October- December 1999 Issue

A computer, the telephone, and rocks are the featured tools used by our volunteers for this issue. There is also a significant "first" for this column; a great volunteer declined to be interviewed and featured. His wishes will be honored of course, but let me explain why this is so disappointing to me. This will also be a good reminder of why this feature was created. Many of the people who are submitted to me for inclusion are very shy about their participation when I call to interview them. I hear the following phrases over and over again. "There are others more deserving than I am." "I don't want to appear to be bragging." "We all are part of the trail effort." "I really haven't done much."

I'd like to respond to these comments individually. No one volunteer is more or less deserving of a little praise than any one else. Different efforts accomplish different things. We do not want to assign value or ranking to any volunteer effort for the trail. People have varying amounts of time and abilities to spend on trail work. Diversity of talents is a key ingredient in the success of promoting and protecting the trail, i.e. the computers, telephones and rocks which we'll get to eventually. Many persons are extremely deserving of a pat on the back, and we would like to eventually feature all of them! If you feel someone who is also deserving has not been featured, let me know and I'll tell you how to submit their name! I would agree that there are many long-time trail supporters who have not been featured, but one of YOU must request that person to be interviewed.

No one who is featured can even be accused of "bragging." Each person who is featured here has been submitted to me by another person or persons from the local area where the featured volunteer lives or works. Anyone whose accomplishments are described here is valued by the people he or she works with. Exactly the opposite of braggadocio, the purpose of this feature is encouragement, not pomposity. Other volunteers are encouraged to see that someone else has had success at a difficult task. Perhaps your perseverance can inspire another person to "hang in there" on a discouraging trail effort. Another person who is hesitating to volunteer because they feel they can't wield an ax or saw may realize that there are other talents which can be applied to trail building. The NCTA is a small group of people trying to create a 4400-mile trail across seven states. We need a sense of community, but it's hard to get to know other people when they are so few and far between. "Heart and Sole" can help us get to know each other. Perhaps someone will read about what you did and even contact you for advice on a similar task. Instead of bragging, you will be helping even more! Yes, we are all part of the trail effort. That's the point.

The response that makes me shake my head in wonder is "I haven't done much." I've heard this from folks who have volunteered hundreds of hours! I hear it from folks who discount what they have done because they enjoy what they are doing so much, as if that negates the value of the effort. I hear it from folks who feel undeserving because they are relative newcomers to the trail community. I would remind you that whatever you have done for the trail is more than what would have been done without you. Projects built and sustained by volunteers require different measuring gauges than just the number of wins, or hours worked, or sales, or physical results that can be seen. Perhaps your contribution is one key element without which some project could not be accomplished. The boss can't just assign some unpleasant but necessary task to the office low-man-on-the-totem-pole; someone will have to volunteer to do that miserable job to make the entire project successful.

So we thank you all whose hearts are large enough to take on small tasks, big projects, short tasks, long tasks, unpleasant tasks, tasks so enjoyable that they are more fun than work, or finally, those computers, telephones or rocks...

BUCKEYE TRAIL ASSOCIATION


STEVE MILLER is a very busy fellow! He works as a computer programmer for Portion Pac in Mason, Ohio, is building a house, and has an infant daughter. Turns out he's also busy on the trail. Steve has applied his COMPUTER skills to the Buckeye Trail web site this past year. He has completely re-worked the site to provide more information about hiking in Ohio, as well as information about the actual BT Association. That was a job that took about three months to complete, and he does regular updates. Steve feels a real sense of accomplishment at re-organizing the BTA website. Requests for information from the internet have risen dramatically and he is pleased to contribute to the increased awareness of the trail. He also serves on the BTA board of directors, and is Section Supervisor for the Williamsburg section, about 50 miles of trail. He says he was just "looking to help out," when he was asked to consider this large responsibility. Steve has decided that focusing on those 50 miles has helped him to not become overwhelmed at the thought of how much there is to do on the entire 1200-mile Buckeye Trail (NCT is concurrent with about 800 of those miles). When he took on this section east of Cincinnati about 90% of it was a road walk. Steve has managed to re-locate a lot of these miles so that now only 50% is on roads. That's quite a feat, and one that I personally will enjoy as I add that section to my own NCT miles this next year. Now I will know who to thank! Steve first learned about the trail from a book about hiking in Ohio. When he wrote for more information he learned that the BT/NCT passed only a mile from his house. He quickly joined the organization and a few years later began actively working at trail-building. "I'm really selfish," Steve tried to convince me. He likes the contrast of "getting out and away in the woods" to his high-tech, high-stress days at the office. But he then realized that his efforts may help others to have that same selfish opportunity to experience "the woods, the scenery, the quiet." "All my aches and pains go away in the woods." There's a good prescription for healthy living from Steve!

