Trail Moments | Growing With RTC: Four Decades of Support
Each issue of Rails to Trails magazine, we highlight a member or special partner in our national trail community. Recently, we connected with Sally Olds, who has supported RTC and America’s trails for four decades!
What I Do
I’m 96 years old, and for over 25 years, I’ve volunteered in the greenhouse at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
My Favorite Outdoor Activity
I try to get in a good walk every day for exercise. I live in Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan, and there is a nice park along the lake nearby for walking.
“I firmly believe in the fact that people should get out and keep moving.”
— Sally Olds, Rails to Trails, Winter 2002
Why I Joined RTC
Forty years ago, I saw a small notice in a magazine inviting people to join a new organization that planned to turn abandoned railroad tracks into trails. Since I often rode my bike around my neighborhood, I was curious about the idea and signed up right away. I was captivated by the thought of riding without traffic worries and having fun exploring new areas.
My Favorite Rail-Trail
My favorite rail-trail is the Green Bay Trail that runs many miles north from Chicago. The trail was a major part of my usual route to the botanic garden, although I occasionally rode farther north on it. It eliminated traffic in several of the suburbs along the way.
This article was originally published in the Spring-Summer 2026 issue of Rails to Trails magazine and has been reposted here in an edited format. Subscribe to read more articles about remarkable trails while also supporting our work.
A Special Trail Experience
Many years ago during a very hot and dry summer, I was on my way to the botanic garden on the Green Bay Trail when I encountered a woman watering some plants along the sides of the trail. I felt sorry for her working in the heat and stopped to chat. She explained that she was part of a new organization in her neighborhood improving the vegetation along the trail. Impressed with her determination, I gave her the $10 I had with me. After that meeting, I continued over several years to encounter her working along that same trail; their organization had grown to consist of dozens of her neighbors continuing to enhance the trail.
How Trails Impact Communities
I think the work on the Green Bay Trail is a perfect example of how people can benefit. I have watched for many years as residents started to work together on a project that not only did a great job of improving their community but created a group of people who found they enjoyed working together.
Why I Support RTC
In the beginning, I supported RTC because I was interested in seeing it accomplish a few trails on some of the abandoned routes. As the years passed, I began to watch in amazement at the progress RTC was making. How could RTC actually create a trail all the way across the country, for example? I don’t think I’ll be around to watch for 40 more years, but I believe I should help as long as possible. I owe it to that little magazine item 40 years ago.
Excerpt from a Winter 2002 Rails to Trails story by Ed Hensley
Sally Olds describes herself as “practical.” At 72, she finds it practical to keep riding her bike. “Just because I’m getting older is no reason to hang up my bicycle. In fact, it may be all the more reason to keep it going. I firmly believe in the fact that people should get out and keep moving.”
A regular at annual Rails to Trails Conservancy’s Trailblazer Society excursion rides, Olds bicycles routinely both on streets and on the nearby Green Bay and North Branch trails, which she uses several times a week in summer to get to the Chicago Botanic Garden. She finds herself seeking the trails more these days. “There are some areas where I used to ride in the street, and I don’t anymore because of the traffic.”
She’s not sure of the origin of her desire to be fit and active. After she retired, she was simply “antsy.” Bicycling worked on many levels: “I don’t do it because I have to. I like to ride.”
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