Friends and neighbors of George Pauly gathered with Chatham County government staff and officials Friday afternoon by the soccer fields at Northeast District Park. The group stood at the edge of the woods, facing a new natural surface trail packed down among the trees and remembered the environmental advocate.
When Pauly died of a heart attack in March 2021 at his Grace Avenue home, his circle of peers were stunned to lose him. The 64-year-old retired chemist had spent years volunteering with the Haw River Assembly, Chatham County’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, Triangle Land Conservancy and the North Carolina Botanical Garden. In his death, Pauly left behind a substantial gift to the Haw River Assembly — and the nonprofit partnered with the Chatham County government to find a way to honor him at the park he helped create.
The George Pauly Trail is a 0.3 mile course around the soccer field, ending at a pond and a wildflower meadow that, in the future, will bloom several species. The hike does not take very long, but it allows people to walk in the woods on a relatively natural terrain — with part of Jordan Lake just yards away and the trail nearly overlapping with the existing paved quarter-mile path in the park.
Before the group ventured onto the maiden hike along the trail, Elaine Chiosso — the long-time executive director of the Haw River Assembly and who worked closely with Pauly when he was volunteering with the nonprofit — shared some memories of Pauly. She read aloud some of his own words about protecting natural spaces and shared how he had a habit of going above and beyond to help out the nonprofit.
“He was the head of the river watch monitoring team on the Haw River at the U.S. Highway 64 bridge,” Chiosso told Chapelboro. “He bought extra equipment we didn’t even have so that he could do a better job getting results from the monitoring. He was also part of our Learning Celebration program for fourth graders, where we bring out 1,000 kids every year, so he was part of that as well. And as a board member, he was very conscientious… I mean, that’s what you want: you want a board member that cares about the organization, who reads everything, has ideas, contributes. And that was George, too.”
Elaine Chiosso (middle left) and Ben Rippe (middle right) cut open the ribbon at the head of the George Pauly Trail on Friday, May 8. (Photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
George Pauly, 64. (Photo via Donaldson Funeral Home.)
Chiosso said the idea of a trail was not laid out in Pauly’s will — but it felt like a natural choice based on his past advocacy.
“I had talked to him a little when this park was becoming something and it was clearly going to be a lot of recreation [components],” Chiosso said. “But after he died, I remember talking with Tracey Burnett, who’s the head of Parks and Rec in Chatham County, and she knew him pretty well because he’d been on the [advisory] committee. And I remember her saying that that was something we’d like to [do]. And it just made so much sense, because the people who live on Grace Avenue…they’re right up against it. Just a little short jog, and they’re on the trail. George would’ve loved it.”
Similarly, the trail building itself did not take too long to get done. Chatham County Trail and Open Spaces Coordinator Ben Rippe, who helped lead Friday’s ribbon-cutting, said his department worked with Black Diamond Design Inc. to create the project and the contractor worked for less than two months to clear and dig out the trail. Rippe said it is the first of many trail extensions or expansions he is working on throughout the parks system, with the goal of further connecting the community and providing walking options through a trail network.
“It’s absolutely special and significant in multiple ways,” Rippe said of Pauly’s funding. “Not only did he help to create this park, he left a legacy so that people can enjoy it for [years] to come. I think it’s really brilliant he had the foresight to do that, and that Haw River Assembly was willing to work with us to make this a reality.”
People walk along the George Pauly Trail in Chatham County’s Northeast District Park after its ribbon-cutting ceremony. (Photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
Chiosso said she believes having the trail so close to Pauly’s Grace Avenue home and neighbors is a special way to honor the conservationist. And, she added, the style of the trail will be another legacy for anyone to engage with when they enter the forest.
“I think the reason we wanted this trail was there aren’t always enough places for people to just walk in nature,” she said. “This kind of a trail we just walked on… you’re really in nature. You’re very aware of your surroundings and hopefully people will occasionally get a glimpse of an owl or some little critter scampering off. Chances are, you might get to see something. And then to get to go through the wildflower meadow and to see these beautiful plants…
“A lot of it’s just… we kind of hope people are inspired when they’re out in nature to want to protect it,” Chiosso concluded.
Just like Northeast District Park, the George Pauly Trail is open and accessible to community members 24/7. More details about Chatham County parks, including the facility use policy, can be found on the county government’s website.
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