Left: Brandon Dorner, 2022 Mayo Lester Community Service Award. Right: Thor Meeks, 2022 Young Leader.

The Putnam Chamber recognized two community leaders at their 2022-2023 Annual Dinner Meeting & Celebrations at Valley Park.

Brandon Dorner was recognized as the 2022 Mayo Lester Community Service Award recipient for his contributions to the implementation of the Meeks Mountain Trail system.

Thor Meeks was recognized as the 2022 Young Leader Award for his contributions to the Meeks Mountain Trail, but also for his leadership within the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce and as a local business owner.

Meeks Mountain is a trail system project that began in November 2018 with a mission to build and sustain a network of trails for the health and well-being of the people and create additional opportunities for economic growth. They started building the trail system in 2018 and over the next several years plan to build out 26+ miles of trails here in our own front yard of Hurricane, WV. They are a group of folks hungry for local trails and making it happen with hand tools and grunt work led by Thor and Brandon.

To date, a team of over 450 volunteers have logged nearly 14,000+ hours clearing trails for hikers, bikers, runners, walkers, and trail enthusiasts. Individuals of all ages have dedicated time, money, and physical labor to make this community trail accessible for everyone. Due to the abundance of willing volunteers, we anticipate having a trail system that covers 26 miles in the near future, possibly more. We believe this trail system will be a top racing venue that brings in not only races but prominent athletes from all over the world– giving us the ability to consistently recognize our dedicated sponsors. If you would like to see more about Meeks Mountain, go to our private social media page, City of Hurricane Meeks Mountain Trails, where we have numerous followers.

Currently, Meeks Mountain has over 24 miles of usable trail.

With the birth of the 25526 trail plan and cooperation between The City of Hurricane and private landowners, The Meeks Family, they are on a mission to provide a network of trails to improve the health and well-being of the people, furthermore, creating additional opportunities for economic growth.