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President's Letter Dear Members and Friends: The RMC is gearing up for the summer! In this letter we hope to give you a sense of what is in store in the way of RMC activities and to tell you of the remarkable progress we have made on the new workshop. Progress on the Klaus Goetze Workshop Building of the Klaus Goetze Memorial Trails Workshop is underway! As you will recall, the club has sorely needed a base for its trail crews and a place to store and maintain its significant inventory of tools. Fortunately, Edie and Dan Tucker suggested we use a portion of their land. Subsequently, we completed a thorough permitting process, chose a builder, and broke ground. We hope that the building will be ready for use by the time our trail crews begin in early June. Thanks to more than 130 RMC members and friends we have raised more than $15,000 in case toward our goal, which is $17,000. If you have already contributed, we thank you. If you have not and would like to, we welcome your contributions! (We also need general contributions, which support the ongoing club program.) All RMC members and friends are invited to dedicate the workshop to the memory of Klaus Goetze following the Annual Picnic on August 19th. We hope that you will be there! Volunteers Needed Over the years the scope of activities and responsibilities of the RMC has grown considerably. Some of the growth has been dictated by far greater use of our paths and camps than anyone could have imagined. Because of higher usage and Forest Service regulations governing trail maintenance, especially in the area of trail erosion, our trail crew job is larger than the days when we primarily brushed and cleared blowdowns. Old age and usage over the years has also forced the RMC to rebuild the camps. Additionally, the RMC has added activities and services in a number of areas ranging from the web site to improving Randolph Paths to adding different kinds of trips. As a result administrative and programmatic demands on volunteers have increased. Your board has met several times over the last year to discuss how to cope with growth while remaining a volunteer-driven organization, in which we all believe. We think that most of the growth is healthy and we are committed to making the club more responsive to our members. Therefore, we invite you to become more involved. We need your help in several important areas: Club Bookkeeper - a high priority need: Work with the club treasurer with tasks such as deposits, bill paying, and payroll. Accounting and computer skills necessary. Contact Jeff Tirey. Volunteer Work Trips: We need leaders and workers for trail brushing trips during the summer. Leaders help to schedule projects, recruit workers and transport tools. Contact Doug Mayer. Making Signs: RMC trail signs at 40 locations need to be replaced annually. We need help with stenciling, routing, sanding, painting and lettering. Contact Doug Mayer. Trail Crew: Assistance with recruiting trail crew and caretakers. Working with the Camps and Trails board chairs. Contact Doug Mayer. Lead Summer Hiking Trips: Contact Jack Stewart. Dues Reminder If you haven't yet sent in your dues and a contribution for this year, please do so. We rely on dues and contributions to fund our operating budget. Camp fees cover camp expenses only. We are currently 20 percent below our projected dues and contributions. The RMC attempts to keep its dues and fees affordable. We are able to do so because we are a volunteer organization and because of the generosity of our members. Also, please send in the enclosed questionnaire if you did not do so before. We want your feedback. Thank you for your enthusiasm
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