CENTRAL NEW YORK CHAPTER

KATHY EISELE has been a long-time trails advocate. She has been a Trails Committee member (1990-95) of the Onondaga Chapter of ADK for whom she co-ordinated the activity reporting of 60-65 trail stewards. She has also served on the Board of Managers for the Finger Lakes Trail Conference. Now Kathy fills the role of Trail Chair for Central NY's NCTA Chapter, but that sure doesn't keep her sitting down. She has personal responsibility to maintain the Trout Brook section of the FLT near McGraw. Kathy's work outfit for such activities is unique and practical- she wears her late father's "cobbler's apron." She says this provides good protection for her work supplies and other clothing. Al Larmann (Newsletter editor for CNY) wants to assure you that this is careful planning, not just something Kathy "cobbled up!" We note the fashionable color and design coordination with the marking tape! In everyday life Kathy is English Department Chair at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY. She has taught in Illinois and Ohio. A trip to East Africa with the Peace Corps in 1967-68 certainly also demonstrates Kathy's priorities. Trails that offer attractions for both the experienced backpacker and the casual day hiker appeal to her. Her experience, mentoring skills and personal goals form a synergistic combination that is hard to beat to create a great leader.

FINGER LAKES TRAIL CONFERENCE

In contrast to his work days spent as a "number-cruncher" at a computer, MARK HITTLE says that trail activities offer him the opportunity for "straightforward" exercise where the folks he meets act ''without pretense or hidden agendas." He should know. Mark has served for many years with the Foothills Trail Club, and has been on the FLTC Board of Managers. He is now the FLTC Treasurer, is on the Membership Committee, and helps on Alley Cat (trail building and maintenance) crews. In case this is not enough, he is section coordinator for the 172 miles of Finger Lakes Trail (not all NCT miles) that the Foothills Trail Club maintains. He also maintains his own section of trail in Allegany State Park. This gives him lots of that straightforward exercise since it is a section heavily damaged by gypsy moths and a beech fungus blight. He says there is always clean-up work to to be done there. He has also helped to build a bridge and three lean-tos in Allegany. Mark must have trails in his genes since his parents helped to found the Foothills Trail Club in the 1960's. He moved away from NY for a while, but when he returned he hoofed it right back into the trail community. He brings his problem-solving skills to bear on trail issues such as partnerships with other trail users. Encouraging participation in National Trails Day is another of Mark's priorities. However, when I asked him to tell me what he would choose as his most important contribution to trails, he said, "I show up." Are you listening, all you folks who feel you don't have a lot to offer?

AMERICAN YOUTH HOSTEL - PITTSBURGH

BOB TAIT (photo below- he's on the left) has given enormous amounts of time to making the NCNST a reality in western Pennsylvania. Three years ago he started the Butler OutdoorClub and made it his major goal to get the NCT on the ground across Butler County. This led to the formation of the Butler County Chapter of NCTA. Bob then resigned from the Butler Outdoor club to create time to become State Coordinator for Pennsylvania. In this capacity, Bob is now trying to form chapters in Clarion and Beaver Counties. Other current projects include creating a state logo, a video, and beginning a state newsletter. Publicity for the trail is one of his top priorities in case you couldn't tell! He is also involved in planning a Trail Work Training day scheduled for May. Outdoor recreation, and opportunities for both solitude and companionship are trail attributes that Bob values. There is a growing closeness as you get to know folks on the trail, but you can also drop back and quickly slip into a world of solitude on a hike. He also sees hikes and work days as tools for teaching leadership. He says, "adversity teaches: people will work together on a hike to solve problems." Motivating people and keeping them involved are personal contributions he considers worth- while. Bob's final comment on trail contribution? "Everyone has a skill that they can bring and no one should hesitate to pitch in!"

