Community raises thousands of dollars for greenway

Organizers are calling the tenth annual Riverfest a success, as hundreds of people came out this weekend to celebrate one of the last big events of summer, raising tens of thousands of dollars for the Pocatello Greenway Foundation in the process.

Riverfest has been raising funds for the greenway for 10 years, the same amount of time that Eliah Roberts, Ryan Costello and Takoda Pepper have been alive. Their lack of experience isn’t holding them back; for them the celebration was a huge success.

“We’ve been here for a couple like, 20 or 30 minutes and we bought some Italian sodas, some cotton candy and I won a couple games,” Eliah said. She said shewas happy to partake in the fundraiser because she thinks the greenway definitely deserves more money.

“I think it’s beautiful, ’cause one time I was there with my sister and we saw a hawk, and then we were looking in the water and we were feeding the ducks, and then we saw some beavers and stuff, it was so cool,” she said.

Her enthusiasm is good news for the future of the greenway and for Portneuf Greenway Foundation Director Tamara Code.

“I want people to come and have a good time,” she said.

Code said Riverfest has undergone some changes, like moving the celebration to Raymond Park this year, but is still integral to adding more lines to the greenway map.

“We’re actually developing some trails up above Satterfield Drive and — it’s not Chubbuck Road yet but it will be someday — down there, and also along I-15, we’re trying to get some trails down there so we can use them as commuter trails,” she said.

And the community wants to see the trails happen, said Pocatello Rotary Club President Keeven Shropshire.

“The greenway is an up-and-coming system that I think most communities would be extremely proud with what has been generated with the trail — greenway system here in Pocatello. And we really want to get that completed,” he said.

Eliah is also hoping it gets completed, and cleaned up, so she can keep enjoying the greenway for years to come.

“I feel kind of bad because it’s so polluted that someday there’s not going to be that much stuff in there no more,” she said.

The Pocatello Greenway Foundation will be holding public meetings to discuss new trails in November.