Minutes of the Annual Meeting,
November 17, 2005
The Vice-Chair, Gene Mihaly, called the meeting to order at the Cathedral of St. John in Providence, RI at 6:00 PM and introduced himself. (The Chair, Jerry Bernardini, was delayed returning from an AMC training session in Connecticut.)
Attending: Jerry Bernardini, Chair; Eugene Mihaly,
Vice-chair; Larry Rollins, Past-chair; Tom Eagan, Treasurer; Fred Griffith,
Secretary; Chris Shafer, Activities; Maria Earley, Membership; Linda Pease,
Conservation; Jodi Imms and Anne LeClerc, Trails; Steve Morra, Communications;
Charlie Killam, Leadership Development; Henry Donaldson, Backpacking and
Northern Hikes; Marcie Madsen, Biking; Brian Phillips, Technical Climbing; Dan
Reardon, Ski; Bill Rush, Sea Kayaking; and Gary Whitney, Webmaster
62 chapter members were present in addition to the Board members listed.
Chair’s Report:
The 2005 Annual Report was distributed to the members present. The Minutes of the last Annual Chapter Meeting of November 2004 were approved.
Gene introduced the Chapter leaders who were present.
A moment of silence was observed in memory of Doug Wing and Roger Palmer, chapter members who passed away this year.
Gene introduced Faith Salter, Assistant Director of Volunteer Relations from Joy St. She applauded our chapter for the talented volunteer leaders that make it a strong chapter. Our trip leaders do a great job.
She thanked the chapter for trying out the on-line trip listing system. She mentioned that our chapter will be hosting the Fall Gathering for the entire AMC in October.
Faith encouraged those present to sign up with the AMC Conservation Action Network: www.outdoors.org/conservation. This lets members get monthly e-mail about conservation issues. She passed out cards to join, and later gave away a book and a new map to randomly drawn winners among those who signed up.
She mentioned two other AMC projects, the Chapter Trials challenge (www.outdoors.org/trails) and the Maine Woods Initiative, where AMC bought over 35,000 acres as an ecological reserve. The State of Maine got a federal forest legacy grant to help pay for this.
Gene then introduced Chris Shafer, the Activities Chair. He presented New Leader patches to the new leaders present who had led or co-led at least 3 trips. He also recognized the Prolific Leaders.
At this point, Jerry Bernardini arrived and took over chairing the meeting. He thanked the Board for their help this year.
50-year chapter members were recognized: Jane Kruger, Harold Wermuth and Marjorie Hiles. Marjorie was present and accepted her pin, telling us about a memorable AMC trip she’d taken to Switzerland. She still does biking, canoeing and cross-country skiing.
25-year chapter members were also recognized: Diane Kozlowski, Henry and Martha Cruciani, Andrea Brennan, and Susan and Michael Cerullo. Susan is a Past-chair, and she and Michael were present to receive their pins.
Steve Morra presented the John Clark award for the unsung hero of the chapter to Fred Griffith in recognition of his work over the past 4 years as our Secretary. Fred has also led northern hikes trips and he has done trails work. He works behind the scenes and does a good job for the chapter.
Jennie Crooks presented the Appie of the Year award to Maria Earley. Maria has been the chapter Membership chair, serving on the Executive Board. She is a tireless local trails worker, as well as the maintainer of a section of the Old Jackson Road trail in Pinkham Notch. She has co-led work sessions on the Gormley trail and provided food for over 25 people working on these projects. She is an active Local Hikes leader, leading on the Russ Whitney and Vin Gormely hikes as well as initiating New Member Hikes for the chapter. She is active in the Paddling group as well.
Maria thanked the membership for the award and talked about how she got into the chapter. Enthusiastic members got her started in AMC, and she encouraged all of us to talk about the club with our friends and acquaintances.
Jerry then introduced Charlie Killam, Peter Broderick and Sean Buckley, all prolific leaders with the Northern Hikes committee. They presented a special award to Ed Poyer, who has stepped down after many years as chair of the Northern Hikes committee and of the Leadership Development committee. Ed began the Wilderness First Aid courses for our chapter that are now given annually. Ed has been a regular Mountain Leadership School instructor and a Major Excursions leader in addition to his hard work for our chapter. Ed was presented with a replica of the Forest Service warning sign seen at tree line in the White Mountains.
Chris Shafer took the floor again to introduce Jodi Imms, Anne LeClerc and Linda Pease, who presented Stewardship awards to those who had worked over 12 hours for the Trails and Conservation committees. Linda encouraged members present to become chapter leaders.
Finally, Jerry led a toast to Larry Rollins and Sue DiSimoni, who were married last week.
The formal business meeting adjourned at 7:18 and dinner was served.
After dinner, Larry Rollins introduced Sean Buckley, who presented an interesting slide show on his experience with a month-long National Outdoor Leadership School training in the Yukon Territory of Canada. This involved about 3 weeks of bushwhacking and camping, followed by over a week of wilderness canoeing.
Respectfully submitted,
Fred Griffith, secretary
2005 Annual Report
Narragansett Chapter
Appalachian Mountain Club
www.amcnarragansett.org
My first year as Chapter Chair reminds me of the old employment
aphorism, that it’s not important how many years you experienced work but how
many years you worked at experience. Although I have been an AMC member for
over thirty three years, my first year as Chapter Chair has been a serious
learning experience. I would like thank everyone on the Board, the sub-chairs,
the AMC staff and all other Narragansett members that have contributed to a
stimulating learning year. Contained within this report is a great deal of
information and I‘ll not add much more, but will instead talk about the
weather.
I have always liked the ever changing New England weather, the
unexpected snow storms, the thunder and lightening shows, the rapid forty
degree temperatures changes and even a Northeaster with the loss of
electricity. Sure I like the sixty degree sunny fall days, but the dramatic changes of weather always make
me feel more alive and more in touch with the power of our environment. Until
recently the weather has only been a minor inconvenience that has caused me to
modify, but not eliminate, my outdoor interests. If it rains, I won’t bike, but
I will still kayak or hike. If it snows I can cross country ski, alpine ski,
snowshoe or camp in the snow with a new tent and sleeping bag.
This fall, however, the weather has taken on new dimensions in the news
and in my mind as never before. The destruction of cities, hundreds of miles
coastline and thousands of lives that will never be the same, has caused this
weather-loving guy to take notice. At first it just interfered with my
activities of hiking, kayaking and biking, and then it became personal. My
ninety-year-old mother lives in Florida and was without power for two weeks,
eating from the freezer or cans and whatever the good neighbors brought her
heated on a barbeque grill. Is this all part of a thirty year weather cycle or
is it the dreaded “Global Warming” at work?
Although it is difficult to define all AMC members, it’s clear that
most of us are a combination of outdoor activity nuts and environmentalists.
Admittedly many AMC members feel the environmental side more deeply than
others. We have all heard the two sides and competing scientific theories about
global warming. Are we experiencing a normal thirty-year cycle, or a dramatic
weather change caused by our ever-increasing use of carbon based energy? I have to admit that although I have wanted
to believe the global warming side, I have remained detached from it and
uncommitted to either side. However, now that it’s personal and the link
between the environment, weather, the price of gas, and the direction of
national policies is much clearer, I fell compelled to take a side. No matter
where you are on the issue of global warming, I invite you to look into the
related issues. Determine for yourself what is real, reasonable and practical.
At a minimum I believe as environmentalists we should be as well informed as
possible on the subject and make decisions that err on the side of more
efficient use of energy. Will that change the weather or reduce the cost of
energy? I’m not sure, but for now, I am going to make it personal and act like
it does. I am going to keep up on the issues, write some letters, and be ready
hike, bike, and kayak in almost any weather.
Jerry Bernardini, Chapter Chair
Minutes of the last Annual Meeting, November 13, 2004
The Chair, Larry Rollins, called the meeting to order at the Cathedral
of St. John in Providence, RI at 6:00 PM.
Attending: Larry
Rollins, Chair; Sue DiSimoni, Vice-chair; Tom Eagan, Treasurer; Fred Griffith,
Secretary; Chris Shafer, Activities; Maria Earley, Membership; Linda Pease and
Jack Schempp, Conservation; Nuala McLaughlin, Trails; Steve Morra,
Communications; Jenn Reed, Technical Climbing; Bev Thomas, Sea Kayaking; Lou Jacobs, Local Hiking; Dan Reardon, Skiing; Andy Shearer, Young
Adults; Peter Barlow & Brian Phillips, Technical Climbing; Mike Krabach,
(2004 Minutes, continued)
Bicycling;
Gary Whitney, Webmaster;
and Ilse Hill, Newsletter Editor. About 75 chapter members were present in
addition to the Board members listed.
