July 9:  Annual Meeting and Election of Officers:  On July 9, our election of officers will be held at our Chapter Meeting. The following have been nominated and / or have indicated a willingness to continue serving on the Chief Noonday Board of Directors for the next 2-year term:
•  President:  Larry Hawkins
•  Vice-President for Administration:  Larry Pio
•  Vice-President for Trail Management:  Steve Hicks
•  Treasurer:  Ron Sootsman
•  Board of Directors At-Large members:
     Dave Cornell
     Tom Garnett (automatically on the Board as Immediate Past President of the Chapter)
     John Rudnicki
     Mick Hawkins

Additional nominations will be accepted prior to the voting.

July 12:  Hike at Gun Lake Tract, Barry County:  Our July 12 hike will be at the Gun Lake Tract at 9:30 AM.  We will meet for breakfast at the Hastings Big Boy, at 1105 W. State Street in Hastings at 8:00 AM.  The directions to get to the Gun Lake Tract are listed below from our web site; I would recommend following someone from breakfast unless you are familiar with this area.

1. From the junction of M37 and M43 west of Hastings,
2. go west 0.3 miles to M179 (Chief Noonday Road).
3. Follow M179 for 1.3 miles.
4. Bear left onto Gun Lake Road.
5. Go 5.9 miles to the stop sign at Yankee Springs Road.
6. Turn left and go 1.2 miles to Wildwood Road.
7. Turn right and follow Wildwood to the stop sign on Marsh Road.
8. Turn left and go 0.1 miles to the parking lot on the west side of the road.

July 19:  Work Day at Kimball Pines, Battle Creek:   Our July 19 work day will begin at 9:00 AM, and will include some blazing, and construction of a small bridge at Kimball Pines in Battle Creek.  We will meet for breakfast at 8:00 AM at the McDonalds next door to Kimball Pines, at 1160 East Michigan Avenue.  To get to the Kimball Pines area, you can take I-94 to the I-194 penetrator, and follow the Columbia Avenue exit east until you get onto Michigan Avenue, and then continue east to the McDonalds.  [Webmaster note:  It is likely that we will need to change this month's project, since we inadvertently scheduled it in the middle of the Renaissance Faire.  Check the Events Calendar for updates.]

Trail Adopters Needed:  We have at least one section of
trail needing adoption.  Please contact Dave Cornell .

NCTA Annual Conference — August 7–10, 2008 in Cazenovia, NY.  Several of our members will be attending the annual conference, held this year in Cazenovia, NY.  If you are interested in attending, registration forms are available at www.northcountrytrail.org .  You may want to let Larry Hawkins know, and perhaps he can find you someone willing to car pool.

Hikes, a canoe trip, bike tours, informative workshops, and an in-depth look at the rich history of Cazenovia are all options offered at this conference.  A pre-conference trail building training/camping session will be held August 5-7.  A post conference sawyer training session will be held August 11-12.

August 9:  Hike at Tyden and Charlton Parks, Barry County:  On August 9 we will hike the Tyden and Charlton Parks in Barry County at about 9:30 AM.  We will caravan to the parks from breakfast at the Hastings Big Boy, at 1105 W. State Street in Hastings, where we are meeting for breakfast at 8:30 AM (a half hour later than we usually meet for breakfast).

August 13:  Potluck Dinner at Chapter Meeting:  Back by popular demand, our Annual Potluck Dinner will be held at our Chapter Meeting at 7:00 PM at the Barry Township Hall in Delton, MI.  Please bring a dish to pass, your refreshments, and table settings.

August 16:  Work Day at Middleville State Game Area, Barry County:  At our work day on August 16, we will be changing the orientation of our kiosk on Robertson Road north east of Middleville, to make it a less enticing target.  We will also be doing a little trail work, if time permits.  We will meet for breakfast at the Hastings Big Boy, at 1105 W. State Street in Hastings at 8:00 AM, and leave for Robertson Road at 9:00 AM.  Check our web site for up to date details on this event.

August 22-24 Hastings Summerfest:  We will once again be promoting the North Country Trail at the Hastings Summerfest held August 22-24.  Our booth will be open both Friday and Saturday.  Volunteers are needed both to set up and dismantle the booth, and to man the booth Friday and Saturday. If you can help, please contact Larry Hawkins.  We also have a sign up sheet at our July and August meetings, so you can see the available time slotswhere help is needed.

September 1:  Middleville Volksmarch and Bridge Walk:  The last Middleville Volksmarch of the season will be on September beginning at the gazebo in Stagecoach Park behind Middleville Village Hall in downtown Middleville. You can start your hike anytime between 9 AM and 12 noon. The event concludes at 3 PM.  You can walk or bike at your own pace, either 5K or 10K or 13k.  Four bridges are included in this hike.  See http://tracmvl.webs.com/vm91.pdf for more information.

September 13:  Hike at Hall Lake Trail, Barry County:   On September 13 we will hike the Hall Lake Trail near Gun Lake at 9:30 AM. The hike will begin at Chief Noonday Road (M-179) at the NCT trailhead parking lot, and continue to Hall Lake.  To get to our trail head, take M-43 west from Hastings, and continue driving west on M-179 as M-43 turns to the south. Drive 5.4 miles to the stop sign on Yankee Springs Road, and then continue 0.3 miles to the trail head parking lot on the north side of the road.  We will meet for breakfast at the Hastings Big Boy, at 1105 W. State Street in Hastings at 8:00 AM.

