TAOPI -- The only thing in dispute Saturday was braggin' rights.

Does the Shooting Star Recreation Trail go from LeRoy to Taopi or does it go from Taopi to LeRoy?

In other words, which town would you make a destination?

If all goes well, the friendly dispute will grow to two more Prairie Visions communities: Adams and Rose Creek and then Austin.

Right now, the trail across Mower County is a you-can't-get-there-from-here situation.

That makes Saturday's ribbon-cutting at Taopi so special. A 9 1/2-mile stretch of the biking and hiking trail has been completed.

The $580,000 segment brings the estimated total costs of the trail to more than $800,000.

Federal funding for 80 percent of the extension from Taopi to Adams has been secured and if all goes well, the trail will stretch into Adams a year from now. After that, it is anybody's guess how far the trail will go, given the state's budget crisis and increasing demands upon state bonding bill monies.

After working so hard for so long, the Prairie Visions volunteers had reason to celebrate Saturday.

"It's great to see the successful efforts of people working together," observed Leo Reding, the former state legislator, who was instrumental in helping Prairie Visions obtain early funding for the ambitious project.

A small crowd assembled along the abandoned railroad right-of-way between the Lester and Herb Kiefer farms south of Minnesota Highway 56 in Taopi to cut a ribbon, making the trail extension "official."

Jim Kiefer, mayor of Taopi, welcomed everyone to the late-afternoon ceremonies. Earlier in the day, Kiefer headed a delegation of Taopi city officials, who cleaned up along the trail in the Taopi city limits.

Kiefer praised Prairie Visions, as well as Mower County and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, for their efforts. He was the first to single out Prairie Visions volunteer Gerald Meier, who was being "instrumental" in the success of the project.

The trail enters Taopi from the east, crossing what was once Goose Lake, going under Minnesota Highway 56 via a tunnel and near historic Wood Lawn Cemetery, then across a bridge and down the path trains once took into the tiny community.

Eileen Hutchins, president of Prairie Visions, said the trail project is an "example of what rural communities can do by working together."

The trail project was undertaken eight years ago by the four communities -- Rose Creek, Adams, Taopi and LeRoy -- who entered into a joint ventures agreement to promote the quality of life in their areas along Minnesota Highway 56, a designated Scenic Byway in Minnesota.

Hutchins also praised Meier, who along with his wife, Margie, are among the biggest boosters of life on the prairie in Mower County.

When Gerald Meier was introduced, he assumed his typical "Aw shucks" attitude. "People give me more credit than I deserve," he said.

Mower County and state officials also spoke, extolling the trail's impact on the communities and countryside around.

The trail, ranging from 8- to 10-feet wide is a smooth, asphalt-surface trail that begins at the north city limits of LeRoy. A trailhead there will include parking lot, picnic and restroom facilities on 4 1/2 acres of property north of the LeRoy-Ostrander Public Schools' elementary school playground.

The trail then runs for two miles through Lake Louise State Park before heading westward along Minnesota Highway 56, the designated wildflower route and on to Taopi.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at

lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com