Fall/Winter Newsletter 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.
    Meetings through the first quarter of 2007 are:  January 10, February 14, and March 14.

REMINDER: The Chief Noonday Chapter Newsletter is now being sent quarterly.  The next edition of the newsletter will be mailed in the first quarter of 2007.  For current chapter information please visit the Web page.  Mick Hawkins our Webmaster has current information posted.  

PLEASE log your volunteer hours!

CONGRATULATIONS!  
    Larry Hawkins presented 1000 volunteer hours award vests from the National Park Service to Larry Pio and Charles Krammin.  At the national conference in Clarion in August, Dave Cornell and Tom Garnett had received their vests for 1000 volunteer hours.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
    • Winter Hike -- Saturday, February 3:  We are doing a little different winter hike this year.  We will meet at Clara’s On The River in downtown Battle Creek at 8:30 AM, and carpool to Bailey Park to begin the hike at 9:00 AM on Battle Creek's Linear Park.  The hike will return to Clara’s, and someone mentioned Arcadia Brewing is not far from there!  Or perhaps a lunch at Clara’s.  The address for Clara’s is 44 N. McCamly.  Joe Higdon is our hikemaster.
    • 2007 is Chief Noonday’s 10th Anniversary!
    • 2007 National NCTA Conference will be held in Bemidji, Minnesota, the first weekend in August 2007. Hope to see you there.

UPCOMING TRAIL WORKDAYS:
    • Our January 27 workday will be for kiosk renovation in Barry County.  Meet for breakfast at 8:00 at the Hastings Big Boy, about a mile west of downtown Hastings at 1105 West State Street.  Leaving at 9:00 to begin work.
    • On February 17 we will be building two kiosks to be used in the Battle Creek area.  We are building them up at Josh Richie's place near Hastings, so will meet again at the Hastings Big Boy at 8:00 am.
    • On March 17 we will be installing these kiosks.  Please check the Web site for meeting place, or call Larry Pio at 269-327-3589 for the latest.

Other Volunteer Opportunities:  If building trail is not your thing, volunteer in a different way.  The North Country Trail headquarters is looking for office volunteers to help out anytime Monday through Friday between 9 AM and 4 PM.  Scheduling is flexible.  Volunteer help is needed to talk with visitors about the fine points of the North Country Trail (where to go, what to see, what not to miss, local activities), help with Trail Shop orders, stuff mailings and assist with data entry.  If you are interested in this exciting volunteer opportunity please contact Jennifer Tripp by e-mail or by phone -- toll free: 1-866-hikeNCT (445-3628) or by local call in Grand Rapids, MI area: 616-897-5987. 

What’s Been Happening?
    • On 12/1/06 the North Country Trail Association Board of Directors appointed Larry Hawkins to a Search/Selection Committee charged with the responsibility of hiring the next Executive Director of the NCTA.
    • Tom Garnett recognized for service to Chapter:  At the September meeting, Dave Cornell took an opportunity to present Tom Garnett, immediate past president of the Chapter, with an “Old Man” hiking stick, as a memento of his distinguished service as chapter president. Dave and Larry Hawkins shared the tale of their efforts to obtain the walking stick at the silent auction held at the National Conference.

Chapter Meetings: 
    • September:  Special guests were Irene Szabo of the Finger Lakes Trail Conference and recently appointed interim Executive Director of the NCTA, and Matt Rowbotham, NCTA cartographer, with his wife, Bridget, who joined us for the September meeting.  Matt Rowbotham, NCTA Cartographer, has completed and presented the maps that have been developed from the new GIS system for placement in the kiosks along our section of the trail. CNC trail system is being used by the NCTA as a trial run for developing similar maps to be used along the entire seven-state trail system.
    • October:  Mat Pryfogle, staff member from Circle Pines Camp, joined us.  Mat offered information about Circle Pines Camp and Retreat Center. Look for upcoming information on our web page.
    • November:  Larry Pio presented a fun and informative video of his backpacking outing in the Sawtooth Wilderness Area in South Central Idaho. Thank you, Larry.