September 20:  Work Day Scheduled:  We have several items we are trying to jam into our work schedule, including the postponed blazing day. Please check our web site for the latest info as this date approaches.

Our Hiking Committee of Joe Higdon and Charles Krammin has been busy setting up this lineup of hikes for 2008 and now into 2009.  To help your planning:
•  October 18, 2008:  Moonlight hike MSU Forest to Hutchinson parking lot; Kalamazoo County
•  November 2008:  Portage Creek Bicentennial Park Trail; Portage, Kalamazoo County
•  December 6, 2008:  Allegan State Game Area; Allegan County
•  January 17, 2009: Saugatuck Dunes; Allegan County (Think of the frozen Lake Michigan landscape!!)
•  February 2009:  Ott Preserve, Battle Creek
•  March 2009:  Norris Road to Hall Lake, Barry Co.
•  April 2009; Baker Sanctuary near Marshall, MI
•  May 2009; Fort Custer National Cemetery
•  June 2009, Ludington Dunes

Mick Hawkins has included detailed reports, with pictures, at the Trail Log page on our web site on some of our recent activities. In the last quarter he has included:

•  A very nice tribute to our friend and member Fred Miller, who died in Celebration, FL at the age of 70 on April 29. Fred was an occasional participant on our work days, including this past fall.

•  A report on our April 12 work day in the Ott Preserve.  Our thanks to Ron Sootsman, Steve Hicks, Larry Hawkins, John Rudnicki, Mick Hawkins, Jeff Fleming, Jim Heaton, and also to Marcia Mellen, who supplied us with the railroad ties used for erosion control.

•  A report on our April 19 hike at the Otis Sanctuary. Thanks to Tom Funke for his bird identification and for describing plans for the future of the Otis Sanctuary.

•  A report on our Adopter’s meeting, led by Dave Cornell, where adopters get some fresh advice, some fresh news, and some fresh paint for blazes on their sections of trail.

•  A note on our need for an adopter, after John Morgan and Wayne Marvin have passed on the torch after several years of service.  Thanks John and Wayne.

•  A request for nominations for NCTA Annual Awards for our volunteers.

•  A report on a 2009 calendar photo op benefiting the Hastings Public Library, featuring four of our finest holding “tools of the trail,” promoting our trail as well. Thanks to Charles Krammin, Dave Cornell, Mick Hawkins, and Jerry Pattok for participating.

•  A report on the Cerulean Warbler Festival, with Larry Hawkins and Mick Hawkins on hand with our trailer to distribute literature and answer questions.  Charles Krammin, Jeff Fleming, and Jerry Pattok led hikes in the area north of Hall Lake. Steve Hicks and Randy Brodbeck hauled the trailer and helped with setup and dismantling.  Festival director (and CND member) Tom Funke organized the event, and fellow Audubon members Dick Leonard and Eldon Dodd provided birder expertise on the hikes.

•  A report on a hike of a proposed trail reroute in the Yankee Springs Recreation Area, organized by Charles Krammin, and attended by Larry Hawkins, Ron Sootsman, Mick Hawkins, and Dave Goodman (West Michigan Chapter), as well as YSRA Park Supervisor Andru Jevicks.  Approvals are uncertain and still needed, but the routing looked great to all involved. (Note: Charles Krammin also submitted a report located on the Trail Tales section of our web site.)

•  A report on our June 21 work day at MSU’s W. K. Kellogg Biological Station.  Dr. Gwen Pearson, Assistant Director of Education and Outreach for KBS, was assisted by Larry Hawkins, Mick Hawkins, Ron Sootsman, Steve Hicks, Jim Martin, Tom Warner, Mike Wilke (and his grandson Zachary), Jeff Fleming, and Jim Studt.

•  A comment on Clare Cain (right), who is leaving the NCTA after providing years of extraordinary help as Director of Trail Management.

•  A comment on the new book by our member, Tom Funke, entitled: 50 Hikes in Michigan's Upper Peninsula: Walks, Hikes & Backpacks from Ironwood to St. Ignace (Countryman Press, 2008)

•  A comment on a job opening at NCTA headquarters for a Communications Manager.

The North Country Trail shares a section of trail in Barry County on the Paul Henry - Thornapple Trail, as guests of the Thornapple Trail Association and the Village of Middleville.  This gorgeous segment of trail is 2.9 miles long, and follows the Thornapple River from McCann Road in Irving, MI, to Main Street in Middleville, MI.  It is a multi-use paved trail, available for biking, hiking, rollerblading, etc. There is convenient parking behind the Village Hall in Middleville available for trail users.

The Paul Henry -Thornapple Trail, when complete, will be a 42 mile trail from Grand Rapids through Hastings, and on to Vermontville in Eaton County. The web site for the Thornapple Trail Association is: http://www.thornappletrail.com/ , and you can find pictures, maps, and history of the PHTT.

An Introductory Rate for Your Friends:   If you are already a member of the North Country Trail Association, you have a good opportunity for introducing the North Country Trail to your friends. There is a special reduced rate for the first year of a membership when you sponsor a new member.  The form to use is included in the on-paper edition of this Newsletter. 

Membership dues help support our local trail projects.  More importantly our membership numbers show Congress that there is support for the trail, and this positively influences the projects they fund.