BUTLER COUNTY CHAPTER

Recently retired from a career with an electric company, JOE SMITH (on the right) says the company's philosophy of "corporate citizenship" has become a way of life for him. Energy conservation, environmental concerns, and personal health are pieces of that philosophy. So, says Joe, "Why not do it in the woods?" He subsequently joined a class in backpacking offered by the Butler Outdoor Club, and has been in the woods ever since. Well, maybe they let him go home sometimes, but the list of Joe's accomplishments makes you wonder when! He has participated in almost all the work weekends, and has made it his personal responsibility to keep the work shed in a state of readiness with tools, paint and other materials for trail work. From helping build a bridge, to recruiting friends to help paint blazes, Joe is always there. He's also helping to plan that May trail building seminar mentioned above. Other community volunteer activities include the United Way, and he has been honored with the ButlerCounty Distinguished Citizen Award. No matter how much has been done, Joe notes that there is always more to do. A top priority for him is to sow seeds of interest in his family, which includes three grown children and seven grandkids. He wants to be an example to them of personal responsibility, and of good health in both mind and body. There's heart and sole in action! Joe views trails as an outlet for his bottled-up energy. He is also an avid reader and he says that he "likes to get lost on the trail" the same way that you can get lost in a book. A recent good read was a book called Cold Mountain. This tells the tale of a Civil War soldier's trek home following Indian paths, deer trails and wilderness roads. This heritage of trails is ours, Joe points out, with all the requirements for hardiness and survival. "If then, why not now?" Joe asks.

BUCKEYE TRAIL ASSOCIATION

RICHARD PFEIFFER has always been a hiker and backpacker, and when he moved to Ohio from Idaho he had no intention of changing that. He saw an article in the newspaper about the Buckeye Trail Association, and says he had a check for membership) in the mail that same day. Soon after that he adopted a trail section of his own for maintenance. He's now on the board of the BTA, serving as Secretary, a "big responsibility," he says. Sometimes wandering through words is as challenging as through the woods. He is also supervisor of and participant in work parties on the New Straitsville section of the trail in southeast Ohio and the Wayne National Forest. Trail experiences are "almost religious" for Richard. He is one-eighth Pamunkey Indian (descendants of the half-brother of Powhatan, Pocahontas' father), and finds that being in the woods keeps him in touch with that heritage. Trails allow him to get away from the noise and hub-bub of his regular job as a truck driver. He also likes to identify birds and trees. He feels that he is most valuable to work crews in that he can work hard. When building trail, he likes to be the first one in line after the route is marked, to pull out logs and brush. This leads to his crafting of hiking sticks which he makes and gives to friends. His sticks are truly mementoes of the trail as they are made from appropriately sized saplings which happened to be growing where the treadway was built. Richard says of his involvement, "I live and work the Buckeye Trail."

CHIEF NOONDAY CHAPTER

It was my pleasure to meet and work with JIM McMELLEN on a one-day trail building seminar in southwest Michigan. Jim is a crew leader for the gung-ho Chief Noonday group who are carving out some of the NCT's first miles across private property. Jim spends his days behind a desk working for Central Michigan Head Start, and calls being in the woods "like therapy." He sees the wilderness being gobbled up by development and other commercial needs such as forest harvesting, and he believes that building and preserving trails is "one thing that our generation can give to the next." Jim takes this commitment seriously. He consistently takes his family to the woods on work trips. This is no small commitment in itself, as he and his wife have eight children, ranging in age from 19 down to just under a year. He says they spent 95 days out of last summer in the woods. Bud, aged 10, seems to enjoy it most of all, but Jim is equally proud of his teenage daughters who are competent to do trail maintenance all on their own. All the kids enjoy the experience. In addition to work on the North Country Trail, they do maintenance in Yankee Springs Recreation Area. Jim became involved "quite by accident." He awoke one Saturday morning to see a film clip on TV about the NCT (apparently the homemade video put together by Tom Gilbert in the 1960's). Jim decided he wanted to hike some of this trail. One thing led to another and soon he was looking for volunteer opportunities, helping create trail through the Lost Nations State Game Area. Wh½en the Chief Noonday Chapter formed in his local area Jim says he "jumped on it." He values "stick-to-it-ive-ness" and is gladi that he is able to be there when work needs to be done. The "North Country Trail has fulfilled a need in my life," Jim quietly added. "It is not only a major hobby, but also gives me an opportunity to do my part."

