May 11, 2015 3 min read

Frank Ludwin didn’t own a pet canine, but at an annual Montour Trail fundraiser open to both dogs and their humans, he typically could be found, in white chef’s hat and apron, grilling hot dogs to feed the hungry after their jaunt to and from Hendersonville.

No one knew last year’s 10th annual “Tails for Trails” would be Ludwin’s last; he died Dec. 20 at age 81. But the Cecil Friends of the Montour Trail are paying tribute to him by naming the June 6, event the “Frank Ludwin Memorial Tails for Tail 5K Fun Dog Walk.”

Those who gather that morning at the Kurnick Trailhead along Cecil-Henderson Road in the shadow of a Quonset hut-style garage might not know that if not for Ludwin, the garage and many other improvements along the trail might never have been built.

“He did a lot, yes,” said his widow, Rose Lauff Ludwin. “He did a lot for the trail. He did a lot for so many.”

Ludwin operated heavy equipment, welded and developed a mechanism for a drag-and-roller combination that could be attached to a tractor. Dennis Sims, former board member, wrote in the January/February edition of the Montour Trail newsletter this piece of equipment “was so popular, he built two for the Youghiogheny River Trail. … Over the years, he would lead the charge on resurfacing the trail where needed. He would go anywhere on the trail, South Park, Bethel Park, Cecil, Mt. Pleasant and the airport area. Eventually, the trail would get its own fleet of dump trucks, tractors and equipment for trail maintenance.”

The dog walk, which coincides with the American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day, begins at 9 a.m. June 6 near the 632-foot tunnel at 259 Cecil-Henderson Road. In 2008, when the tunnel was paved, Ludwin quipped it was “the best paving job no one is ever going to see.”

Walkers, joggers and runners proceed to the Tandem Connection bicycle shop near the bridge over Morganza Road and turn around.

People can be found any day of the year walking their dogs on the trail, but the organizers of Tails for Trails strive for a festival atmosphere until noon with vendors featuring pet-related products; food, beverages and sweets for the participants at the conclusion of the walk; a Chinese Auction; door prizes; and a professional photographer who will take pictures of participants and their four-legged furry friends.

Registration forms are available at several locations on and near the trail and online at www.montourtrail.org. They can be returned to Cecil Friends of the Montour Trail, Tails for Trails XI, 547 Winesap Drive, Bridgeville, PA 15017-3219. The registration fee is $10 for one dog and $16 for two dogs by May 18, after which the registration fee will be $12 a dog.

More information is available by calling Sims at 412-496-4308.

The walk takes place rain or shine, Sims said, and has a limit of about 100 participants due to the capacity of the trail and the parking area.

Proceeds from the dog walk will go toward a project near and dear to Ludwin’s heart, the Southpointe Connector, a part of which between Montour Trail and Klinger Park will be named after him, according to a resolution approved by his colleagues on the Cecil Township Board of Supervisors. The trail will then continue along Reserve Drive and along Klinger Road into Southpointe.