Chair’s Report:
The Minutes of the last Annual Chapter
Meeting of November 2003 were approved.
Larry Rollins said he had found it a valuable
experience becoming a leader for the chapter, both leading trips and taking
part in the Executive Board. He
encouraged other chapter members to take leadership roles.
Vice-chair’s report:
Sue DiSimoni thanked the chapter for having her as Vice-chair and
echoed Larry’s sentiments about the personal value of volunteering for the AMC.
Treasurer’s report:
Tom Eagan explained the October 31st Treasurer’s Report,
which was part of the 2004 Annual Report handed out at the meeting to those
present. He said there were some grants
where we had the income and had not yet spent the money and also some one-time
donations to the chapter that explained why we had more money on hand now than
a year ago. He anticipates at year’s
end we’ll have less than this but more than in December 2003.
Committee reports:
Trails:
Nuala McLaughlin talked about some of the major Trails projects done
this year, including the Norman Bird Sanctuary, the Ell Pond trail and the Vin
Gormley trail. She encouraged chapter
members to take part in trails work.
Conservation:
Linda Pease said the Conservation and Trails committees had begun to
work with local groups on projects, with our work on the Blackstone Valley Park
as an example. She encouraged anyone
present who had a local project that needed work to contact her.
New business:
The Nominating Committee had submitted the following names to be the
new chapter leadership:
Chair Jerry
Bernardini
Vice-chair Gene
Mihaly
Secretary Fred
Griffith
Treasurer Tom
Eagan
Membership Maria
Earley
Those present voted unanimously for this slate of officers.
Larry Rollins introduced the new Board members. Jerry Bernardini talked about how serving in
an organization leads to personal growth.
He said the AMC was good for spirit and body, about getting out there,
staying healthier. Gene Mihaly
introduced himself to the chapter, too.
Chris Shafer then introduced the new committee leaders who were
present:
Local Hikes chair Lou Jacobs
Ski co-chair Dan
Reardon
Technical Climbing co-chair Brian
Phillips
Chris mentioned to the group that Trails and Family Outings were
looking for new co-chairs.
(2004 Minutes, continued)
Larry Rollins introduced to the chapter the committee leaders present:
Conservation Jack
Schempp & Linda Pease
Communications Steve
Morra
Trails Nuala
McLaughlin
Flatwater Linda
Pease
Sea Kayaking Bev
Thomas
Newsletter Ilse
Hill
Webmaster Gary
Whitney
Archivist Susan
DiSimoni
Committee chairs stepping down were thanked for their service:
Technical Climbing Jenn
Reed
Local Hikes Fran
Scullin
Ski Jack
Schempp
A moment of silence was observed in memory of Robert Goddard, a chapter
member who passed way this year.
Larry then introduced Faith Salter, the AMC Assistant Director of
Volunteer Relations. She talked about
the low-cost lodging at the Shapleigh Bunk House next
to the Highland Center in Crawford Notch, that can be reserved for groups of up
to 16 for $23 per person including breakfast, with meals cooked outdoors, hot
showers, a microwave and bunks. There are
other low-cost facilities at Mohican Outdoor Center and at Little Lyford Pond
Camps in Maine.
Larry recognized Sandy Dunn, who is retiring from leading northern
hikes. She led one of Larry’s first
trips with the AMC. She is a former
Narragansett chapter Chair and Appie of the Year.
Chris Shafer gave out patches recognizing new leaders for the chapter
and also recognized our prolific leaders.
Linda Pease thanked Conservation committee members who had earned the
Stewardship award for contributing over 12 hours on projects. Nuala McLaughlin then recognized Trails
committee members who earned the same award.
Larry Rollins recognized our 25-year members:
Janet and Norman Hammond
Benjt Karlsson
Robert Lev
Susan McMillan
Jon & Sally Quinn
Steve Morra presented the John Clark award for the unsung hero
of the chapter to Gary Whitney in recognition of all his work over the
years as our Webmaster. Gary has also
led ski trips, chaired the paddling committee.