WEST MICHIGAN CHAPTER

The Western Michigan folks unanimously cried, "GINNY WUNSCH!" She has done so much for the NCT that a full article about her will be written for a future issue of North Star. But here's a sneak preview. Anyone who wrote to the NCTA for information or maps before an executive director was hired about five years ago probably received a hand-written note from Ginny. She single-handedly managed almost all the association's correspondence during that time. She loves the out-of-doors, especially on foot. She moved to White Cloud, MI to teach. The rural area offered her many outdoor pleasures, and it happened that unbeknownst to her this put her at the mid-point of the newly created North Country NST. The NCTA's first president. Lance Feild, called the Newago Chamber of Commerce looking for a building that might be donated as a headquarters. Ginny knew of the old school house, since it was only two miles from her home, and thus began her involvement. "I was so excited to have a National Trail right there," she explained. "I would go out after school, after supper, and hike and work on the trail." Ginny was Vice-president of the Western MI Chapter for about 10 years, and has done lots of trail clearing and maintenance. She was in charge of the project to make the old schoolhouse useable as an American Youth Hostel. She admits that was a big project but feels that it is her most valuable contribution to the trail.

NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL HIKERS CHAPTER

Although MARTI LEPPANEN was truly reluctant to let us write about her, the North Country Hikers say that she is the closest person in their area to being a living legend. Marti is a retired nurse but she certainly has never retired from living life to the fullest. In addition to being a hiker, Marti has been a long-time biker. She and a friend rode (as in pushed pedals) from Michigan to the west coast (as in Pacific Ocean) in 1951. A couple of years ago she walked six miles to a ski outing, citing the hike as a warm-up for the scheduled activity! She also kayaks, swims, and gardens. One thing she especially likes about trail building is bushwhacking and scouting out trail routes. She says that she likes the challenge of the unknown that this affords. Also satisfying to her is the hard work involved. She claims she has "laborer's genes," referring to a portion of her childhood when her Finnish family packed up and moved to a Utopian community) in the northern Soviet Union in the 1930's. After two years they became disillusioned and returned to the U.S. Marti discounts her talents claiming that her attention to detail causes her to work slowly, and a recent wrist injury has slowed her a bit. But I have it on good authority that she still works harder and longer than many younger folks on the trail work days, and that she shows up to participate in more of them than anyone else. Personal goalsand the North Country Trail? Marti savs.she would like to hike the whole thing when she turns 80. "That would be something," she declared.

CHEQUAMEGON CHAPTER

GEORGE TRESNAK may already be familiar to some readers. His wonderful poem "The Trek of '93" appeared in the January 1997 issue of North Star, and attendees of the 1996 annual conference in Wisconsin had a chance to hear George himself recite his droll, sled-dogging ballad. George moved to his present home in 1985, and found that the trail passed only a mile from his house. Being a hiker and a musher he decided to get involved, and formed the Chequamegon Chapter. The "silent wilderness" appeals to George, but on reflection he commented that another of the positive things is that there are sounds returning to the woods that we may not have heard for a while. These are the sounds of coyotes, frogs, grouse, loons, and wolves. He likes knowing that we have this link with Native Americans and homesteaders; that they also heard these sounds. Another of his priorities is to collect trail history. There are many places along the trail where there are stories of past struggles and lives waiting to be told. Many people who could share these memories are aging, and George would like to see this history gathered together. George has worked hard at trail building, maintenance and publicity. He feels that he will have made a worthwhile contribution when the trail becomes a lasting reality.