Wishing you a beautiful and blessed Christmas.  Happy Hanukkah.  A beautiful Kwanzaa.  A peaceful Ramadan.

Summer Hike - Jerry Pattok
    Fourteen people toured the Warner Sanctuary and the Otis Sanctuary on the hottest weekend of the summer.  A great time was had by all!  See the pictures on the Web site.

Chapter Potluck - Dave Cornell
    Folks joined together for a potluck in place of the August Chapter meeting.  Dave reports that Jerry Pattok’s steamed corn stole the show.  Good food. Good folks. Good time.

Hastings SummerFest - Jerry Pattok
    The NCTA booth was staffed for all three days with chapter members contributing to the effort.  John Morgan was the “Iron Man” for us putting in shifts on all three days.  We were the lone booth left in the nonprofit area on Sunday, and we continued meeting and talking with a good number of people, making the day worthwhile.

After SummerFest Hike - Joe Higdon
    It was a cold rainy day, but Joe, Ron Sootsman and Larry Hawkins hosted folks to a relaxing hike in the Barry State Game Area on a beautifully groomed stretch of trail courtesy of Jerry Pattok.

Fall Color Hike
    Joe Higdon, Ron Sootsman, and Mick and Larry Hawkins were joined by Martha Jones from Royal Oak, one of our vintage members, for the hike through Kellogg Forest.  The highlight of the hike was the rescue of a young doe that had gotten caught up in the fence along the south boundary of Kellogg Forest.  Pictures are posted on the Web page.

What in the Blue Blazes?  Wondering about the blazing system?  Look on the Web page for an explanation, or in the near future you will be able to find information about the blazing system posted in our kiosks.

Chapters Working Together
    Mick Hawkins has visited the Trail through Lost Nation State Game Area in Hillsdale County, Chief Baw Beese Chapter country, and has offered a report to the Lowell office.  The Chief Noonday Chapter will be offering some assistance to Chief Baw Beese for cleaning up the trail and to improve blazing and placing visible Carsonite posts.  Keep an eye on the Web site for scheduling on these efforts.

► Please visit the Trail Log on the CNC Web Page for pictures and commentary on events. ◄

Workdays:
    • July:  At Fort Custer, large willow and other trees were removed from the trail and some serious weed whacking to open up the wetlands.  Plans were completed for upgrading the puncheons through the wetlands.    [Reported by Larry Hawkins]
    • August:  A new kiosk was planted in Historic Bridge Park.  We received a nice thank you from Annette Chapman of the Calhoun County Parks Commission.  [Reported by Larry Hawkins]
    • September:   We worked the section from the McKibben Trailhead south to Mullen Rd.  The section was mowed and the brush cut back to open up the pathway.  Steve Hicks, Mick Hawkins, Larry Hawkins along with Mat Pryfogle from Circle Pines Camp provided the labor.  [Reported by Larry Hawkins]
    • October: Puncheons were built at Fort Custer in the wetlands area.  With the beavers at work, the crew ran a little short of materials but got the majority of the wetlands covered.  [Reported by Steve Hicks]

Web Page Update:
    • Mick Hawkins, Webmaster, has been working with Matt Rowbotham to develop useful, downloadable maps for use on the Web site, another product of the NCTA GIS system.  Matt has developed a way to link to existing Internet map systems to allow people to find their way from their homes to our trailheads using the GPS coordinates for the trailheads.  Mick and Matt have tried it and it works!   These links have been installed on the Barry County Hikes page and will eventually be featured in the Maps page as well.  Exciting stuff.
    • Mick has developed a new section on our Web page called the Trail Log where he is posting pictures and commentaries and such on recent events in the Chapter.  This material will be maintained at that site for a while and then deleted or moved elsewhere in the archives of the Web site.  It is a really neat addition, and everyone is encouraged to check it out frequently.
    • Please visit the Web Page for Volunteer Opportunities and Trail Care dates and times.
    • “Who Are We?” a page giving more of the history of the Chapter has been posted as an enhancement of the previous Contacts page.
    • Pictures of the Fall Color Hike are posted.
 

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.