January 2005 Newsletter

On December 13^th, 2004 at the Lacona VFW Hall, we held our monthly meeting. President Ed McGrew called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm and nine members were present for this meeting. The minutes from the November’s meeting were read. Mike Bellinger made the motion to accept the minutes as read, with no amendments and Ralph Miller seconded it. All those present were in favor.

Old Business:

We had a discussion on the Watertown Christmas Parade and the problems that were caused to some of our members. Due to the weather conditions that day, some of our members contacted Vice President Mike Bellinger informing him that there were some members that would not be making it to this parade. Other members went all the way to Watertown to find out that we did not have an entry into the parade. Mike Bellinger advised us, due to the fact that other ATV Club’s were possibly going to be joining us, he decided to sign us up as the North County ATV Club and not under NYTRO. Seems that due to the weather and the not knowing what we were signed up under could have caused some bigger problems if more people had shown up to this parade. We then talked about how we could help inform our members about changes and cancellations of our rides, parades or any other outings. Suggestion of being able to put “News-Flashes” on our website for our members to access prior to any ride, parade or outing would be the best solution and get to the most members. We would like to hear from Greg Hall, our website administrator, on this and any suggestions that he would have that could help us with these type of issues.

New Business:

Treasurer’s Report:

Doug Schwalm made the motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report as read and Patty Miller seconded the motion. All those present were in favor.

Membership Coordinator’s Report:  72 Memberships with 155 Members

Bills were presented to the members for approval. Faron Cronk had two bills. One was for $24.00 for our annual renewal of our Post Office Box. And the other was for $7.40 for the cost of postage and shipping charges. Ralph Miller made the motion to pay the bills and Chester Vrooman seconded it. All those present were in favor.

President McGrew talked to us about looking into taking over the Washington Park area and the Felts Mills area. He said that he has been talking with Andy Nevin of the Planning Board for Jefferson County. It seems they are interested in us maintaining those areas. We need to contact Trailpass to see what issues they would have in insuring County property that is open to the public. One main issue would be the closing of our trails on the 1^st of October, but not being able to close County property. It looks like we need to have a meeting with Mr. Nevin and see exactly what they are asking of us. We will also need to contact LeeAnn Harris of Trailpass and see what she has to say about any coverage that we might have.

We then had a discussion on the pros and cons of going with Trailpass. A motion was made by Vice President Mike Bellinger for us to look into getting set up with Trailpass. Chester Vrooman seconded the motion and all those present were in favor. Faron Cronk and President Ed McGrew will be contacting Trailpass in regards to this matter.

President Ed McGrew asked us if our club should think about setting up our own Trail Maintenance / Development Budget. Developing an account of our own money for signing, maintaining, or purchasing materials for our trails. Mike Bellinger made the motion of us setting aside from our General Account, $1000 into a Trail Development Fund. Stan Miller seconded the motion and all those present were in favor. We will need to have our Treasurer, Nancy Fox, look into this for us.

Faron brought up to us that we need to look into getting some new and updated County property maps. We’ve had some lands change hands recently and the new maps would help us in developing our trail system. President McGrew will see what he can do in regards to this come the end of January, which is when everyone should have their land taxes paid up.

We talked about trying to set up a schedule of events for the upcoming year. Telling our members when parades, rides and other events will be planned. We will be trying to coordinate them, so as not to conflict with any events from our friends from the Oswego County ATV Club. This will enable both clubs to maybe try to go to each other’s functions. We figured that we could determine this a little better come around the month of March.

Chester Vrooman then informed us that the son of the President of the Oswego County ATV Club (Steve Cronk) was involved in a serious automobile accident. Chester said that members of the Oswego County ATV Club were putting together a Benefit to help the family with the medical expenses. This would take place on Saturday the 15^th of January at the Williamstown Fire Barn on Route 13. This would take place from 1 pm to 5 pm. Adults Only. There will be raffles, 50/50 drawings and live music. Anyone with questions or who would like to donate may contact their Treasurer Jim Barnard at 298-5601. Any checks should be made payable to the Oswego County ATV Club and sent to their address P.O. Box 296 Altmar, N.Y. 13302.

It was decided that we would take a couple of months off from having our meetings. Our next meeting will be on Monday the 14^th of March at the Lacona VFW. Ralph Miller then made a motion to adjourn our meeting at 9:00 pm. Faron Cronk seconded the motion and all those present were in favor.

Upcoming Events / Rides:

January 15^th, 2005:  Benefit for “Little Steve Cronk” son of the President of Oswego County ATV Club. Place for this benefit will be the Williamstown Fire Barn on Route 13 in the town of Williamstown. This will take place from 1 pm to 5 pm. Adults Only. There will be raffles, 50/50 drawings and live music.

March 14^th, 2005: Our March’s meeting will be held at the Lacona VFW on this day. We will be getting started at 7:00 pm SHARP. All members are encouraged to come.

July 22^nd – 24^th, 2005:  Brasher Falls Weekend Getaway.

Everyone should call the folks at the Riverside Campgrounds before then, but not until next year to help save any confusion or the folks losing your reservation over the winter. The number to call after May 1^st, 2005 is (315) 389-4771.

FAB’s Facts: Due to a change in membership time frames, handed down by NYTRO, Inc., I will be sending out membership renewal forms beginning in March. Our memberships will now run from the 1st of May to the 30^th of April. So be looking in your mailbox for them and get them sent back to us as soon as possible. We will be requiring you to provide us with a copy of your ATV’s insurance card for each Club ATV Sticker that you will need.

Due to some confusion at the Watertown Parade, we are looking into trying to post to our website a way of letting our members know if the ride, parade or other events is still on or if they have been cancelled. Until we are able to get this implemented (and for the benefit of our members who don’t have computers) we are asking members to call one of the following persons to see if our ride, parade or event is still on or not. You can call President Ed McGrew @ 387-6222, Vice President Mike Bellinger @ 785-6811 or Faron Cronk @ 387-6396.

January Birthday Wishes:

February Birthday Wishes:

NYTRO OF NNY

“A Division of the New York Trail Riders Organization, Inc.”
Member of the Sandy Creek Community Park
Member of NYSORVA
Member of the Blue Ribbon Coalition