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Burke Mountain Club House - East Burke, Vermont
Executive Committee Members Present
Joe Anastasia, Pat Aubin, Cynthia Barber, Michael Chernick,
Jean Haigh, Liz Kennedy, Luke O'Brien and Kevin Williamson.
In addition, several other section members were also in attendance.
Called to Order
Section President Pat Aubin called the meeting to order at
4:00 p.m. and turned the meeting over to Luke O'Brien, the
section's Trail and Shelters Chair.
National Trails' Day on Bald Mountain
Luke led a planning discussion on the section's upcoming National
Trails' Day event on Saturday June 1, at Bald Mountain. As
background, the section sponsored a snowshoe trip, via the
Long Pond Trail, to the summit of Bald Mountain in early February.
The focus of the February excursion was to remove a step from
the summit’s fire tower. The step was successful removed.
It served as a model for new steps which Bob Fisher constructed.
The Department of Forest Parks and Recreation provided the
wood.
Bob brought a sample of the new steps, which are now completed,
to the meeting.
Bob will have the steps at trailside at 8:30 on the morning
of June 1. Later n the meeting, Mary Ann Riggie (Bob's wife)
asked if an ATV could travel beyond the trail's gate. Luke
will contact Paul Moffat, of the Westmore Trails Association
on this topic and be in touch with Bob and Mary Ann. As the
steps arrive on top, Jean will coordinate the summit operations.
The official meeting time is 9:00 A.M. Traveling north on
Route 5, participants should turn right at Long Pond Road
(or left if traveling south). Overflow parking is at the fishing
access lot on your right while primary parking will be 1/8
mile further on your left at the Long Pond Trail 's parking
lot. There are 64 steps which must be carried to the summit.
Luke will prepare a press release for publication in both
the Barton Chronicle and the Caledonian Record. A preliminary
count indicated 25-30 participants could be anticipated. This
number is based on participants from the section, members
of the Vermont Leadership Center's Kingdom Corps and students
from Lyndon State College.
Luke will contact the Department of Forests Parks and Recreation
to inquire if materials, such as bolts, are available. Luke
has been authorized to spend a maximum of $100.00 from section
funds to purchase any necessary materials.
He will use the Vermont Leadership Center's supplier in Newport.
Based on a review in February, it appears the steps are aligned
in sections of 8, 11, 14, and 17 steps. The tentative plan
is to remove a step at a time and install the replacement
step. The primary mission, however, is to bring all the steps
to the summit. Any steps which are not installed will be placed
in a secured location until a later date. As for the current
steps, Luke intends to retrieve them for possible future use,
perhaps at Manadnock. Pat and Jean will each bring cameras
to photograph the day's activities. Jean also offered to bring
WD40, a substance which may be needed in the process of detaching
the existing steps. In this regard, Mary An Reggie commented
on possible corrosion on some of the existing steps.
In the future, Luke suggested, the Bald Mountain tower roof
will, at a minimum require repair work and eventually many
need replacement.
Manadnock Hike
As an addition to the section's trip schedule, Luke will lead
a hike to the summit of Mt. Manadnock in Lemington on Saturday,
September 7. Hikers will meet at 9:00A.M.at the lot in the
gravel pit, on the left hand side off Route 102, just north
of the bridge to Colebrook, New Hampshire.
Vermont Leadership Center - Kingdom Corps
Luke announced that the VLC's Kingdom Corps, which he leads,
will be on Bald Mountain for two weeks from July 15 through
July 26. GMC members are welcomed to volunteer a day and join
the young corps members as they work on stabilizing Bald Mountain's
trails.
Trail Organization Partnership
Luke addressed the need to develop a partnership among the
local organizations engaged in trail maintenance activities.
These organizations include, the Vermont Leadership Center's
Kingdom Corps, the Green Mountain Club, the Westmore Trails
Association and the state of Vermont.
Kevin Williamson inquired regarding trail adoption possibilities.
Luke indicated this was possible. Jean suggested a unified
meeting involving the different groups.
As a first step in this process, Luke will contact Gary Sabourin
at the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. In this
regard, Luke commented the section needed to decide the extent
of our commitment to work on the Westmore area's trails.
Summer Trail Work Days
Following Luke's suggestion that the section designate several
days to perform trail work, the following schedule was established:
Date - Location
June 15 Tentative if Bald Mountain tower work remains (to
be decided after June 1)
August 17 Mt Pisgah
September 21 Site to be announced
Mountain Challenge
Luke announced the Vermont Leadership Center's Mountain challenge
would be a more informal program this summer. However, printed
materials will be published in the near future.
Patches
A suggestion was made to develop a section patch. This idea
will be explored at a future meeting.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at approximately 5:20 p.m.
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