GRAND TRAVERSE HIKERS


Sometimes the chief qualification for being given responsibility is that you find yourself first in the line. This happened to KATHY SABEL when she responded to an article in the newspaper in 1993 about a Chapter of the NCTA which was forming in Traverse City, Michigan. She quickly found herself in the position of club secretary and membership chairman! We are sure, though, that the responsibility was not misplaced. Kathy likes to hike and ski, and being new to the TC area she wanted to get to know others with similar interests. Because of her position, her phone number was made available for people to contact for information about the trail. The library, the Chamber of Commerce, and local stores all gave out her TELEPHONE number when people asked about the trail. "I got a LOT of calls," Kathy told me. She was able, in this way, to recruit quite a few members. She passed that office along to someone else last year and is now focused on other trail efforts. She has led a lot of hikes too. This began simply enough when the newly formed club's executive committee got maps, picked a place to hike, and just went and did it. This is the total immersion method of leadership training! Kathy also has adopted three miles of the NCT to maintain, and works on the Lost Lake Pathway which is close to her home. Kathy likes being able to enjoy nature on the trail while also working to protect resources for the next generation. "It's a good way to keep active; it energizes you," she emphasized. Kathy is retired from being in charge of about 200 computers for Dow Chemical, and so has been able to hike and stay energized through Elderhostel on many trails around the country. Her responsibilities for the local chapter are also diverse. She enjoyed being part of a large bridge-building project that involved carrying in planks and heavy tools, doing a trail re-route, moving a cabin, and then the final trail marking and blazing. Of course that crew had to be fed, and Kathy also helped with the food preparation. She has received the 100-hour volunteer award from the NCTA. This willingness at such a variety of roles is certainly what prompts another club member to describe Kathy as a "dedicated club member who is always willing to help out."

BRULE- ST. CROIX CHAPTER


OK, I could have chosen many tools to describe CHUCK ZOSEL's work for the North Country Trail. But I selected ROCKS. Rocks that Chuck had to find in the woods. Those woods are ones that he knows well. Chuck recently retired from as Superintendent of the Brule River State Forest in western Wisconsin, from which position he has been aware of the NCT since the planning stages in the 1970's. During his time with the SF he was involved in administration and management of about 26 miles of the trail. Originally the trail followed a snowmobile route, but Chuck's "first love" is for the narrow foot paths that allow you "to get close to the land and take in the sights, sounds, and smells." He has been pleased to see the NCT moved from the wider route to become one of these special woodland paths through "his" forest. As a volunteer Chuck is the treasurer of the Brule-St.Croix Chapter, co-chaired their National Trails Day event this year, and was the first from the chapter to adopt a section of the trail as his own. This leads us, finally, to those rocks. The whole story is one of the continuing transition Chuck is making from professional forester to trail volunteer. The chapter takes its name from the two major rivers in the area. The Brule River flows northward to Lake Superior and the entire Great Lakes navigation route. The St. Croix flows southward, eventually joining the Mississippi. The rivers are separated at one point by only two miles. As you have now guessed, these miles are an historic portage used by Native Americans and then explorers and pioneers. The portage was first described by a European in 1680 and was in use until 1880 when the trail was abandoned as water routes were replaced by overland transportation. Many such trails disappear forever. Thanks to Chuck's efforts this one will not be lost. His last official act as Forest Superintendent was to purchase the final piece of land so that the entire portage route will remain under state protection. But 1880 was a long time ago; what had happened to the actual trail? Now Chuck transitions to a volunteer. He learned that the trail was re-established in the 1930's and marked with boulders. These rocks were marked with bronze plaques commemorating explorers and pioneers who used the portage. So Chuck has been searching the woods for these monuments and is working to restore the original route of the portage trail. This tiny, but exciting, piece of history will now be preserved in our North Country Trail thanks to Chuck Zosel. So, from all of us, "Thanks, Chuck!"

I am especially encouraged by this issue's group of volunteers. The North Country Trail continues to struggle to find an identity within the community of National Scenic Trails. The Appalachian Trail has the Blue Ridge, The Pacific Crest and Continental Divide Trails have watershed divisions, the Ice Age Trail has it's glacial border, the Natchez Trace Trail follows an historic route, the Potomac Heritage Trail traces a river and the Florida Trail has Floridian identity. But who are we? What comprises our trail's "soul." Our geology is diverse, as are our volunteers. Our goal is to preserve and make available off-road, woodland/prairie experiences in the increasingly populated North-East. Our route is made up of thousands of fragments of our nation's diverse history. Each volunteer brings us closer to the reality. The effort is sort of like crafting a string of beads that somehow do not need to be placed on the cord in consecutive order. One of these days, though, we will awake to discover a beautiful complete chain of scenic and historic jewels stretching across the North Country.

Please feel free to nominate a volunteer for this feature. Contact me to find out how. Joan Young, 861 W. US 10, Scottville. MI 49454 or at jhy@t-one.net

Download a nomination form (a Word document)