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President's Letter Plans for a Base Camp to house RMC trail crews and caretakers on days off are proceeding quietly. An excellent building committee under the leadership of Paul Cormier is working to develop a design and a construction method that will give the club this much-needed facility at a lower cost than the original plan. Besides Paul, the committee now includes three other members with a lot of building experience: Dave Salisbury, Jeff Tirey, and John Tremblay. Board members Doug Mayer, Guy Stever, and Lydia Goetze are also on the committee, as are recent Field Supervisor Dan Rubchinuk and trail crew members Laura Conchelos and Roz Stever. Each has prepared their own plan to meet the program requirements and soon they will distill them into one plan that satisfies all. This plan will then be brought to a modular construction company, a log builder, a conventional builder, and the Timber Framers’ Guild for cost estimates. We hope to have the results to review at our next board meeting on January 30. Another committee is working up an array of options for financing the maintenance and operating costs of a base camp, including raising dues and camp fees.
We will keep you all posted on our progress as we make it. Meanwhile, the ordinary activities of the club continue. We have a strong Board of Directors, with three new members as you can read elsewhere in this newsletter. We have about 800 adult members from all over the country. The camps and trails are in good shape. The traditional social events were held once again this summer. Many members went on hikes organized by the Trips Chairs. We continue to stretch a few dollars a long way in our finances. Our web site brings in new members and helps us sell merchandise to a broader group. We have a new edition of Randolph Paths in the works, as well as an updated RMC map. Look for them at the Fourth of July Tea next summer. Looking forward, the board intends to renew its efforts to secure some kind of protection for its trails on private lands, whether by easements or simple agreements with land owners. Dave Willcox and John Scarinza have agreed to head up this effort. Doug Mayer, as Trails Chair, will be their liaison with the board. The club gives a big thank you to the Penney family for protecting the trailhead and lower section of the Howker Ridge Trail, as well as part of the Randolph Path, north of the boundary of the National Forest. The Penneys recently gave an easement on a 158-acre portion of their Broadacres Farm, which included these sections of RMC trails, hitherto unprotected. RMC board members Al Sochard, Marie Beringer, and Gail Scott attended a ceremony honoring the family, as well as the Potter / Arbree family for a large conservation easement they also executed on nearby land. Jim Penney’s grandfather, Francis Wood, must be smiling down from heaven now, as he was one of the founders of the RMC. Wishing you all happy holidays,
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These
steps are being taken in response to feedback we have received
from members, both in personal conversations and at the Annual
Meeting this August. About 10 families in individual interviews
and 100 members at the Annual Meeting expressed strong support
for the club’s activities. They understand our need to provide
housing for our employees. They all have heard that our present
marvelous arrangement with the Jones’ Cottage and tent platforms
on Dan and Edith Tucker’s field is not a long-run solution,
as the Tuckers will need to reclaim their cottage and field within
the next several years. They know the Tuckers have offered the
club a parcel of land on the west side of their property, near
the club’s tool shed. They would like to see the club be
able to build on this site. But they have all said the cost of
the first sketch we came up with was too expensive. Many also
expressed concerns about covering the maintenance and operating
costs of a base camp through an endowment only, and said camps
fees and dues should contribute towards those costs. We thank
all those members for their involvement and consideration of
the club’s proposal.