2nd Quarter Newsletter 2009
(Larry Pio, Editor)

Click here to view the .PDF version.  If you need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader, click here:

 

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 Second Quarter of 2009 are April 8, May 13, and June 10.  The next two meetings we will be discussing proposed changes to the chapter by-laws, with a vote on adoption of these changes at the May 13 meeting.

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
(See Events Calendar for links related to items below)

April 18 — Hike at Baker Sanctuary in Marshall, Calhoun County:  The Baker Sanctuary was established in 1941 as Michigan Audubon Society’s first sanctuary.  It occupies over one square mile, including Big Marsh Lake.  The Meadow and Marshland Trail is about 2 miles long including the loops.  The Doty Native Wildflower Trail is one mile long.  Click here for more information on Baker Sanctuary.

Our day will begin with breakfast at 8:00 am at the Riverside Café in Bellevue, Michigan.  The Riverside Café is at 420 E. Capital Avenue, just across the bridge as the road becomes Battle Creek Highway.  One way to get there is heading west off of Exit 48 from I-69 onto highway 78.  Continue west to downtown Bellevue, and turn right (east) at Capital Avenue.

We will leave to meet at the Baker Lodge at 9:30 am for our hike.  To get to the Baker Lodge (which is where the Doty Native Wildflower trailhead begins): From Bellevue: take I-78 south to Ionia Road (about ½ mile).  Take Ionia Road south to Junction Road (about 0.8 miles), and follow Junction Road southeast for a little over 1 mile to the Baker Lodge, which will be on the west side of the road.

From I-69 turn west on N Dr. North (Exit 42).  Immediately turn north (right) onto 16 Mile Rd. Go 3.2 miles to the sanctuary, veering left on Junction Rd. at the Garfield Rd. intersection.

April 25 — Work Day at Yankee Springs Recreational Area, Barry County:  We will be continuing the project at Yankee Springs Recreational Area on our trail reroute. We will have breakfast at 8:00 am at the Gun Lake Diner at 12441 West M-179 Highway (Chief Noonday Highway).  The Gun Lake Diner is 4.7 miles west of the Yankee Springs Road and M-179 intersection on the south side of the road.  At 9:15 am we will park at the Hall Lake boat landing parking area on Gun Lake Road, which is about 1.3 miles west of Yankee Springs Road.

May 2 — Middleville 10k Volksmarch in Middleville, Barry County:  The first Volksmarch of the year in Middleville will be held on May 2 with starting times between 9:00 am and noon.  Finish by 3 pm, if you wish to get AVA credit.  Participation is free.  You can register to get an AVA / IVV award for $5.  Participants can register at the gazebo next to Middleville Village Hall at 100 E. Main Street, ¼ mile east of the M-37 traffic light.  Participants may walk, run, or bike at your own pack.  Click here for more info.  Note:  The web site above is one of the listings on the Thornapple River Adventure Club web site, featuring many outdoor non-motorized activities.

May 9 — Trail Adopters Meeting, Augusta:  Trail adopters will gather at 9:00 AM at Kellogg Forest on May 9 for a training update from Dave Cornell, and a distribution of blaze paint, etc.  The annual adopter photo will also be taken.  Everyone is invited.  The Kellogg Forest is north of Augusta about 2 miles north of the Shell station on Webster, then becoming 42nd Street, or south from M-89 about 0.7 miles. — See May 9 Hike segment for 8:00 am breakfast opportunity.

Also May 9 — Bird and Wildflower Hike at Fort Custer National Cemetery Section of NCT; Augusta, Kalamazoo County:  The May 9 hike will begin at 10:00 AM. We will meet at the corner of Dickman Road (M-96) and Fort Custer Drive, about ½ mile east of Augusta, to drop some cars, and then continue to the Armstrong Road trailhead to begin our hike.  To get to the trailhead continue about 1.5 miles east to Armstrong Road, and the Armstrong Road trailhead is 0.7 miles north of Dickman Road. —
We will meet for breakfast at Duda’s, at 113 W. Michigan in Augusta at 8:00 AM. Everyone is welcome to join the adopter’s meeting between 9:00 and the beginning of the hike (see above).

May 16 — Work Day to Paint Blazes, Hickory Corners, Barry County:  We are once again scheduling our Blazing Day.  We will meet for breakfast at 8:00 am in Hickory Corners at the Hickory Timber Inn, at 14576 S. Kellogg School Road.  We will distribute paint, assign painting locations, and head out to paint after breakfast.

