CMC Weekly News
10/06/04
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Rudnick's charitable ways live on through foundation
Not too many people in Hendersonville County knew Perry Rudnick. "If you saw him out in town, you would think he had nothing", said Peggy Judkins, Rudnick's friend and accountant. He did not care about finances and very few people knew him.
He was a quiet man and an outdoor person, Priscilla Cantrell said. His major interests, after moving here from New York City, were collecting sculpture and building trails and leading hikes with the Carolina Mountain Club. He moved here in 1982 from NYC after selling a very successful printing business.
"He entered enthusiastically into a rigorous hiking and trail maintenance schedule", said Harlow Haskins, a member of the Carolina Mountain Club. "He once was heard to say, "My friends in Brooklyn would never believe I'm taking and leading physically demanding hikes and engaging in strenuous trail maintenance activities that left me begrimed and sweaty at the end of a workday."
Perry Rudnick died in 2000 and left an estate that today totals over $6,200,000 and has recently became the first private foundation to merge with the Community Foundation of Henderson County. Before this merger the Rudnick Foundation since his death has distributed over $600,000 to various organizations including the Carolina Mountain Club.
Many of our CMC members knew Perry and as noted above were very privileged to have shared life with him. There are many points of interest in this story but one I have is, never underestimate the worth of the person hiking beside you as you take those last steps to get to the top of the next mountain. Rewritten from the Citizen Times 10/4/04. Don Walton
VOTE FOR THE NEW DUES SCHEDULE ON NOV 6!!
Dear Fellow CMC Members, I, Piet Bodenhorst, am the scheduler for the four Eastern Trail Maintenance Crews and would like to give you my reasons for asking you to vote for the dues increase. The club has eight trail crews working very hard to assist the Section Maintainers keeping over 600 miles of hiking trails in good repair and building new trails, so you can enjoy your hikes in confront without concern for your safety The Club has budgeted $3000/year (under $400/crew) for maintenance related cost. The 38 members of the 4 Eastern Crews, last year spent: Mileage for transport to trail head. 550/week @$.50 /mile $13750 New Equip. (Hoes, Pulaskies, sledges, loppers, weed-eater) $ 1350 Equip. Maint. $218 Chainsaw and weed-eater supplies $285 Training and Certification $240 Total $15843. I am sure the other four crews had similar expenses. Obviously, most of these costs have been absorbed by the crew members also a portion was covered by various grants from friends of CMC. Don't you, as user of the trails, also have an investment in the upkeep? The past three yearly negative budget variances cannot be sustained. Please vote for the new dues schedule on Nov 6. Piet Bodenhorst CMC Council Member
Trail Information
Well in a week a lot has changed. The worst downed trees were right around Asheville with 40-50 per mile not unusual. We have cleared the MST from Hwy 191 to the Pisgah Inn. The Shut-in Foot Race will have clear sailing or running. The MST section from Ox Creek Road to Hwy 25A is clear. There remains two areas, Hwy 25A to Hwy 191 and from Ox Creek Road to above Rattlesnake Lodge. These two areas have a lot of downed trees. The rest of the MST is probably more lightly affected. This will still take a long time to clear. The AT was also lightly affected. We do not know about adjoining trails at this time. The most current information about trail issues is on the www.Carolinamtnclub.com web site under "Trail Issue Data". Also there is a daily web site for the Smoky Mountain National Park: http://nps.gov/grsm/gsmsite/roadinfo.html and a site for the National Park System that includes info about the Blue Ridge Parkway: http://data2.itc.nps.gov/morningreport/ . Don Walton
The North Shore Environmental Impact Statement Released!
Newsletter: The September 2004 North Shore Road Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Newsletter is now online for viewing and download. Please visit the following link to view the latest version of the project newsletter: http://www.northshoreroad.info/newsletters.htm
Public Comment Summary: The summary of public comments from the Alternatives Development Phase is now online. Please click on each of the comment sheet questions to review the summary of public comments corresponding to each question: http://www.northshoreroad.info/summarypubliccomments02_0304.htm
It is not to late to get your AT License Plate
NC is on the verge of getting the needed 300 applications for the AT license plate, which will start production! State Sen. Joe Sam Queen was responsible for getting the AT tag included in the license plate legislation, and is proud to support the AT. In addition to the link below you can get the information you need to sign up for an AT license plate on the Appalachian Trail Conference website at http://www.appalachiantrail.org/trailnews/nc_plate.html . It is a great looking plate that will enhance your vehicle!!! A picture of the plate is shown.
Would someone like to make a nomination?
Blue Ridge Outdoors is seeking the nominations of hiking clubs around the region for the hiking categories in our annual Best of the Outdoors issue. We¹d appreciate if you could make a nomination for the following categories:
Best Blue Ridge Hiking Trails
Day Hike:
Weekend Hike:
Long Distance Hike:
Most Crowded Trail:
Best Kept Secret:
Inspiring Individuals
Any inspiring individuals from the hiking community that deserve special mention for extraordinary work this year?
Controversial Issues
Any issues of concern in the hiking community that deserve mention?
Please use this as opportunity to highlight the best of hiking in the Blue Ridge. Thanks. Jedd Ferris Assistant Editor Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine 114 Old Preston Ave. Charlottesville, VA 22902 434-817-2755 ext. 23
PROGRAMS AT WESTERN (WCU)
CULLOWHEE – The historic Haywood County community of Cataloochee will be the focus of a free program at Western Carolina University's Mountain Heritage Center.
A Wednesday, Oct. 20, program will feature Jerry Wolfe of Cherokee talking about the Ravensford community, while a Wednesday, Nov. 3, program will include Helen Vance and Mildred Johnson speaking about the town of Proctor, which was located on Hazel Creek .
The Mountain Heritage Center is located on the ground floor of Western's H.F. Robinson Administration Building. For more information, contact the center at (828) 227-7129.
Hello Neighbor Trail Lovers,
Thanks for your hard trail work! I wanted to invite the Carolina Mountain Club members to the Heritage Trails Festival in Cumberland Gap, TN October 15/16. We are reaching out to our local hiking community in effort for help in support of Cumberland Gap's area trails and the history tied within. We hope to make this an annual event. We would be a happy to link your website to ours www.heritagetrailsfest.com and vice versa. The festival and the events are centered around hiking, biking, and running. We are also hosting the 4th Annual Titanium Chef Backcountry Cookoff. You are welcome to use the description attached for your calendar. Looking forward to hearing from you, Tina Dean Seymour, TN (across the mountain :D)
CMC Wilderness First Aid Course
The CMC Education and Training committee is organizing a Wilderness First Aid Course on Nov. 13 and 14, 2004. This is a 16 hour course, led by professional trainers and held at Warren Wilson College. CMC offered it two years ago and it was a great success. To stay certified, you should take the course every two years. (Hopefully, you don't need to use the information too much. So they feel that the course needs to be taken every two years. This will be my 5th time taking it and I learn something new each time.) The cost to the participant is $75, which is not the full cost of the course. CMC is also contributing to the costs. **This is the last year, CMC will contribute to the costs.** All participants must be members, We only have room for 30 people. I know that the course is a long time from now. However I encourage you to sign up now with all your details (name, address, telephone number, email) *and* a self-addressed stamped envelope and a check for $75 made out to Carolina Mountain Club. Send it to me Danny Bernstein, 488 Kimberly Avenue, Asheville, NC 28804
