John O’Dell Monument Dedicated

On Saturday morning August 13, 2022, the River to River Trail Society held a dedication of the monument to its founder John O’Dell. The event was well attended with an estimate of 80 people in attendance for the 1-hour ceremony. Attendees included numerous members of John O’Dell’s family with some coming from as far as Oklahoma, Chicago, Indianapolis and Nashville.

The ceremony opened with a brief prayer by Society Board Member Todd Carr. Following that Society President Bill Gilmour shared some thoughts on the process of creating the monument. Next John’s family was invited up to unveil the monument to John. The group unveiling was carried out by John’s wife Marilee O’Dell and his brother Robert O’Dell surrounded by many of John’s children and grand children.

Marilee O’Dell and Robert O’Dell removing the veil covering the monument.
Photo Credit: Bill Gilmour.

Following the unveiling numerous speakers shared stories about John O’Dell. His wife of nearly 62 years was the first to say a few words followed by children Mark O’Dell and Cory (O’Dell) Vela and John’s brother Robert O’Dell.

Marilee O’Dell speaking to the crowd in attendance. Marilee shared that this year would have been the 62nd anniversary of John’s first visit to southern Illinois when he came down to meet her parents. She shared that John immediately knew that some day they would live here but that it took 30 years for that to happen. She also shared that all of John’s efforts related to the River to River Trail started after he was 59 years old.
Photo Credit: Jonathan Voelz.

John’s son Mark O’Dell speaking about his dad. Mark came in for the ceremony from Indianapolis where he lives about 15 minutes from Marilee. Mark talked about hiking with his dad and how his dad started every hike with introductions and a description of the upcoming hike. He shared that John really enjoyed the trail, including doing “trail magic” which is helping out hikers in various ways from providing rides to providing a meal. Mark enjoyed calling his dad a trend setter because he liked to wear shorts with hiking boots and long socks. He also shared that his dad’s favorite bird was the Wood Thrush. Mark shared that he thought his dad would be proud of those who lead the Trail Society today. Mark concluded with reading one of his dad’s quotes from the back of the 2011 Trail Guide.
Photo Credit: Jonathan Voelz.

Cory (O’Dell) Vela sharing her thoughts about her father. Cory drove in from Oklahoma for the ceremony. Cory started by thanking everyone for honoring her dad, John O’Dell, with this monument. Cory talked about John’s love of trails, whether the horse trails he created in their backyard when she was growing up to trails in the forest. She shared that John would always ask Marilee to drop him off at one spot and he would tell her when and where to pick him up and that 90% of the time he was there. She compared a hike with her dad to a national geographic show.
Photo Credit: Bill Gilmour.

Robert O’Dell, John’s brother, traveled from the Nashville TN area where he lives today with his wife. He and John loved to explore the outdoors when they were growing up. He talked about John’s desire to explore the world as a young man that included a three year stint in the Navy serving in the Pacific, traveling in Europe for six months as a vagabond looking at the cultural and historical places of Europe and also living in Ketchikan AK with his young family for a time. Despite his love of travel, John always considered Southern Illinois his home which lead him back. Robert shared about his own hike on the River to River Trail in 2011 which John helped him accomplish.
Photo Credit: Bill Gilmour.

Marty Watson, the current President of the Saline County Tourism Board and the current Treasurer of the Trail Society, spoke about John’s history with the Board and how John worked tirelessly to make Southern Illinois, including the Shawnee National Forest, The River to River Trail and Saline County, a tourist destination. He spoke extensively about John’s successful efforts to get the Tecumseh Statue installed at Glen-O-Jones Lake along with his unsuccessful efforts to get an ice age museum built there. He shared that John worked hard to support the Saline Creek Pioneer Village in Harrisburg. He called John a “big idea” person. Marty closed with a line from Abraham Lincoln’s address at the Gettysburg cemetery, “it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this,” and stated that it was also applicable to what we are doing today with John’s monument.
Photo Credit: Jonathan Voelz.

Gillum Ferguson who is the Secretary of the River to River Trail Society spoke on behalf of the Society and talked about John’s efforts related to the Society and the difficulties the Society had when declining health led John to step down. At that time Gillum, Eric Johnson, Marty Watson and Brian Deneal met to reorganize the Society basically assigned themselves as officers of the organization. Over them hung a feeling that the four of them together could never get as much done as John O’Dell. Gillum pointed out that John was not just a dreamer, but a doer, who brought into being something which had been only a dream for decades. Among John’s talents was enlisting the talents of like-minded members of the community, who joined with John to make the trail a reality. He acknowledged the presence at the ceremony of some of those who, under John’s leadership, assisted in pushing the trail through to completion, including Don Monty, Lee Wiedeman and Eric Johnson. He concluded by encouraging everyone present to continue to maintain and build on build John’s legacy on the trail.
Photo Credit: Bill Gilmour.

Don Monty also spoke on behalf of the River to River Trail Society. Don shared that he considered John a friend and an organizer who was dedicated and persistent. John made friends easily. Don talked about many of John’s early efforts related to the trail and the Trail Guide. Those efforts included writing the entire first guide, efforts to get the maps included in the guide and raising funds to get the guide printed. John created a team to help him with the trail. One time John was even able to convince Governor Edgar from Illinois to come hike with him. He also shared John’s love for pies and how whenever John called a meeting of the River to River Trail Society Board, they would typically meet at his house and there would always be some pie to eat.
Photo Credit: Bill Gilmour.

Tim Pohlman spoke on behalf of the Shawnee National Forest. Tim started by thanking Marilee, Mark, Cory and Robert for sharing stories about John, the family man. Tim shared that he only went on a few hikes with John and that he didn’t know John that well, but he thought there was genius in John’s efforts to create the trail and bring folks together along the trail through time. Tim shared that John was an advocate for the physical, spiritual and emotional benefits of being on the trail.
Photo Credit: Bill Gilmour.

This image represents part of the roughly 80 people in attendance at the event.
Photo Credit: Bill Gilmour.

Actual video of the dedication ceremony. The Trail Society would like to thank Board member Shawn Gossman of Hiking with Shawn fame for coming and creating this video.
Video Credit: Shawn Gossman aka, HikingWithShawn.

Following the event closing several groups posed for photos with the monument while Trail Society members proceeded to take down everything that was setup for the event.

Marilee O’Dell with the monument.
Photo Credit: Bill Gilmour.

From left to right: Laura O’Dell (daughter), Marilee O’Dell, Mark O’Dell (son), Bob O’Dell (brother) and his wife and Cory Vela (daughter)
Photo Credit: Bill Gilmour.

Marilee O’Dell and her extended family
Photo Credit: Bill Gilmour.

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