June 6 — Workday at Bridge Park; Battle Creek:  Our workday at Bridge Park will be a bit of spring cleaning at this historic park, starting at 9:15 am.  We are looking for an adopter to help out on this part of our trail, so this would be a good time to come and take a look, if you are considering adopting a section of trail. — We will meet for breakfast at 8:00 am at the Homespun Restaurant at 210 E. Columbia Avenue in Battle Creek.  To get to Homespun, take the I-194 penetrator toward Battle Creek, and get off on the Columbia Avenue exit, heading west.  The restaurant is on the north side of the road, just west of Riverside Drive.  After breakfast, take Columbia east until it merges with East Michigan Avenue.  Continue east to Wattles Road, and turn south to get to Bridge Park. 

June 20 — Hike at Albion River Trail & Albion College Whitehouse Nature Center, Albion, Calhoun County:  Dedicated in 2007, the Albion River Trail follows the Kalamazoo River for 1.6 miles within Albion.  Click here for a brochure with info.   The Albion College Whitehouse Nature Center is a 134 acre parcel with over 8 miles of hiking trails.  Click here for their web site. — We will start with breakfast at the Albion Garden Restaurant at 1410 N. Eaton Street in Albion at 8:00 am. The Garden Restaurant is about ½ mile south of I-94 at Exit 121. We will leave from there to begin our hike.

June 20 — 175th Anniversary of Village of Middleville Celebration (and Volksmarch):  In conjunction with the 175 Anniversary Celebration of the Village of Middleville, another Volksmarch will be held, with start times between 9 am and noon.  See our May 2 listing (above) for more information on Volksmarches.

NCTA Annual Conference:  Valley City, North Dakota July 30-August 2, 2009 — only 872 miles from Delton, Michigan.
 

Chief Noonday Member 2009 Hiker Challenge
and the story of the brat eating contest

Many years ago, a local friend and I traveled to the Upper Peninsula, where we met two friends living in Wisconsin for a 4 day trout fishing and camping trip.  Everyone was concerned about running out of food, and my friend and I brought along a few pounds of brats from Weber’s in Richland (I think the only good brats in Michigan at that time).  The last night of our trip, we had a big steak dinner with baked potato and corn on the cob.  The brats had not yet been eaten.  We went from not being able to eat another thing — to “I can eat one if he does” — to a contest lasting for several hours.  One of my friends got an early two-brat lead, and every time someone else ate a brat, he quickly ate another to maintain his two-brat margin.  He eventually ate seven brats; the other three of us ate only five.

Now Ron Sootsman has a five-brat lead in the Chief Noonday Hiker Challenge with 53.4 miles.  He is not looking back either and plans a lot more miles before the year is over.  Mike Wilkey is in second place with 9.6 miles, followed by Linda Sootsman in third place at 6.8 miles.  Charles Krammin, Verle Krammin, Steve Hicks, Jeff Fleming, Larry Pio, Chris Vreeland, Tom Warner, Larry Hawkins, and Mick Hawkins are the other early contestants, with less than 3 miles each (not in any particular order).  With spring now here, we hope for bigger numbers going forward.  Let’s go, folks — it's brat eating time.

To review: the challenge goes out to those in our Chapter to see who will hike the most miles on the North Country Trail in 2009.  We will publish the top ten hikers each quarter, as information is provided.  At the end of the year, the hiker with the most miles might get his name on the Chief Noonday Hiker Challenge Cup (this could be a beer mug or a Sierra Cup, we haven’t decided yet). 

The rules are pretty simple so far:
•  You must be a member of the Chief Noonday Chapter at some time during the year.
•  Only North Country Trail miles can be counted.
•  Any segment can only be counted once during the year.
•  Report your segment mileage, and segment ID, to me in person, or via email, or by mail to: 2409 Woody Noll; Portage, MI 49002
•  As a bonus, if you hike more than 200 miles on the North Country Trail, lifetime total, you will be listed on the NCTA web site as a “Hiker of Note”.  (The New NCTA web site is up, and I’m not sure about this now.)

Click here for Information on MSU Kellogg Biological Station special events.

Chief Noonday's Newsletter

Receive the Chief Noonday Chapter newsletter via email.  Contact Larry Pio at nalcoman1@aol.com.

Please share your newsletter with a friend, and tell someone about Chief Noonday and the NCT.  There are several ways to do it:
•  you can send the link to this page [ http://www.northcountrytrail.org/cnd/newsletter.htm ] by e-mail.
•  you can click on the link for the PDF copy at the top of this page and e-mail the PDF file to somebody, or
•  print out copies of the PDF version on your home printer and share them.

As an added bonus, if you are in touch with your "inner historian," archive resources are available on our Web site:
•  Most of the chapter newsletters going back to 2000 are available by clicking on the link of your choice at the bottom of the current Web newsletter (see below).
•  There is a wealth of information available in our Paths Once Wandered and Photos pages.
•  You can even search our Web site for specific topics.  See our search page for instructions.
 

Joining the North Country Trail Association:  Interested in joining the North Country Trail Association?  The easiest way is to go to the national Web site and do it online.  Memberships start at $10 for students, and are $46 for a regular membership.  Your support is appreciated.

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.