4th Quarter Newsletter 2007
(Larry Pio, Editor)

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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 Fourth Quarter of 2007 are October 10, November 14, and December 12.

See below for information on video presentation at our October 10 meeting by Larry Pio.

REMINDER: For the latest information, especially toward the end of the quarter, please visit our Web site for updates -- especially the Trail Log and the Events Calendar.

Upcoming Events

October 6:  Tall Pine Council Boy Scouts of America Encampment:  Larry Hawkins, Tom Garnett, and Mick Hawkins are leading Chief Noonday Chapter's participation in an event at Corunna to be attended by about 1500 Boy Scouts and their leaders, as the Tall Pine Council celebrates their 90th year.  We are taking the trailer to promote our Trail, and if you are interested in joining Larry and Mick for the day at Corunna (between Lansing and Flint), please contact Larry to work out the details. For additional information on this event, check Tall Pine Council's Web site.

October 10:  Backpacking video of Absaroka / Beartooth Wilderness:  At our October 10 Chapter meeting, Larry Pio will show the video from this year’s backpacking / hiking trip in the Absaroka /Beartooth Wilderness in Montana.  As with all our Chapter meetings, the public is welcome.

The Chief Noonday Chapter welcomes anyone to join us for any of our meetings, hikes, or workday events.   For more information, please contact Larry Hawkins (269-945-5398) or see Web site for other contacts.

October 13:  Fall Color Hike – Lost Nations State Game Area:  We will be joining the Chief Baw Beese Chapter for our Fall Color Hike in the Lost Nations State Game Area southeast of Hillsdale.  We are gathering at the MDOT car pool area at Exit 92 off of I-94 west of Battle Creek before 9:00 AM on October 13.  We will leave from there by 9:00 and car-pool down to the Lost Nations SGA, planning to arrive at about 10:30 AM at the Gilbert Rd trailhead (here's the route).  Bring a trail lunch and water for this hike through a beautiful section of the North Country Trail.  A hunter orange cap might be a good idea too.

October 20:  Workday Scheduled:  Plans have not been finalized, but we still have more work to do to finish the segment on the John Gay property north of Prairieville.  Check our Web site Events Calendar for the final details.

November 3:  Workday Scheduled:  Again, check our Web site for details of our last scheduled workday of 2007.  (The work crew is taking December off for the holidays.)

November 10:  Hike at the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute:  The Institute is near Dowling (south of Hastings).  Our November hike will start around 9:15 on November 10 at the Institute.   We will meet for breakfast at the Hastings Big Boy at 8:00 AM.  ● From Hastings, drive south on M-37 approximately 9 miles, and turn west on Cloverdale Road.  Continue for 2 ½ miles on Cloverdale to the Institute on the left.  Cloverdale Road is 1 mile north of Dowling on M-37.  ● From Delton, drive north on M-43 to Cloverdale Road, and turn east, driving 4 ½ miles to the Institute.  For more information on the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute (for environmental education), see their Web site.

December 8; Urban Hike in Battle Creek:  Postpone the Christmas shopping for one more day!  Our December Hike will be from the west end of the Linear Park on our Trail, heading to downtown.  We will meet downtown at 9:00 AM at the parking lot on W. Jackson and S. Washington streets just west of the former Cereal City parking lot, and carpool from there to the start of the hike.  Lunch in the city after the hike is anticipated.  ● From Hastings, go south on M-37 into Battle Creek and turn east on Michigan Avenue (a.k.a. M-89) to S. Washington Street and go a block or two to the south.  ● From I-94 take the I-194 penetrator to Dickman Road, go west to Washington Street, and go north a few blocks to just across the river.

