CENTRAL NEW YORK CHAPTER

Do you think of woods when someone says to you, "New Jersey?" Probably not, yet that was where RANDALL BRUNE learned as a boy that he preferred being in the woods to anywhere else. Perhaps the present scarcity of New Jersey woodlands is one the reasons Randall is so passionate about trails. "Human nature needs the natural world for the fullest kind of life," he says. "If we don't rescue some stretches of woods, there won't be any." Trails give us one reason to preserve the woods, he concludes. Randall is currently president of the Central NY Chapter, but his involvement with the trail goes way back. Together with Charles Embree he designed over 100 miles of the Finger Lakes Trail. They were a good team, Charles was the engineer with technical knowledge, and Randall brought an artist's eye to the trail design process. Much discussion and compromise resulted in beautiful and well-laid-out trails. For years they worked together on the trail at least once a week, no matter what the weather. In recognition of their work on the FLT the pair jointly received the esteemed Wallace Wood Award in 1993. Randall is retired from a distinguished career as an educator in the arts, and still teaches appreciation of art and literature in the Elderhostel Program. Another accomplishment of Randall's is the building of trails near the Syracuse University campus so that he could take the "long route" to work. One CNY member describes Randall with a quote from a past U.S. President, "It's amazing what we can get done if we don't worry about who gets the credit."

BUTLER COUNTY CHAPTER

BRYAN KOEHLER was a backpacker who looked at a map of Pennsylvania and saw a red line labeled North Country Trail. The all too familiar story follows that the trail was only a line on a map, not a path on the ground. But Bryan decided to help change that. He learned trail construction and maintenance, and got involved with the Keystone Trail Association and then the Butler Outdoor Club. He led the team which constructed a 40-foot bridge over the Hidden River. Somehow the bridge grew to 60 feet 1 1/2 inches! How did you stretch those telephone poles, Bryan? (O.K., so you poured a pier, but a pole stretcher sounds like it would have lots of uses if you could invent one.) He says they make it a point to have fun even though there is lots of work to do. "We haven't lost sight of the good camaraderie," he says. Bryan is now in charge of maintenance and construction for the Butler Outdoor Club, and is president of the Butler County Chapter of the NCTA. He has laid out miles of trail in Pennsylvania Gamelands. He says his original intent was to focus on construction and maintenance, but with leadership responsibilities he feels that the time he spends is a valuable contribution. There are "phone calls, meetings, paperwork, organizing of tools, organizing, organizing..,." His career as a landscaper gives him experience in leading work crews, knowledge of equipment and skills needed for quality work. Bryan says that trails seem to lend themselves to meeting two separate needs. They both allow people to escape from daily stress, and can also "promote a sense of community which often seems to be lacking in our society." It is important to him that trails be available to help meet these basic human needs.

BUCKEYE TRAIL ASSOCIATION

WEST MICHIGAN CHAPTER

It's happened to all of us. We arrive at a meeting only to discover that it's not the gathering we thought. Thankfully for us, DAVE SHELDON decided that he liked the North Country Trail Chapter better than the group meeting he had planned to attend! The West Michigan Chapter often went hiking, but Dave said, "Let's do more," so he began leading treks. That was in 1991, and over the years that he's been organizing hikes, he has only missed two of the W MI Saturdays. Dave is a retired weather service specialist, so he also has to bravely put up with taking the blame for whatever weather appears on outing days. He has loved the outdoors since he was a boy. He was a Scout and has continued hiking, camping, and enjoying nature photography as an adult. He sees trails as a great opportunity for people to stay healthy and physically fit, whether they are able to hike 2 miles or 20. Recently Dave's activities have expanded to taking over the chapter newsletter, but this doesn't keep him out of the woods. At the request of the National Park Service he's walking the NCT from Lowell to Mesick, MI (over 100 miles) taking an inventory of trail conditions including erosion, treadway condition, water sources, bridges, boardwalks, parking, etc. Dave is also spearheading a project to take the trail across a campground, a small section involving private property easement, and construction of a bridge. This effort will re-route a connecting segment that is currently on roads. We always like to see those off-road miles increase! The person who nominated Dave described his dedication this way, "He is there come rain, sleet, mud, snow, hail, or mosquitoes... He never runs out of places to lead us,... and has stored maps in his computer of every nook and cranny in Michigan."

NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL HIKERS CHAPTER

ROLAND SCHWITZGOEBEL has "a passion to keep moving through the woods." At age 86 he suspects he's moving a bit slower than he used to, but he says he just loves "locomotion by using my legs." This devotion is verified in the fact that he was also a marathon runner. Retired from teaching Educational Psychology at Northern Michigan University, he's on the NCT Hikers Chapter board and has many ideas to contribute. He is the one remaining member of the original group from when the chapter first formed. He still leads work parties to maintain a 3-mile section of trail he and his wife have adopted. Roland recounted one of their biggest challenges when a timber company did some cutting along the trail. It took a lot of work to clean up the brush they left behind. His wife Marion always works with him, and this fact is the lead-in to a great trail story. There was a log crossing over the West Branch of the Peshekee River. It was about 20 feet above the water in a rocky gorge. Marion refused to traverse this bridge, and thus they did not participate in any work parties or outings on that side of the river. So the NCT Hikers got busy and built abridge to replace the log. Marion was the first to go across the new structure, and it is now known as Marion's Crossing! Roland says that he has unlimited enthusiasm for the trail. He enjoys the fellowship of being with people of different ages, and to work with them. "There is an afterglow when you extend yourself that reverberates through your physical and mental being." Speaking for Marion and himself, he concluded, "we relish it!"

CHEQUAMEGON CHAPTER

It's not very often that a person's formal education has a direct tie-in to their trail involvement, but such is the case for NANCY FRANZ. Her college degree is in Environmental Education and Outdoor Recreation. She now works for the University of Wisconsin Extension, working with youth programs such as 4-H. She became acquainted with the North Country Trail while attending college; the students worked with the Forest Service to maintain the trail through Chequamegon National Forest. When I spoke with her, Nancy was getting ready to leave for a hike on the Ice Age Trail. That's the story of her life. She's been on lots of the NCT besides Chequamegon. The Ottawa NF, the Porkies, and the Superior Hiking Trail (soon to be part of the NCT) are in her quiver of hikes. She's done parts of the Ice Age Trail, and some on the AT and PCT as well. "Hiking is the best way to see the world," she claims, adding, "When you put people in the natural environment it keeps them in touch with themselves." And this is her greatest contribution to the trail community. She serves as a guide for many hikes on the NCT, getting people on to the trail. She has led groups for college orientation. Youth Conservation Corps, Girl Scouts, Women Outdoors (a national volunteer group), juvenile offenders, and "friends by ones, twos, sixes, or tens." She's helped with a few workdays as well, but sees her role as guide as her primary purpose. She really appreciates all the time that people put in to maintain trail, and she believes that North Country Trail folks are especially dedicated. Thanks for the compliment, Nancy, and many thanks to you as well.

BRULE-ST. CROIX CHAPTER

ATLEY OSWALD felt shy about being featured. "I'm just labor," he alleged. But where would we be without labor? You may remember not so many issues back when the northwest Wisconsin route was being selected. Atley is one of the people who are now building that section of new trail. "I would like to see it go faster," he said. Nevertheless, they have put about seven miles of quality trail on the ground in the past year. He will be the leader of the chapter's August work crew. A retired chemist for the State Bureau of Grain Regulation, on the side he restores old cars, keeps a one-acre garden, and is helping gather data for the Wisconsin Bird Atlas. He likes to walk, often taking the dog on a six-mile block near his home. But backpacking, he says, is "special." He says there's a rhythm you get into after about three days on the trail. He and his wife have packed on several long hikes; "you don't need much-just need good shoes and a decent pack." He likes the independence of backpacking- to have everything you need with you. This enjoyment of the trail created the realization that it takes a lot of effort to keep a trail in good repair. So when he saw an article in the paper about the formation of a local chapter he was quick to get involved. Building trail is his favorite activity within the group. He likes to see the transformation from following some flagging tape through the woods, to the return walk on newly created treadway. Sometimes if only a small group can make a workday, they can only complete 100- 200 yards at a time, but we know that's how the miles add up. When you "get a core of people that know what they are doing, before you know it you are down through the woods," Atley said with the pride of someone who has participated in a job well done.