I first met Bruce and Karen Bellenir at one of the first meetings of the Friends of High Bridge Trail State Park. That was over five years ago and this energetic couple is still going strong. They’ve taken their volunteer efforts to new heights by looking at the stars for ways to introduce visitors to the wonder of the night skies above High Bridge.

Bruce and Karen Bellenir sharing a quiet moment on High Bridge Trail

Bruce is the president of the Friends of High Bridge Trail and Karen writes a highly professional newsletter for the group. Bruce and Karen both have a strong passion for astronomy. They both team up to put on all the Astronomy programs offered at High Bridge Trail State Park. High Bridge is an excellent place for sky programs, with a dark, wide horizon only to be rivaled by some western landscapes, but the logistics and hours involved are difficult. 

Bruce adjusts his telescope for a park astronomy program on the trail

At our last astronomy program, “Deep Sky Treasures of Late Summer”, Bruce and Karen led 69 visitors on a journey of the sky, which included a laser sky tour, and sightings of globular clusters and far away galaxies. They will perform two Astronomy programs on High Bridge in September, and one more in December coinciding with a meteor shower.

Governor McAuliffe met with the Friends of High Bridge Trail during his visit to the park

Bruce and Karen are very familiar with publishing and copyright issues, and were instrumental in making the book, "High Bridge: The End of Our Fifteen Months' Labor” a completely successful venture for the Friends of High Bridge Trail by guiding and advising the authors through the project.

Karen talks with State Park Director Craig Seaver and Governor McAuliffe at a recent Friends of High Bridge Trail luncheon in honor of the Governor and his family

Bruce and Karen are avid cyclists on High Bridge Trail and Bruce has volunteered for many hours on the construction of two exciting single track mountain bike trails designed and built by another great volunteer, Brian Burnside. Furthermore, Bruce has played a key role in keeping an area of tree plantings alive for many months during droughts until the native red cedars became well established. Bruce and Karen are often seen on our trail, and greet everyone with smiling faces and positive outlooks.

Its volunteers like Bruce and Karen and their numerous hours of volunteering that make our state parks a success. We thank Bruce and Karen for their service and dedication.

If you are interested in volunteering at High Bridge Trail State Park or becoming a member of their Friends group, click here or send an email to the park. 

Contributions to this article we made by Jonathon Jackson, Craig Guthrie and Zoe Rogers