Volunteer Of The Month: Tim Yarbrough Helps Beautify County Trails

Something I learned as a Cub Scout leader is the one thing that all leaders need most is helpful followers. That’s my goal, to be a helpful follower.”

Tim Yarbrough

Years ago, Tim Yarbrough’s friend and former colleague Ed Parker, a runner who frequently utilized the B&A Trail, asked Yarbrough to consider becoming a trailblazer, or a volunteer who helps people out along the trail. He didn’t respond to the request, and over time lost touch with his friend during retirement.

An avid bicyclist, Yarbrough had also been a longtime trail user – for as long as the B&A Trail has existed – and on a ride one day from his Arnold home to the trail, he saw the newly installed Edgar and Jean Parker Memorial. Yarbrough thought perhaps he had missed the news that his old friend had passed, but not long after, Parker called him. He extended a second invitation to volunteer with the trails – this time as caretaker of the small respite park the Parkers had funded at the north end of the Broadneck Peninsula Trail, across from Anne Arundel Community College.

“When he called me to ask the Friends of the trails and to be a board member and take care of his memorial, I thought that was appropriate, and I was happy for an opportunity to volunteer,” Yarbrough said of his former coworker at Westinghouse and Northrop Grumman.

He began volunteering with the Friends of Anne Arundel County Trails in 2022. The organization is a nonprofit comprised of volunteers who help “promote, protect and enhance the multimodal trails” throughout the county, including the B&A Trail, the BWI Trail, the Broadneck Peninsula Trail and the West B&A Trail.

Yarbrough’s role began as caretaker of the Parker memorial and grew to include installing memorial bricks in the legacy gardens along the trail, such as the one behind the Arnold Station shopping center as well as at Hatton Regester Green and Jonas Green Park. He cleans up and beautifies various gardens along the trail, often with a group of fellow volunteers. And, he serves on the Friends’ 10-member board of directors.

A highlight during his years of volunteering with the Friends has been learning just how much effort goes into maintaining the county’s trails. “Seeing how much is involved in taking care of the infrastructure has been very impressive,” he said, noting the county staff do a great job.

“We’re here to support the people that run the trails and make the trails prettier,” Yarbrough said, noting he lives in a beautiful place – one he’s been happy to reside in since 1981.

The retired engineer has also volunteered for nearly a decade with the county’s annual Lifeline100 cycling event by driving “SAG,” which stands for support and gear. Yarbrough drives around to help cyclists who are unable to finish the course, or who have had an accident.

His primary areas of volunteering, though, are the Parker memorial and the legacy garden bricks, and he’s content to do those things humbly under the leadership of others.

“Something I learned as a Cub Scout leader is the one thing that all leaders need most is helpful followers,” Yarbrough shared. “That’s my goal, to be a helpful follower.”

His other goal is to enjoy retirement for as long as he worked, and he’s about 14 years into that goal so far. His bride of 45 years, Mary Ann, taught at South River High School for 37 years and is also retired. Together, they have two children, three grandchildren, and a 1-year-old German Shepherd mix that gets “tormented” by their two Siamese cats.

With a hip replacement scheduled in June, Yarbrough is eager to get back on his bike by the end of summer. In the meantime, he continues to care for the beautiful parks and memorials along the trails.

“Something that’s real rewarding, when I’m working on the garden at the Parker memorial … people come by and thank me for doing what I do, and they love the little park,” he said. “The locals come by, and their dogs get water there, so more people than I realized do appreciate that little park.”