There were at least 30 members and guests present, including Joan & Omer Young, Ed & Nan Chappel, Stuart Wolf, Van & Janet Serrel, Gordon & Betty Wilkes, Mark & Angie & Forest Addington, Al Boulee, Phil, Nathan & Tasha Miller, Maureen Haupert, Maxine Sherburn, Ed Morse, Ramona Venegas and NCTA Executive Director Bob Papp.

Hike was led by Mark & Angie from 4 to 6. Picnic was from 6 to 7 with grilled hot dogs and several salads. Rain tried to dampen spirits of both activities. Activities were slightly damp but not spirits.

Joan opened the meeting at 7:05 in the Visitor's Center. She started by speaking about officer elections and then introduced the present Chapter officers, both present and absent. Nominations (or reluctant volunteers) for the next 2 years were named as: President, Rich Kreiger; VP, Joan Young; Secretary, Joan Young; Treasurer, Mary Soule; Trail Coordinator, Ed Chappel and Ed Morse to share duties.

Joan then asked for more nominations and/or volunteers, with the caution that anyone who was nominated had to be willing to serve. There were no nominations from the floor. Ed Chappel moved Nominations be closed. Seconded by Ed Morse. Vote was in favor. Joan then asked for vote to accept the new slate of officers. Vote was in favor. Joan asked for a short meeting of new officers after the general meeting. This ended business portion of the meeting.

Joan asked Rich Krieger to the front. Rich and Deb Krieger were presented with certificates for volunteer activities at National Trails Day. Ed Morse was asked to the front. Ed was presented a Certificate for volunteer activities on trail maintenance. Angie Addington was asked to the front. Angie was presented a certificate for work at the National Trails Day. Joan then explained how volunteer activities are so important for continued funding and support of the trail.

Angie stood up and asked to speak. She read a poem she had written to honor Joan for 4 years of service as president of the Chapter, then presented Joan with a printed copy.

Joan then introduced Bob Papp, Executive Director of NCTA. Bob started by talking about importance of volunteers. He added that volunteer hours are one of the most convincing arguments for continued support and funding when they talk with state and national Representatives. Then he talked about the state of the Trail, in the last 6 years over 400 miles has been certified as completed trail. There are now over 1700 miles of certified trail. There are now over 2400 members. Map production is proceeding. All new maps will be at 1:100,000 scale rather than the previous 1:24,000 scale. Bob displayed several new brochures that are available to explain about the trail.

Staff is working on regional offices and the process to hire the first Director of Trail Management is in progress.

The "Willing Seller" bill to allow the Park Service to buy land for the trail has passed in the House of Representatives and now a slightly different version has passed the Senate Committee, specifying only 3 of the national scenic trails. Now it must go back to the House for more work.

Bob then asked for questions from the audience. Question was asked about the original development and location of the trail. Bob explained general development of location with very general maps and how general location was refined with large scale and more detailed maps and on-the-ground study and property owner contacts. Question was asked about primary uses. Bob explained that the intent was that eventually the trail would be for hiking and backpacking. Question was asked about how volunteer hours for NCT compare with Appalachian Trail volunteer hours. NCT volunteer hours are a fraction of the volunteer hours for the AT. This lead to more discussion about the value of volunteer hours and some of the awards available. Bob said the National Park Service puts a value of $15.86 per hour for volunteer time.The importance of submitting all volunteer hours to the office was stressed. Joan showed the shirt she had been given for accumulating over 400 volunteer hours.

Bob asked Angie to come up front. Angie was presented with a plaque for Communicator of the Year. This was for her work on the SPW Newsletter which is recognized as the best of all the chapters, and other communication efforts.

Joan then gave her slide show on the North Country National Scenic Trail.

Meeting was ended at 9:00 PM

minutes taken by Ed Morse, secretary