next few miles to be developed soon, Greathouse said.

The local group’s plan is to continue the work in two- to three-mile stretches each year, Brown said, until it reaches Nebraska. Group members also hope to eventually extend the trail along the former rail bed to downtown Marysville.

Greathouse said Nebraska trails groups continue work on a trails system they hope someday will run from Marysville to Omaha.

Currently the Homestead Trail starts in Beatrice and runs toward Lincoln, with a section yet to be finished between Pickrell and Courtland. Railbed still must be acquired south from Beatrice, Greathouse said, to create the link with Kansas.

“The Nebraska Trails Foundation only buys the land, but it doesn’t build the trails,” he said. “Our goal is to get a local entity to build them. . .We still must find an owner for the part south of Beatrice. When could that get done? Four to five years.”

He is optimistic, noting the entire Nebraska trails system began with 3.5 miles and now includes more than 600. The trail between Lincoln and Omaha still lacks completion of about 16 miles in the 60-mile stretch.

“Three to four years and it should be done,” Greathouse said. “Within 10 years maybe we’ll have a trail from Marysville to Omaha. So instead of spending all that money on gas, you take your bike to Omaha.”