Hiking

North Country Trail Hikes in October 2007:  Just to remind everyone of other hikes available around the country on our Trail, periodically I will publish the NCTA Trailwide Calendar link, and list the hikes available.  This is a good chance to hike a section of trail and then get a ride back to your car, plus see a section of the country you might not have visited before.  This Trailwide Calendar site will give you contact information, and info on future hikes and other trail wide events:
•  10/6/07 Grand Traverse Hiking Club Chapter, Mesick, MI -- off-trail hike to explore Hodenpyl Dam route.
•  10/10/07 Grand Traverse HCC, Kalkaska, MI -- hike to Valley of the Giants with old growth trees, bring
lunch.
•  10/11/07 Hiawatha Shore To Shore, Newberry, MI -- hike of 6.5 miles, BYO lunch or eat out, meeting
place is near Upper Tahquamenon Falls entrance.
•  10/13/07 Chief Noonday chapter hike with the Chief Baw Beese Chapter; plus hikes with the Spirit of the Woods Chapter in Branch, MI, and with the Hiawatha Shore To Shore Chapter in Paradise, MI.
•  10/14/07 Clarion Chapter, Clarion, PA; A 5 mile hike on fairly level terrain, meet at the Vowinckel
Hotel to spot cars.
•  10/21/07 Grand Traverse HCC, Mesick, MI; 4 mile NCNST hike - hilly with an overlook

Volksmarch Middleville Hike Schedule for 2008:  The Middleville Official Volkssport Event Site has announced two hike dates in 2008:  May 3 and October 4.  More information later on these hikes.  The last Volksmarch event had 43 participants.

Chief Noonday Hike Schedule in 2008:  Our Hiking Committee of Joe Higdon and Charles Krammin has been busy setting up this lineup of hikes for 2008.  To help your planning:
•  1/12/08: Battle Creek Linear Park East End (one of our Ironman hikes early this year); Calhoun County
•  2/9/08: Deep Lake Trail; Yankee Springs Recreation Area; Barry County
•  3/15/08: Chief Noonday Sassafras Trail; Yankee Springs Recreation Area; Barry County
•  4/19/08: Warner & Otis Sanctuaries; Barry County
•  5/17/08: Maher Audubon and Dolan Trails; Barry County
•  6/7/08: Fort Custer National Cemetery; NCT trail in Kalamazoo County
•  7/12/08; Gun Lake Tract; Barry County
•  8/9/08: Tyden Park, Charlton Park; Barry County
•  9/13/08: NCNST M-179 to Hall Lake; Barry County
•  10/18/08: Moonlight hike MSU Forest to Hutchinson parking lot; Kalamazoo County

Volunteers

Long Time Trail Adopters Resign:  Several of our long time adopters have moved on to other adventures. Sheryl Drenth, Steve Drenth, Barb VanDyken, and Joel VanDyken have shared adopter duties on the John Gay section of trail since before our Adopter program began in 2001. Steve Chapman has served on the Hutchinson section since 2002. Thanks to all of you for your years of service.

George Lee is our new adopter for the John Gay section, and Terry Meden is our new adopter for
the Hutchinson section.

Report Your Volunteer Hours:  PLEASE report your volunteer hours on a quarterly basis, either by mail, or by filling out the form on the NCTA web site.  In a recent e-mail from Headquarters in Lowell: “The total hours we submit to the NPS are critical in gaining Congressional support for the North Country National Scenic Trail's appropriation for 2008.  In fact, we're told by our friends in Congress that the number of volunteer hours is the single most important factor in generating support among their legislative colleagues for continued funding!”

Thanks to Dave Cornell, Jeff Fleming, Mick Hawkins, and Ron Sootsman for reporting hours
for the 2nd Quarter.  The rest of us, including me, …

Trail Log Summary Reports

The following are brief recaps of the detailed reports Mick Hawkins (with a lot of writing assistance from brother Larry Hawkins) has included in the TRAIL LOG page on our web site.  Mick has included pictures with his reports for your enjoyment:

Report on the NCTA Annual Conference in Bemidji, MN in August 2-5:  Larry Hawkins, Mick Hawkins, Dave Cornell, Martha Jones, Jim Baldwin, Jim and Linda Warren, and Erin Lesert represented us well at the Conference in Bemidji.

Our own Larry Hawkins has been elected to the Board of Directors, and Dave Cornell has been named President of the Board of Directors.

