Indiana's Griffin Bike Park honors fallen son

After U.S. Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin was killed Oct. 27, 2009, when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, his parents went through a grieving process. Then Gene and Dona Griffin wanted to do something to both honor their son and keep his legacy alive.

The first idea was to build and name a biking trail for Dale at a park near where he grew up. But that idea expanded into what is now one of the premiere bike trail parks in the entire Midwest.

Griffin Bike Park, located in the former wilderness area of Fowler Park, was dedicated in October 2016, with attendees including then-Indiana Governor and current Vice President Mike Pence. The 300-acre park is named for Dale but honors all Indiana natives killed since 9/11. A bronze memorial honors Dale, while signs adorned with the faces, ages and dates of other Indiana KIAs adorn just inside the entrance of the park and on the path leading up to Dale’s memorial.

The park features a 16-mile trail system that includes seven specialized riding areas, and 10 national-level racing and competition areas. Gene said the park already has had 40,000 visitors since it opened.

The idea behind the park started around five years ago when Gene and Dona – after a couple years of “getting through” their son’s death, Gene said – kept remembering when Dale told them he was going to join the military.

“Dale joined the service … because he wanted to make a difference,” Gene said. “We shared a couple of other options with him, but we weren’t going to change his mind. That idea of making a difference has been in our hearts through our lives and in the things that we’ve done anyway.

“We started thinking ‘What can we do to honor Dale?’ We have a scholarship fund for him, and we’ve probably given out 25 scholarships in the local high schools. One of the things we did before he deployed was bike in Brown County (Ind.). We’re avid mountain bikers. He used to ride out here… when it was horse trails.”

Gene said he and Dona had talked about putting a trail in Fowler Park but knew it would be a challenge because the park already was a horse trail park. When he shared the idea with a family friend – stressing it was only a thought in its earliest stages – it eventually made its way to Vigo County Park and Recreation Department Superintendent Kara Kish.

Gene said he was told by his friend that it was time to either “skate or get off the ice.” So Gene later introduced himself to Kish, who said she’d also been thinking of a bike trail for two years. Plans for a feasibility study were discussed, as well as the process it would take to make it happen. But when Kish was on a park superintendents' trip a few weeks later, she happened to meet up with Nat Lopes, the owner of Hilride Progression Development Group. Lopes is internationally known as a trail and bike park designer, and Kish shared Gene’s idea with him.

Lopes took a look at the land where the proposed trail was going to be placed and a few weeks later called Kish to ask where they were in the process. He then offered to fly in, at his own expense, to look at the area in person.

“He spends three days here,” Gene said. “He said, ‘I’ve got a question for you. Do you want a bike trail out there, or do you want a destination?’ He said, ‘I’ve been to every state in the country on bike business. I’ve been in 12 provinces in Canada and in 15 different countries, and you guys have got it. Do you want to do it?’”

From there, the plans went from a bike trail to a bike park. The idea passed the Vigo County Park Board, and Lopes was hired to serve as project manager. The park’s advisory committee Legacy Project applied for and received Bicentennial Legacy Project status from the state.

When word spread that the park would honor Dale – a man whose memorial service took place on Veterans Day in a high school and was attended by more than 1,000 people – donations poured in, both in dollars and volunteer hours. A total of 90 sponsors made up of corporations, organizations, and state and government entities have donated $1.4 million, and more than 1,200 volunteers donated in excess of 20,000 volunteer hours. No tax dollars were used for the construction of the park.

Gene said there’s a simple explanation for why the park had such strong support. “There’s no way to tell this story to people without them wanting to be a part of it,” he said. “They know they’re making a difference.”

Dona said that Dale was a kind of person who “would be wondering what all the fuss is about. But he would be thankful that we had a project that we could come together on as friends and family and work through our grief.”

That Griffin Bike Park will be around for future generations to experience is special to Gene and Dona. “It’s just something we need to remember,” Gene said. “Unless you have an opportunity … to come to places that honor (fallen military) in this manner, you are going to forget it.

“We’ve won the liberty lottery in this country. As a lottery winner, 85 percent are going to be in worse shape 24 months later because they’re going to not know what the price is for that kind of success, and they’re going to go into coast mode. We’ve done that with our freedom in this country.”