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Board of Directors 1998-99
June, 1999 Dear Members and Friends: Last year the Randolph Mountain Club was able to overcome a number of significant challenges which were brought about by the January 1998 ice storm and to accomplish a record number of tasks. Although our paths will show the effects of the storm for many years, the trail system is intact. Major accomplishments included the installation of a new Bio-Sun composting toilet at Gray Knob, major improvements to many trails on Randolph Hill, the construction of the new Stevens Bridge over Snyder Brook at the intersection of the Brookside and Randolph Paths, the installation of a line of rock steps at the Annual Picnic site at Mossy Glen, and the rollout of the Club's website -- http://www.randolphmountainclub.org. None of these accomplishments could have taken place without the overwhelmingly generous volunteer and financial support of members and friends. Thank you once again! As the summer of 1999 approaches, we hope to return to a more normal season. As you will read below, we will continue brushing and erosion control work on our paths, with particular attention to the Brookside and Owl's Head. The Club has again been able to attract excellent trail crew members and caretakers to help cope with the ever-increasing usage of our trails and camps. Jack Stewart and David Forsyth are planning the summer hikes and will be looking for volunteer leaders. Lydia Ogilby will organize the Fourth of July Tea at Sky Meadow, Stephen and Lisa Teczar are organizing the Rendezvous, and John Mudge is looking for volunteers to run the charades at the Annual Picnic. Bylaw Revisions Your board believes that the bylaws of the Club need to be revised and has been working hard with legal counsel to make changes which better reflect the Club's status, ensure compliance with New Hampshire laws and respond to several member suggestions. Accordingly, we have enclosed a copy of the proposed changes for your review, including brief explanations. Copies will also be available at the Fourth of July Tea and will be on display in the case on the front porch of Town Hall and then will be brought to a vote on August 14 at the Annual Meeting. Please address any of your thoughts or comments to John Mudge before Thursday, July 1. Trails and Camps Our summer Field Supervisor, Anne Tommaso, comes to the RMC with five years of trail and backcountry experience, including two summers as an AMC trail crew leader. A 1998 graduate of Bates College, she is already on board, filling in as the spring caretaker at Gray Knob. Former trail crew boss Andy Woods of Jefferson will be Gray Knob's summer caretaker and Jeff Smith will be at Crag Camp. Both Andy and Jeff are veterans at these demanding jobs, and we are fortunate that they will be on the mountainside. Minor repairs are being made at the camps, and all four should be in good shape for the summer season. The rates will remain the same: $8 at Crag and Gray Knob, $5 at The Perch and the Log Cabin. [Webmaster's Note: Overnight fees in 2011 are now $13 a night for Crag and Gray Knob, $7 at The Perch and the Log Cabin.] The RMC will field its most experienced senior trail crew ever, since the foursome boast a combined total of 17 summers of trail work! Sherri Fabre has signed up for her third summer working for the RMC; Maria Heidenreich will join us after two years on an ADK trail crew, while Tuck O'Brien joins us from the AMC. Matt Moran is the first person in recent memory to return for a fourth year of bodily wear and tear as a trail crew member. The senior crew will work on the second stage of a two-year project on the Brookside. This project is designed to stabilize eroding sections of the path and will employ rock steps and step stones and sidehill grubbing (in which steeply pitched cross-sections are made level) to help prevent erosion in the future. In exchange for completing the work that is specified in the log to the standards of the U.S. Forest Service, the RMC will be reimbursed approximately 50 percent of the project's total cost. Once completed at the end of the summer, the path should be in fine shape for hiking for many years to come. Our second RMC trail crew, which comes to us through the Student Conservation Association of Charlestown, N.H., will be spending much of its summer on Owl's Head in Jefferson. Katherine Kircher comes to us from Shorewood, Michigan, Pete Sullivan from Saint Mary's City, Maryland, and Aaron Parcak from Bangor, Maine. RMC's Owl's Head trail is now part of the newly-formed Cohos Trail which will tie together sections of various existing trails with several new short trail segments, allowing hikers to walk the length of Coös County. The trail crew will relocate about a half mile of the path: a quarter mile near the trailhead on Rte. 115 and a quarter mile near the summit that is severely eroded. The rest of the path will receive the usual array of waterbars and rock steps. The Club is able to undertake this important, but time-consuming project, thanks to a federal grant which comes to us through the New Hampshire State Bureau of Trails. Finally, we hope you'll consider joining the RMC trail volunteers on a work party this summer. Your help would be welcome, whether just an hour or two, half a day, or all day -- any contribution is a help, and it's a great way to meet other members. The work trip schedule is listed on the calendar below. We look forward to another fine summer on the paths -- this year, thankfully, without ice storm debris! Membership and Dues More than 360 memberships have already been renewed so far this year. If you are one of the members who has yet to pay or a non-member who would like to join the RMC, please send along your dues. A household membership, which includes children under 18, costs $40 a year, while a single membership is $20. [Webmaster's Note: Membership dues in 2006 are now $50 for a household and $25 for a single person.] If you know people you would like to introduce to the Club, please encourage them to join or forward their names and addresses to the Club so we can encourage them to become members. Dues and contributions are critical to the Club's ability to function; the RMC is a grassroots organization with a volunteer board. Sales [Webmaster's Note: Prices of merchandise have since changed and the information below is no longer accurate. Please check the appropriate area of the web site if you are interested in purchasing merchandise.] Because of repeated demands, children's T-shirts, complete with the RMC logo, are now in stock at the always-open Club "store" in the airlock at Cold Brook Lodge on Durand Road. Sold on the honor system at $10 each, the shirts come in various colors in three size categories: 2 to 4, 6 to 8, and 10 to 12. Some are a 50/50 blend, while others are 100 percent cotton, so the sizes are not uniform. Adult T-shirts in sizes L and XL, all 100 percent cotton, are available by mail for $12.50 each in both a hazel/turquoise and denim blue. Some mediums, Ls and XLs are available in these and other colors at the Club store for $10. All-cotton RMC caps are also for sale -- $10 on site or $12.50 by mail. A number of Swiss embroidered RMC patches are still on hand, all for $5 each, whether purchased on site or by mail. Tyvek RMC maps of the Randolph Valley and the Northern Slopes of the Mt. Washington Range are on hand ($2 on site, $3 by mail), as well as copies of the 1998 edition of Randolph Paths, which includes a copy of the map ($10 on site, $12.50 by mail). A number of unfolded maps, suitable for framing, are also still available; $15 for a plain one; $50 for a numbered copy. All mail orders may be sent to the Randolph Mountain Club, P.O. Box 279, Gorham, NH 03581. Checks should be made out to the Club. Please print very clearly the address to which an order should be sent, and do allow some three weeks for delivery. Calendar As in previous years, the RMC has scheduled several events and a variety of hikes of different lengths over the summer. Regular hikes are scheduled only on Tuesdays in July, and on both Tuesdays and Thursdays in August. Short hikes are scheduled on Thursdays in both July and August. Specific details will be published in The Randolph Weekly, which is available at several spots around town, including Town Hall and the Lowe's Gas Station. We hope you can participate and, if possible, volunteer in some capacity. June/July 1999
August 1999
Thanks for your help and enthusiasm, |
