GHTC Newsletter - July 2013 - Page 2
GHTC Newsletter Vol 41, #2, July, 2013 The GHTC Newsletter, published in March, July and October, is sent to all of the club members, other trail organizations, landowners who provide access for our trails, advertisers and club supporters. Opinions and views expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual writers or advertisers and do not necessarily reflect those of the Guelph Hiking Trail Club executive, members, or affiliated bodies such as Hike Ontario. Check the club web site for details on merchandise for sale, hike schedule changes and club contacts. www.guelphhiking.com Mail: PO Box 1, Guelph, N1H 6J6 Club members and others are encouraged to submit articles, notices and photographs to the newsletter editor for possible publication in your club’s newsletter. Deadlines for receiving material for publication from members, hike leaders and other contributors are: February 15 for the March issue, June 15 for the July issue and September 15 for October issue.
President’s Message What a Club! There is so much going on! In this newsletter, you will read accounts of some of the special events and works that the club s u c c e ss fu l l y h o s t e d o r completed recently. The 40th anniversary celebration of the Speed River Trail, a truly monumental bridge-building project on the Radial Line Trail, the first-ever use of the Kissing Bridge Trail for a covered bridge-tocovered bridge hike, our 4th annual Trails Open event at Starkey Hill, the Spring on the Trail fundraiser, a wildly successful kids hike, a heavy spring hike schedule, a newly revised edition of the guidebook, and the completion of “The O.R.” Sidetrail. And lots of trail maintenance hours by our trail captains and section leaders, chasing after ice storms, winds and serial floods. Phew! To accomplish all these events and projects, the club relies on its members as volunteers. And the Club does have some more exciting “builds” of new trails and bridges up its sleeves. So if you want to become more involved in the trail projects or other work of the club, just tell someone on the executive committee, or have yourself added to one of volunteers lists when you renew your membership. In fact, we will be needing a few good women and men for our executive committee in the upcoming year as we will have some upcoming vacancies, as of our AGM in November. If you like what we do, and want to make a contribution of your energy and talents, (current or latent), and you are willing to devote time to attend just some 6-8 meetings a year, why not consider filling one of our exec spots? Read on in this newsletter for the available opportunities!
Your exec, the hike leaders, section leaders and trail captains have been working creatively to better engage our membership in the activities of the Club, to show appreciation and responsiveness to the 40-some landowners who have given permission for the trail to cross their properties, and to work to improve the condition and the route of the trails to be the best they can be. Watch for more initiatives to come on all three of these priorities. Next, the Club will be exploring new ways to draw into the Club more members from the growing communities outside of Guelph that are on or close by our trails...i.e. Fergus, Elora, Cambridge, Acton, Rockwood, Eden Mills, Nassagaweya/Milton, Morriston, Aberfoyle, Everton, Moffatt and Arkell. And we will be on the lookout for new opportunities to develop our trail systems to best serve these communities. I would really welcome hearing from you as to your own ideas (on members and trails, both) so that we can focus our efforts to make gains in these areas. Finally, thanks to our many certified hike leaders for committing to such a full slate of hikes in 2013.
Bill
Beware! The following GHTC Trails will be closed during hunting seasons. Radial Line Trail Section #3 closed Nov 4 - Nov 8 Section #4 closed Oct 1 - Dec 31 Speed River Trail Section #2 closed from end of September through mid March Full details on hunting seasons can be found at: www.mnr.gov.on.ca Take care on all trails during hunting seasons!
Dues are Due! Unless you elected and paid for a five year term, your membership expires on August 31, 2013. Please renew at once using the form included with mailed newsletter or through the club’s web site at: www.guelphhiking.com