Receiving awards for volunteer service were: Dave Cornell (2500 hour award), Jim Baldwin (1000
hour award), Mick Hawkins (400 hour award), Tom Momenee (100 hour award), and Ron Sootsman (100 hour award).  Additionally Mick Hawkins received the “Communicator of the Year” award for his outstanding work on the Chief Noonday web site.  Congratulations to all of you, and thank you for all your efforts for our trail.

For a complete list of past award winners, please see our VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION page on the web site.

Report on Workdays in 3rd Quarter: 
•  Ellen Lutz, Ron Sootsman and Mick Hawkins mowed and lopped, until the mower died, on our July work day on the Sackett property.
•  Lt. Cmdr. Ben Hawkins, USCG, home for a visit, was drafted into the August workday, joining his dad Larry Hawkins, his uncle Mick Hawkins, and Ron Sootsman for some trail work on the John Gay property.
•  In September, we again worked on the John Gay property, with Larry Hawkins, Mick Hawkins, Steve Hicks, Bob Jones, Larry Pio, Terry Meden, Ron Sootsman, and Brenda Jones all helping in the effort.

Report on Hastings Summerfest Booth:  Another stellar effort by Jerry Pattok, leading our effort by planning and executing the setting up of the booth and arranging all the manpower, provided another successful year of promoting our Trail at the Summerfest Event in Hastings in late August. 

Mick Hawkins did double shifts, Larry Hawkins worked both days to provide support items and helped take down the booth, and worked a shift.  Dave Cornell helped put up the booth. Sandi Pattok, Laura Pattok, Anna Pattok, Jerry Pattok, Marcia Mellen, Tom Garnett, Steve Hicks, Larry Pio, and Fred Miller all worked a shift at the booth.  Charles Krammin has stored the booth now for several years.  Thank you to all of our volunteers for their help with this effort.

Report on Work Project in the U.P. in August:  Tom Momenee, Maggie Momenee, Ron Sootsman, and Linda Sootsman participated in the August 28-30 work event with the Hiawatha Shore to Shore Chapter in the eastern Upper Peninsula. They carried lumber, built a bridge, cleared downed trees, and more.  Other chapters participating included Grand Marais and Tittabawassee.  Well done, folks.

Other Reports

Jeff Fleming proposed a caption for this picture: "Larry (Pio) demonstrates how to start a grass fire with a camp stove."

POTLUCK DINNER and Stove Display August 8:  We had a very nice crowd of about 25 people for
our potluck dinner in August.  We also had a large display of backpacking stoves -- with demonstrations of varying levels of skill at operating them....  As seen above, the feast was enjoyed by all.

Reports on 3rd Quarter Chapter Hikes:  Our thanks to Joe Higdon and Charles Krammin
for leading the hikes at the Allegan State Game
Area, the Saugatuck Dues State Park, and on our
trail in the Yankee Springs State Recreation Area.
All reports indicate participants had a good time.

Chief Noonday Web Site Update:
•  Mick Hawkins reports that a Maps page has been enhanced on our web site featuring a series of interactive maps on the North Country Trail in our Chapter's area.  These maps feature location linking with Google to help you find trailheads, etc.  The maps were provided by the cartography staff of our national office in Lowell and the interactive features added by Mick.  Nice job, Mick.
•  In addition, we now have a Calhoun County Hikes page, thanks to a lot of effort by Ron Sootsman.  This provides a nice complement to the Barry County Hikes page that Jerry Pattok researched a couple years ago. Rumor has it that a Kalamazoo County page may be next.

Receive the Chief Noonday Chapter newsletter via email. Contact Larry Pio.  Please share
your newsletter with a friend, and tell someone about Chief Noonday and the NCT.

North Country Trail Association Web Site:  A couple items on our national web site are worth pointing out:
•  The lower left on the Home page highlights hikers who have completed at least 200 miles of trail on the NCNST.  Links for the1000 mile club, 2000 mile club, 3000 mile club, and 4000 mile club are included.  Each link has a photo of the individual hiker, and sometimes links to other info provided by that hiker.  Included is our own Tom Funke in the 1000 mile club.
•  Under the EXPLORE THE TRAIL page, see Trail Guide by Wes Boyd, which is admittedly outdated, but a good start for finding your way around the trail.
 

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.