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Chair’s Report
July, 2013
Chair John Barron
There is good news concerning trail development. The St. Lawrence County Forestry Department has given permission for the chapter to develop new trails on County land adjacent to Stone Valley. The priority now is an extension of the O’Malley Brook Trail, to a standard that will allow access by hikers and mountain bikers. To advance the project, Ben Yandeau, one of Mark Simon’s long-standing trail maintenance crew chiefs, has joined the ADK and the Laurentian Chapter so as to be able to lead chapter-sponsored maintenance events. Welcome, Ben! Anticipated weather and scheduling considerations suggested starting sooner rather than later, and we’ve quickly put together a series of trail work events on Thursdays in June. We believe that all things being equal it is best to advertise chapter events in the North Wind, but if rapidly unfolding events suggest scheduling a maintenance activity without waiting for the next North Wind cycle, we now have a means to do so. All trips must be endorsed by Vice Chair, Outings, so if you want to schedule an activity between cycles, Bill Mueller is the place to start.
The chapter often collaborates with the Raquette River Blueway Corridor (RRBC). They have are designing information kiosks to be placed along the Raquette (you can see a prototype at the corner of Highway 56 and Main St. in Colton), and are planning major improvements in Ives Park and Stone Valley. The RRBC’s annual “Raquette River Awareness Week” has been renamed “What’s All the Raquette?”, and will run from July 27 to August 4. The chapter is planning to run outings as part of the celebration.
Mary MacKinnon has offered to help Joann Ferris on the hospitality committee. We look forward to seeing her at some of the social events. Thanks, Mary - and thanks for the donated trail maintenance tools too!
We decided, and not without some regrets, that the chapter won’t undertake to sponsor a Venturers group of the Boy Scouts of America. We felt we’d be overextending and may put some of our primary activities at risk. The consensus was we can’t do everything and we’d have to decline this time. We do hope to encourage youth to take part in the chapter’s own outdoor events program.