FRANK MULHOLLAND - Daily Union Managing Editor
Have you ever walked on the Dacey Trail and wondered who General Dacey really was? Major General (two stars) Robert (Bob) Dacey visited Shelbyville and toured the trail that is his namesake.
Dacey and his wife, Rosie, came to Shelbyville by invitation of Jerry Yockey, Chairman of the General Dacey Trail Committee. They arrived Monday and stayed until Tuesday when they took a tour of the trail.
“When we started this project years ago there were a lot of people who had a vision of how people would be able to enjoy what was going on here (with the lake) and this trail is just a culmination of that,” said Dacey. “It is just wonderful and I can’t tell you how pleased I am with the whole thing.”
Dacey who is retired from the Army now and lives in Potomac, MD, talked about his time in Shelbyville.
He said he entered the Army though a ROTC commission. He first came to Shelbyville in 1965 as a Captain and was a construction inspector on the dam project.
“Then I was the resident engineer on the job for my last year here and left in 1967 and came back in 1979 as the District Engineer,” continued Dacey.
Dacey said his career in the military has led him all over the world from Viet Nam to Germany to various bases in the U.S. He retired from the Army in 1988.
Dacey went on to say he is really enjoying his retirement.
Several other Shelbyville residents came out to tour the trail and meet the General. They included Michael and Ann Dove, Ricky Raymond, Lake Shelbyville Operations Manager, Alan Spesard, the Shelbyville City Engineer and Ben Dawdy a long time volunteer.
Raymond said he has seen the Dacey name in the archives and on street signs and trail signs but this was his first opportunity to meet the man in person.
“I was honored to be here with General Dacey, I have heard so much about him,” said Raymond.
The General Dacey Trail is a multi-use recreational trail - accessed mainly by walkers, runners and bikers. The trail is being completed in phases and Phase I, and II are completed and Phase III is almost completed. Phases IV and V are on the drawing board and will eventually bring the trail back up Route 16 into Shelbyville and down Morgan St. to Forest Park.
Spesard said Phase III has been held up due to the weather but is almost complete.
“Phase III is ninety percent complete,” said Spesard. “We have been held up because of the weather to put the final surface coat on which is two layers of oil and chip, and the seeding and the fence work and that phase will be done.”
Yockey said he has communicated with Dacey since the beginning of the trail.
“Everytime I send out an e-mail update he (Dacey) gets a copy, he watches our website and they read the newspaper online,” said Yockey. “We have been looking forward to having General Dacey here for a long time.”
Yockey said they tried to get the General here for the grand opening but that didn’t work out.
“We are very pleased and I think he is pleased as well,” continued Yockey.
