Our second collaborative fund raiser was a success! Joan, Bobby & Joanne, Bobbie and myself arrived on Friday to set up and get ready. I’d not wanted to put in the effort to put up the large canopies, but the rain shower in the afternoon and the forecast for Saturday changed my mind. It didn’t rain hard, just enough to wet everything – both days. Betty & Duane Evenson very graciously cooked our burgers Friday night and we all enjoyed dinner. We made a new friend, Rod DuBois and invited him to join us for dinner. He’s a mountain biker and the nicest man. Very helpful both Friday and Saturday. Saturday saw more folks arriving to help and to participate. Things appeared to run smoothly with parking, coggins checking and registration. Stan Crane and I sent off the mountain bikers at 9:00 for their 24 mile journey with a safety talk and encouragement. There were only 15 mountain bikers this year. A disappointment since there were close to 50 last year, but there were other bike events and not a promising weather forecast. But I send a big thank you to those mountain bikers who did participate. I hope you all had a great ride and enjoyed the food, prizes and camraderie. Please tell your friends and plan to join us at our next fund raiser (people are already talking about “when”). The 45 equestrians rode out in small groups on their 11 mile tour of the Black Branch Trail. I gave each one “the speal” about safety, having fun and not getting lost. Everyone made it back and noone got hurt, though we did have one rider whose horse decided to toss her on the ground then step on her. She says she’s fine, thankfully. Lunch started around 1:00 as riders began returning. We had burgers, sub sandwiches or smoked sausage. There was cesear salad, fruit salad, bananas, beverage and dessert. Everyone enjoyed the meal and there was plenty to go around. Thank goodness for the canopies we’d put up because it rained some just before folks began arriving back. They had dry places to sit and eat. The prizes began around 2:30. First thing was to determine who had the best poker hands. I have to say, I’ve seen better poker hands before! These hands weren’t all that good – but there were winners none the less. Betty Evenson won first place!!! She selected the large gift basket donated by Boss Brothers Country Store instead of the $100 cash prize. The $s went back into the profit – thanks Betty!!! The other winners were written down and put in my trailer – then I went and lost them. I’m so sorry about that. I had all intentions of listing your names. Please accept my apologies for not being able to do so. I do know that Neil Wagner won 3rd place for the mountain bikers. After expenses, we cleared $1,400 !!!! Thanks to all of the hard working volunteers, the participants and the sponsors. Your support made this 2nd fund raiser another success! The funds will be spent 100% on the Jake & Bull Mtn trail system for lunches, tools, supplies and/or equipment rental. We have 4 realignment trail segments going thru the NEPA process now and 3 new connector trails proposed. So you see, we need both your money and your time as a trail volunteer in order to do these addt’l trail improvements. Look for info in the near future about trail workdays coming up – the next is Saturday 6/7 which is National Trails Day. I want to thank the following volunteers (equestrians and mtn bikers) for their support and hard work. If I’ve forgotten anyone, I’m very sorry – it’s not intentional – it’s just my poor memory! Bobby & Joanne Mitchell, Nancy Krause, Bobbie & Ryan & Kiera Byers, Lauri Parrott, Neil Wagner, Emil Walcek, Cindy Groom, Joan Grant, Kathleen Tokuda, Betty Evenson, Ellen Stara, Val Warburton, Terri Palmeri, Belinda Sauret, Jodie Boyd, Stan Crane, Lewis & Jenny Eberhardt, Rod DuBoise, Brian Blanchard, David O’Rear and John & Teresa Day. We have some great sponsors too – Boss Brothers Country Store, Processors Co-Op, Merial, Mountain Goat Adventures, Zanfel, Gear Revival, Foothills Grill Dahlonega, Atlanta Bike Tech, BioFreeze, Kind Healthy Snacks, Scott Chiropractic, NorthStar Bicycle, Bike Tours Direct, REI, Ann Cofield, Joan Grant, Bobbie Byers, Cindy Groom, Cali Canberra and Singletracks. We are already talking about the next fund raiser. Please send me your comments and suggestions so that we can continue to improve the event Thank you again. I hope you enjoy the pictures and will continue to support our efforts with this trail system. Debbie Crowe CTHA USFS Liaison [email protected]
Posted on: Wed, 28 May 2014 00:58:39 +0000
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