Newsletter January 2006

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CHAPTER MEETINGS
    Meetings are at 7:00 PM at the Barry Township Hall on Orchard Street in Delton the second Wednesday of each month, and are open to the public.
    Next meeting: February 8, 2006.   Bud Leonard will present a program on early Native American activity around the Wall Lake area. Bud will also have artifacts. Please join us for this exciting presentation.

WINTER HIKE!  Saturday February 18.
    Our winter hike this year is part of the Gun Lake Winterfest. 
    Meet at 9:00 AM at the Long Lake Campground Lodge (located on Gun Lake Road west of the southwest end of Hall Lake about 1.5 miles west of Yankee Springs Road).  We will convoy to the M-179 trailhead parking lot (a.k.a. Chief Noonday Road) 0.3 miles west of Yankee Springs Road and hike back to the lodge.  Hot drinks will be available at the lodge after the hike.

SPRING WILDFLOWER HIKE Saturday May 20.
    Barb VanDyken is coordinating our spring wildflower hike to be held on Saturday, May 20. More information later.

LABOR DAY 2006
    The Chief Noonday Chapter has been invited to participate in a Fitness Festival in Battle Creek. We will be hosting a Family Hike. Tom Garnett and John Rudnicki are coordinating this project.

Remember: The next annual conference is in Clarion, PA on August 10-13, 2006.

TRAIL CARE:
    February 4:  Our work day has been canceled due to the hard work of our great crew on the January 21st workday.  We completed our temporary bridge project.  See our web page for pictures.
    March 18:  Construction of temporary bridges for Kimball Pines. John Rudnicki will get measurements and propose designs at the February 8th meeting.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?
    Mick Hawkins has updated and redesigned the web page.  He is asking for input on the page, particularly from anyone with a small computer screen or anyone having browser problems.  The new web page looks great on a 17 inch screen.   E-mail him if you are having problems displaying the page on your computer system.
    Tom Garnett is completing the South CNC Brochure, and it is about ready for publishing.
    Tom Momenee has agreed to inventory the condition and contents of our many kiosks.  Larry Hawkins will put an updated list of needs together. Then the Chapter will begin fixing the kiosks before the spring hiking season.

Be a Field Tester:
    BackpackGearTest.org is an international volunteer organization dedicated to testing gear.  It is NON-commercial and there are NO fees.  More testers are needed.  For more information go to BackpackGearTest.org.

Newsletter available on-line!  
    You can view the .pdf file for the Newsletter in the Adobe Acrobat Reader by clicking on the link above under the title of this page, and you can even save it on your hard drive.  Or you can receive the .pdf file by e-mail if you e-mail Larry Pio at nalcoman1@aol.com. 

Web sites:
The web site for the North Country Trail Association is:
http://www.northcountrytrail.org/index.htm .
The web site for the Chief Noonday Chapter is:
http://www.northcountrytrail.org/cnd/index.htm

Events of Interest
Teas at W. K. Kellogg Manor House Feb. 14, March 21, May 23, June 20.
Valentine’s Day Dinner offered at W. K. Kellogg Manor House  Feb. 14 at 6:30 p.m.
Sunday Brunch offered at W. K. Kellogg Manor House Feb. 26, March 26, April 16, May 14, June 18, July 31, Aug. 27,Sept 24 And Oct. 22.  For more information contact 269-671-2400 or e-mail conference@kbs.msu.edu

Maple Syrup Days
Celebrate the return of spring during Maple Syrup Days at MSU’s W. K. Kellogg Experimental Forest on Saturday, March 18 and Sunday, March 19. Kellogg Forest is located at 7060 N. 42nd St., north of Augusta, Mich.

Kellogg Forest and Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) Volunteers will host special activities each day from noon until 4 p.m. Visitors can try their hand at tapping a maple tree, watch sap collection, visit Maple Manor and taste a fresh syrup sample. They can also see a presentation about the history behind making maple syrup.

Summer Adventure offered at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary
This summer venture outside to become a steward of nature.  MSU Kellogg Biological Station’s (KBS) Youth Exploring Science! (YES!) program offers six one-week summer camp sessions focusing on ornithology, entomology and ecology at the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary near Augusta, Mich.

Additional information on KBS special events can be found on the web at: www.kbs.msu.edu. Portions of our trail traverse KBS properties.