RYANE CLARK MEMORIAL PARK

This Memorial Park located at 187th Avenue and Riverview Lane is in honor of Ryane Clark and located at one of the trail head location of the Glacial Lakes State Trail system.

Ryane Glenn Clark was born July 13, 1988 and made his home in New London. He served in the Army with a rank of SPC, Unit 57th Sapper Company, 27th Combat Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne), 20th Combat Engineer Brigade (Combat), 18th Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Ryane was looking for an Eagle Scout project back in 2003 and really wanted to do something big to help the community. So one day when he was on his four wheeler dragging the lot next to the Clark's property, it came to him. Thinking back to April of 1999 when Cody Berg was hit on his bicycle by a car on 187th Avenue and how dangerous this road is for unloading bike's and children as the traffic races by. He wanted to make this lot a parking lot, so it would be safer for people that wanted to use the DNR trail.

Ryane was 15 at the time and wanted to have this project done before his 16th birthday, but found out that working through the process with the DNR was going to take more time than he had, so he ended up working with the Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center on a project instead. He still always wanted to pursue this project even if it was going to take along time.

In 2007, the property was finally turned over to the DNR, but it wasn't until after a meeting at the State Capital in February of 2014 and a little help from our State Representative, (at the time) Mary Sawatzky the Clark's started seeing action.

Unfortunately, Ryane was killed in action on October 4, 2010 in Shekhabad, Afghanistan before his dream for the parking lot could be completed, so his parents took on the task of getting that plan complete and creating a memorial to their son.