College Park Mayor Fazlul Kabir (center) takes a break from a bike ride on Trolley Trail Day.

By LILLIAN GLAROS

Thousands of people braved humid and cloudy weather June 14 to attend Trolley Trail Day.

The six-year-old event celebrates the communities, including College Park, Riverdale Park and Hyattsville, along parts of what used to be the right-of-way for the City and Suburban Railway, an electric streetcar line, according to College Park Mayor Fazlul Kabir.

Now that right-of-way is the 3.9-mile Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail.

“Even though the train line does not exist anymore, the communities still exist, so it is important that connection should still be celebrated,” Kabir said.

Ten activity hubs dotted the trail, with live music, fitness classes and other activities for people of all ages.

Valerie Woodall, associate director of the Anacostia Trails Heritage Area, was one of the event organizers. She said the day helps serve as a reminder of the Trolley Trail’s existence and the need to maintain it.

“I like the way it brings the community out to be together, to celebrate a trail network that does connect them,” Woodall said.

Activities started at 9 a.m. on Trolley Trail Day, with the College Park Parkrun on the Paint Branch Trail and a 26-mile-bike ride held by College Park Bicycles. Participants ended the day with a Night at the Museum rock concert at the College Park Aviation Museum.

At the Hollywood Shopping Center hub, participants could bike or walk to the Proteus Bicycles’ bike helmet bean bag toss.

The inaugural Market to Market bike ride, hosted by Proteus Bicycles, left the hub at around 10 a.m. with two riders who biked from the Hollywood Farmers Market to Gateway Farmers’ Market in Mount Rainier.

The Hollywood Farmers Market featured a chalk mural activity and plenty of vendors for food and more, according to Julie Beavers, one of the market’s managers.

At the Lakeland hub, participants could play disc golf, paint rocks and try out Veo electric scooters, or join their neighbors in dance.

One Lakeland attendee lived in the area when the trail was still a trolley line.

District resident Keith Webster said he used to ride the trolley nearly every Sunday as a little boy to see movies with his mom. Now Trolley Trail Day is a reminder of those good times, he said.

“When I see this, and I see the bikes are being ridden, and people are walking in there, it brings back those memories to me, as when I was a little boy,” Webster said.

More than memories, Webster said the inclusivity of the event, with activities for adults and kids, is a reminder of what Lakeland was in the past.

Lakeland Civic Association President Robert Thurston said his favorite part of Trolley Trail Day is getting to meet people.

“It provides people an opportunity to just kind of mingle through different neighborhoods,” Thurston said.

College Park City Councilmember Ray Ranker (District 3) brought his family to Trolley Trail Day.

“Honestly, for me, the people are the most interesting and exciting thing,” Ranker said. “So going and meeting folks, seeing folks, watching them engaged, those are the kind of things that I enjoy the most.”

Ranker and his family planned to hit each of College Park’s six hubs, he said. The family had played disc golf and painted rocks at the Lakeland Hub.

Ranker said the event featured activities that both adults and his children would enjoy.