by Steve Murphy
In 2008, my bike favorite ride was from Morrow to Corwin. Once in Corwin I went straight to the Corwin Peddler to sit on the porch and watch the world go by.
At that time the Corwin Peddler was run by the Copples, Simeon and his wife Ann. Ann managed the “back of the house" (kitchen) and Simeon the “front of the house" (guests). With his British accent and easy manner Simeon was easy to engage in conversation, and because he was an aerospace engineer and world traveler the conversation was broad and stimulating.
However, Simeon’s favorite topic was the trail, and because he talked with so many people, Simeon represented a broad spectrum of ideas and opinions. But then in the fall of 2008 the subject matter of our conversation turned serious--there has been three serious accidents on the trail in 2008, i.e. broken tibia, broken pelvis, and partial paralysis, all because of one or more of 15 oaken trail bridges which would turn treacherous with any amount of moisture. And because the 50-mile trail was “use at your own risk,” these three people had no recourse to the State of Ohio.
Simeon and I and several others decided that something needed to be done, so we called a meeting for Saturday November 16, 2008. With Simeon’s broad network of trail users it was not difficult to assemble attendees--actually, we got 27. We gathered in a Caesar Creek lodge on this cold wintery night.
It was not difficult for those assembled to agree that we had a serious problem and needed to take action. We decided to form a non-profit group in support of the trail and call ourselves “The Friends of the Little Miami State Park," thereby joining the other 56 “Friends” groups in the State of Ohio. We elected officers--Simeon was elected founder and president. We scheduled a follow-up meeting for November 26 in order to get down to the basics of actually launching the non-profit. On March 9, 2009 we received our “Letter of determination” from the IRS that we were officially a non-profit. The rest they say is history:
• We paved over 12 of the bridges in 2009 and the remaining 3 in 2010. We have not had a serious injury on the bridges since.
• For trail maintenance we initiated an Adopt-a-trail program, chainsaw “minuteman” teams, 3 tool caches, and a cadre of volunteers.
• More recently we have repaved 10 miles of the trail.
• This year we celebrate our 10th anniversary of the Friends group--Simeon would be proud.
Although Simeon monitored the Friends' efforts and successes over time, he had to resign from the Board in early 2015 for business and family reasons. Simeon was an aerospace engineer working for GE and Rolls-Royce which meant he would spend weeks at a time in Great Britain.
I have fond memories of sitting on the porch of the Corwin Peddler and chatting with the very congenial Simeon Copple with the British accent. And because of Simeon’s vision, we started something special that has stood the test of time--the Friends of the Little Miami State Park.
I miss him.
Simeon Copple passed away suddenly on April 23, 2019, just one day before his 63rd birthday.
