MOUNT JEWETT — Members of the Mount Jewett to Kinzua Bridge Trail Club met Thursday night at the Mount Jewett Memorial Library to discuss the future of the club following the removal of the Knox/Kane rails that stretched between Mount Jewett and the Kinzua Bridge State Park.

During the meeting, club chairwoman Carolyn Stroup said, “Since the rails are gone now, we need to find a purpose for our club. I’d like to see it stay.”

The six club members in attendance didn’t dispute Stroup’s comment and added similar sentiments as the meeting went on, citing the need to draw people into the Mount Jewett area and to the newly finished Kinzua Bridge visitor center.

Some options tossed around include building hiking trails along the Knox/Kane corridor to supplement the user experience, mapping surrounding trails and designating their use, acting as a liaison for private landowners to ensure their rights were understood and the land was used to its maximum benefit; and possibly taking on the stretch of corridor from Mount Jewett to Lantz Corners.

Stroup asked that members think about the club’s purpose for discussion at the next trail club meeting.

During a review of the club’s financials, treasurer Gerri Alexis asked members to think of fresh fundraising ideas.

“What we need is a super-colossal fundraising idea. We really need to raise some funds,” she said.

Several ideas were raised including raffling a bike during one of the area festivals or hosting some sort of event.

“Mount Jewett has a wonderful opportunity here with the trail and visitor center,” she said. “We need to get others involved and get the word out there like some of the other communities are doing with their sections of the corridor.”

The next meeting of the Mount Jewett to Kinzua Bridge Trail club will start at 7 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Mount Jewett Memorial Library. For more information, visit www.mj2kb.org.