March 2005 Newsletter

On March 14^th, 2005 at the Lacona VFW Hall, we held our monthly meeting. President Ed McGrew called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm and twenty-five members were present for this meeting. A good turn out considering our last meeting was a couple of months ago. Thanks to all who showed up and had some great input. The minutes from the January’s meeting were read. Ralph Miller made the motion to accept the minutes as read, with no amendments and Aretha Manchester seconded it. All those present were in favor.

Old Business:

President McGrew informed us that he now has some member application boxes. He will be going around to some of the dealerships and business, placing them for folks to grab a membership form out of.

President McGrew and Faron Cronk informed us that they had hoped to have some better news on our getting insurance through Trailpass. It seems that Trailpass is in the middle of finding a different insurer to hold a policy with. We are at this time waiting for them to get back in touch with us. McGrew and Cronk will see if they can contact them in the near future. This insurance has been a long time coming and now that we are ready to sign on board with them, it seems that more problems arise. Hopefully McGrew and Cronk will have more information on this by our next club meeting.

New Business:

Treasurer’s Report:

Aretha Manchester made the motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report as read and Mary Simmons 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. President McGrew had a bill for $11.72 for membership application boxes. Patty Miller had a bill for $14.80 for postage for mailing out birthday cards to our members. Faron Cronk had a bill for our annual NYTRO, Inc. dues of $200.00 and he informed us that we would have to write a check to one of our members for $10.00 for a Land Use Permit that we don’t require at this time. Mike Bellinger made the motion to pay all the bills and Dean Clark seconded it. All those present were in favor.

Having NYTRO, Inc. mail out to all our members their monthly newsletter was brought up. Again the biggest factor in this was the cost. Most of our members receive our newsletter via email and only about 20 members receive it in the mail. Our cost for mailing out our newsletter is very minimal at this time. Having NYTRO, Inc. mail to each of our members a copy of their newsletter (that would also include our newsletter in it) would increase our cost. The folks at NYTRO, Inc are looking into exactly how much it would cost us for each newsletter and they will be getting back to us on that. The NYTRO, Inc. newsletter would inform our members of what the other chapters are doing and what rides or other functions they have planned. Our only concern would be how will we be able to pay for them to do the mailing and is it beneficial to us. As far as those of our members who have email, they can also access information about what the other clubs are doing and planning from NYTRO, Inc’s website at www.nytroatv.org.

Mike Bellinger talked to us about some of the meetings that he has been attending this past winter. It seems that some of the clubs in Jefferson County are trying to get together and come up with a county map with a multi-use trail system. These maps would inform people of where the legal riding is and what can be done to connect these trails. He also talked to us about the future of Washington Park and how the county might be interested in our club maintaining that area. We will need to have some further discussions with the county and see exactly what they want from us. He also informed us on that some of the roads around Brasher Falls have now been closed, but that the state forest area is still open as of now.

Mike Bellinger talked to us about needing a Ride Planner. We need someone who can look into setting up our monthly rides and scheduling them for us. Making sure that it is a legal riding area and that there will be places for fuel and food. We need to have someone coordinate this and get all the information back to Faron so he can post it in our newsletter and get it posted on our website. He also talked to us about possibly setting up a time for “Maintenance Day”, where we all could get together and teach ourselves how to work on our machines. We’re looking for someone to spear head this and set this opportunity up for us.

Faron talked to us about the New York State Budget is back trying to raise our registration fees up to $45 with a one-time appropriation fund for trail education and enforcement. Nothing seems to be put into this budget for actual trail development. He informed us that it is up to us as four-wheeling people to write, call or speak to our state, county and local political representatives. If we don’t start speaking with a louder voice, we will lose all that we have accomplished so far.

Mike Bellinger told us about a meeting that is going to be held at Keddy’s on Bridge Street in Carthage on the 23^rd of March at 7:00 pm. Some of our county officials will be there to talk about them having a County Trail Coordinator who will coordinate the development of trails in Jefferson county. President McGrew also informed us of another meeting that would be going on that same day the 23^rd of March at the Redfield Fire-hall. This meeting would be taking place from 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm. This meeting will be with the Tug Hill Corporate Council and is relating to them trying to set up a trail system also.

Faron informed us that our friends from the Oswego County ATV Club sent us a flier and on it was an announcement of their upcoming 1^st Annual Trade and Craft Show. This will be held on June 11^th and 12^th at the Townhouse in Williamstown. There will be booths set up and there will also be ATV Demo rides. There will be food and a chicken BBQ going, as well as a band on Saturday from 1:00 pm until 5:00 pm. Faron informed us that on June 11^th should be the Orwell Old Home Days Parade and after that we could all go over to the Trade and Craft Show. Also included with the flier was an announcement about their trails will only be open to those who are either a member of their club or who have a Trailpass sticker. This is due to the insurance issue and will be taking affect on the 1^st of April of this year.

Faron told us that due to NYTRO, Inc. changing their membership time frames, our chapter memberships are good until April 30^th of this year. Memberships will now run from the 1^st of May until the 30^th of April of each year. He said that he will be mailing out to our members the new membership renewal forms in the very near future. When you receive the renewal form in the mail, you will need to fill it out completely and include a copy of your current and valid registration and insurance card for each ATV you want a club sticker for, along with your membership payment. Sending a copy of your registration and insurance cards will be the only way that you can get a club sticker for each of your machines to be able to ride on club trails.

President McGrew asked about the person who is our main contact on our website getting changed. He said that when someone clicks on that button it goes to Dave Beyer’s email address. He would like to see if that could be changed to his email address instead. We will need to see if our website administrator, Greg Hall, can change that. Mike Bellinger also asked if our website administrator could possibly post a “Calendar Section” on our front page. Showing the entire year at one time with all of the events that we can inform him of. We’ll need to run this by him and get his input.

We had some discussions on scheduling our rides, parades and work details. We talked about which parades we want to ride in and we also talked about setting up a Mud-Bog Drag event. We also talked about having a Chicken BBQ again this year and having it sometime towards the end of April.

Dean Clark made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 pm and Ralph Miller seconded it. All those present were in favor.

Upcoming Events / Rides:

April 11^th, 2005: Our next club meeting at the Lacona VFW at 7:00 pm. All members are encouraged to come.

April 23^rd, 2005: Tentative work detail day. Meet at Ralph Miller’s place at 8:30 am. Bring shovels, picks, wheelbarrows, hedge clippers, chainsaws, and ATVs. Club will provide a meal and beverages for the day.

April 24^th, 2005: Our first chicken BBQ for the season. Parking lot of Ontario Tire Co. on Route 11 in Sandy Creek. Will need helpers at 9:00 am. Chicken to go on sale by noon.

June 11^th, 2005: Orwell Old Home Days Parade. We will meet at the Town Barn on County Route 22 at 11:30 am.

 June 11^th & 12^th, 2005: Oswego County ATV Club’s 1^st Annual Trade & Craft Show. This will be taking place at the Townhouse Restaurant in Williamstown on State Route 13.

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

Everyone should call the folks at the Riverside Campgrounds for your reservations after May 1^st, 2005 by calling (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 in the next couple of weeks. 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. You will only have until the 31^st of May to get your renewals sent back or risk losing your membership in this club. We will be requiring you to provide us with a copy of your ATV’s registration and insurance card for each Club ATV Sticker that you will need. Please be sure to fill out the renewal form with all of the correct information that is asked of you. This is so I can keep our club records updated on your information.

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. Or you can visit our website at www.nytronny.com and check out our Member News Flash Board.

March Birthday Wishes:                                             April Birthday Wishes: