CMC Enewsletter - Nov. 9, 2007

If you want to place an obituary in the eNews and I have not heard of this person, I run it past the communications committee. If none of us know the person and you feel strongly about it, you must poll the CMC council. If a majority of the council feels that the obituary should go in, then you need to write it and I'll put it in. Danny.

The placement of obituaries in the Let’s Go newsletter is impractical because of space considerations and the timeliness of publication; the newsletter only appears once a quarter. Stuart.

It is traditional for CMC presidents to start the annual meeting with a “State of the Club” report, and I want to begin by telling you that the state of the club is very good.

Our club is 10 percent larger that it was this time last year. We have nearly 900 members. Either next year or the year after, we will pass the thousand member mark.

We scheduled 185 hikes per year, which attract over 2300 participants. In the 12 months ending on September 30, 258 individuals put in a total of 13,444 hours on trail maintenance.That's an average of more than 50 hours per individual, which shows how dedicated our trail maintainers are. The Blue Ridge Parkway Headquarters Division recognized that dedication by naming CMC its volunteer of the year.

(Lenny Bernstein holds up the plaque that CMC was awarded.)
Read the whole talk.

CMC 2007 Officers
President: Becky Smucker
Vice President: Barth Brooker
Secretary: Kathleen Hannigan
Treasurer: Carroll Koepplinger
Councilor for Conservation: Ruth Hartzler
Councilor for Education: Cindy McJunkin
Councilor for Hiking: Charlie Ferguson
Councilor for Maintenance: Bill Newton
Councilor for Membership: Ashok Kudva
Councilor-at-Large: Jim Reel
Councilor-at-Large: Don Gardner

Thanks to Les Love, Chair, and to Ken Deal, Michael Cornn, Jean Gard, Ashok Kudva and Stan Smith, members of the Nominating Committee, for coming up with a great slate.

Sherman Stanbaugh (left, below) was awarded an Honorary Life Memberhip, the highest award that CMC makes. Sherman has been one of our most devoted trail maintainers. For many years he awas a section leader on the MST and he was honored by the American Hiking Society as their North Carolina Volunteer of the Year. He was a great teacher and mentor for many new trail maintainers.

Ruth Hartzler (right, below) won the CMC Award of Appreciation for 2007 for her work as the Chair of the Conservation Committee. The work of the committee included taking positions on The North Shore Road in the Smokies, Rocky Fork Tract, selling off of Forest Service Land, Chimney Rock State Park, and many other issues that affect the hiking experience.

News about the MST

The MST hits the newspapers across the state!

Story introducing hikers to the MST in the Mountain Xpress.

For coverage of the MST newest section on the Blue Ridge Parkway NC-18 to NC-16 - 15.1 miles of the MST, click on the following link to the Mountain Times: http://www.mountaintimes.com/mtweekly/2007/1018/highmileage.php3.

The Great Outdoor Provision Company (http://www.greatoutdoorprovision.com/) and Patagonia have donated $4,000 dollars to the Falls Lake Task Forces to purchase a 12-foot enclosed trailer to store tools. The trailer will be presented at the November 10 workday at Rolling View State Recreation Area. The 35 to 40 miles of trail work along Falls Lake is a long term project (5 to 7 years), and this trailer will be a huge help to our cause. In addition, we anticipate using the trailer throughout the state for workdays that require large quantities of tools. So be on the lookout for the trailer moving down the road with the FMST logo on the sides! Special thanks goes to both Great Outdoor Provision Company and Patagonia for this corporate support!

Become a Patron Member of the FMST today. We do great things for the MST and leave a legacy for future generations to follow! www.ncmst.org

---------------------- Back to Top

GPS discussion group

There are quite a few of us who now use GPSr's (GPS receivers) on hikes. I would like to propose starting an informal discussion group which could either meet in person or on the CMC discussion board. Any issue involving GPS units could be raised and perhaps clarified or answered.

If you might be interested in participating in such a group, please email me at dwetmore@citcom.net.I would like to hear from you by December 1. In your email, indicate whether you would like to use the Web board, meetings, or both.

---------------------- Back to Top

Heard on the Ground

Adopt a piece of the Appalachian Trail

A new section needs adoption. A.T. sections don't come up too often. If you've always wanted to take care of a piece of the most trail in the world, this is your chance. The piece is:

Spring Mountain Shelter to Allen Gap, 3.7 miles.

If you're interested, email Don Walton.

---------------------- Back to Top

Maintenance Reports created by Don Walton

Closed maintenance items.

Maintenance Hours Reporting System

BiWeekly summary

Executive summary

---------------------- Back to Top

Heard on the Trail

We've all had climbs like this.

---------------------- Back to Top

The Small Print

The eNews comes out on Fridays. So ... The next issue will come out on Friday, Nov. 23 . This will allow the Sunday and Saturday hike leaders a little more time to send in their report; Wednesday hike reports for the hike just before the eNews comes out will be published in the next eNews.

So send me your hiking news, hike and maintenance reports by Wednesday evening at 9 P.M. before the newsletter comes out, that is, by Wednesday evening Nov. 21, 2007 to Danny Bernstein danny@hikertohiker.com. Include your email address at the end of your story. Thank you.

The CMC Calendar is meant to answer the perennial question "When is this happening again?" It is also meant to prevent conflicts between competing CMC events. Please check it often.

How to join the Carolina Mountain Club
1. Go to www.carolinamtnclub.org
2. Click on “How to Join” (upper-left on web page)
3. Print out the “CMC Application Form”
4. Fill it Out, write a check for your dues and ...5. Mail to CMC, PO Box 68, Asheville NC 28802

For CMC members only - Send all address and email changes to Jean Gard at jeangard@charter.net. If you are a non-member subscriber, you need to go back into "subscribe" and change it there yourself.

---------------------- Back to Top

Happenings in the next two weeks	Things you should know now!
Other News	CMC Annual meeting and more!
Heard on the Ground	Maintenance News and Views
Heard on the Trail	A bad day on the trail!
The small print	Deadlines, change of addresses and other stuff

Carolina Mountain Club

November 9, 2007