HERITAGE CHAPTER

Sometimes you have to travel to learn what's in your own backyard. Such was true for JIM BUROW. Four years ago he was hiking in the Allegheny National Forest of Pennsylvania and saw a trail crew who told him that this was part of the NCT. When he learned that the trail extended through Wisconsin, he went home and quickly ferreted out more information. When he discovered that a good-sized group of folks had to travel many miles to take part in any chapter activities, he got the ball rolling to form the Heritage Chapter. He was its first Vice-President, and is now President. Jim works in the social sciences, and sees trails as a natural extension of that interest. You need trails to get peocle into the outdoors, and being in the outdoors helps people lo learn more about themselves. "You grow a little more every time you go out," he asserted. One big achievement of Jim's is in organizing work crews from the Winnebago Institute, a state youth correctional facility. This past summer a group of these young people built an 18-foot single span bridge and cleared two miles of new trail. There are plans to extend this program, and also to work with the Student Conservation Association. Jim also leads training sessions on outdoor skills for the Boy Scouts. Planning is another of Jim's priorities. He has been instrumental in drafting a 5-year plan, which asks important questions such as "what are our goals?" and "what kind of trail do we want to develop?" Part of the answer to that question involves the development of both long and short loop routes involving sites of local historical interest, one of which is a bogus gold mine! Jim is one of those who must drive a fair number of miles to reach the trail, but this has not deterred him. Another club member said of Jim, "he has made a flock of trips to the northland... and he likes to get things done."

BRULE-ST. CROIX CHAPTER

DOMINIC SOSNOWSKI has participated in every Brule St.-Croix chapter activity. For their National Trails Day hike he made and posted signs to direct people to the meeting location. "They were just printed on my computer and stapled to lath," Dominic told me, sort of discounting their importance. But how often have you been looking for some activity and wished that someone had been this thoughtful? It's the little things such as this that often mean so much! Although Dominic had seen the near-by trail marked on maps he knew that it did not officially exist on the ground. So when he saw a notice in the local paper of a meeting, he decided to see what it was all about. The chapter has been working to make a section of an old portage trail between the Mississippi and the Great Lakes useable. The historical significance also appeals to him. Trail people are a "barrel of fun," he says. Dominic likes to take his nieces and nephews hiking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. This gives him a chance to get away from the stress of his job and to experience the quiet that can be found on the trail. He also likes to help build trail and maintains a section too. "I'm grunt labor," as he expressed it. It sure takes a good amount of that commodity to get trails off of paper and onto the ground.

HEADWATERS CHAPTER

Another volunteer whose trail life is inseparably tied to young people is FRED CRAWFORD. In fact, his Scouting vocation is what led him to the North Country Trail. As part of the requirements for the Wood Badge Adult Training he helped to build a campsite on the NCT; the trail has been part of his experience ever since. Fred is the (BSA) Indianhead Council Coordinator for NCT projects. This is acouncil with over 16,000 registered scouts! With his great interest in conservation and teaching kids, he says that there were so many good things happening involving the trail that he "just had to be a part of it." Fred is an advisor for scouting's Eagle rank and also for the lesser known but high-ranking William Homaday conservation award. He also is badge counselor for Nature and Forestry badges. All of these positions give him opportunities to take boys to the trail, 0ne unusual accomplishment is that he helped to create: Scout-produced "how-to" video on the trail history, tools and their uses. and trail building. Since the council is in the Twin Cities area. miles from the trail, a method was needed to let participants in work projects see ahead of time what they would be doing. The video met this need. Fred says there has been tremendous response. Several Eagle Projects have been done on the trail and troops have adopted sections for maintenance. This May there will be a regional Jamboree, and Fred's troop is planning a booth displaying the North Country Trail. It's probably not surprising that Fred feels that his most valuable contribution is in the area of promoting conservation to boys. Here comes our next generation of trail supporters! Thanks. Fred.