He works behind the scenes and does a great job for the chapter.
Nuala McLaughlin and Henry Cruciani presented the Appie of the Year
award to Jennie Crooks.
Nuala told us about the history of the Sierra cup that is awarded to the
Appie of the Year. Jennie has been a
tireless trails worker, leading the effort to paint blazes on all the trails
when DEM decided the old plastic blazes had to be removed. She communicates with DEM and the governor
on trail issues and she can always be counted on to fill the void when help is
needed with any aspect of trails work.
Jennie thanked the Trails committee for all its hard work and
organization.
Jack Schempp and Faith Salter announced the need for comments to go to
the White Mountain National Forest regarding the draft Forest Plan announced
this year. The comment period ends in
mid-December, and it is important that our voices be heard. Comment cards were passed out at the meeting
and about 45 were done on the spot.
(2004 Minutes, continued)
The formal business meeting adjourned at 7:22 and dinner was served.
Finally, Larry Rollins introduced Charles Gray, who presented an
interesting multimedia slide and video show on his climbing expedition to Mt.
Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere.
Respectfully submitted,
Fred Griffith, secretary
Actions of the Executive
Board, 2005:
In addition to
routine matters like approving the Minutes and Budget, the Board passed the
following motions:
The following 2005
Annual Reports were submitted by the Chapter’s Committees:
This past year our chapter saw a decrease of 264 members, which
represents a loss of 9.2%. This loss
was not unique to our chapter. Other chapters experienced losses ranging from
3.8% to 15.8%. As of the end of September a total of 2,596 members are
affiliated with our chapter.
I would like to encourage all that read this information to become
active in promoting the club. This is our club and we enjoy all of the benefits
of being a member. How about passing the word to friends and family? On your next AMC activity, try to make a
point to introduce yourself to someone new to the club and make him/her feel welcome.
Our “New Member” hikes have continued with good participation and seem
to be well received. These hikes will continue in the future. We also have seen good participation of new
members helping out with our trail work projects. This outreach is done as a
follow up of our surveys’ returns.
The spring and fall potlucks were held in Smithfield and North
Kingstown. We will continue to alternate locations between the two ends of the
state to better accommodate our members/prospective members and leaders. I was
happy to see many new members attending the fall potluck social.
The Membership in a Bottle (MIB) is now advertised on our web site. The
sale of the MIBs has been strong this year; with 45 memberships sold between
January 1st, and September 30th, this creates additional
revenue to the chapter.
Maria A. Earley, Membership Chair
During 2005 our Committee continued to
support the activities committees’ leader development, working with other
committee chairs and sub-chairs, and also with substantial help from the
general membership.
The Leadership Development Committee held
several activities this past year.
Wilderness First Aid Workshop was held in
April 2005 at Camp Hoffman, with 22 attending.
Instruction was provided by SOLO, with local coordination by committee
members Ed Poyer, Charlie Killam, and registrar Linda Pease.
In September 2005, the Committee produced
another Chapter Get-Away Weekend, held at Zealand Hut, which was attended by 34
members. Four hikes of varying
difficulty were led to and from the hut.
This year's event was coordinated by Sean Buckley, with help from other
Committee members and leaders from Backpacking & Northern Hikes. This event has been quite popular in the
past, and for 2006, has been scheduled to be held at Cardigan Lodge the weekend
of September 29 – October 1. The
facilities at and near Cardigan Lodge offer opportunities for activities such
as canoeing, kayaking and bicycling, in addition to hiking, making this a
chapter wide activity.
For the year 2006, the following Leadership
Development activities are planned:
In April, the committee will again be
producing a SOLO Wilderness First Aid Workshop, to be held at Camp Hoffman in
So. Kingston. We plan to offer basic
WFA every year, with advanced courses subject to funding and interest level.
In May, the committee will be conducting a
Map & Compass Workshop. The
workshop will follow the format of prior years, with one night of classroom and
one day of field practice at Arcadia.
In November, there will be a major Leadership
Training event. This will be a one day
workshop for new and potential leaders with a similar format to the workshop
held in 2003. Both indoor and outside
instruction sessions will be offered in leadership procedures and techniques to
assist new leaders in developing their skills.
I’d like to thank the Leadership Development
Committee for their help this past year.
In particular, I would like to thank Ed Poyer for his many years of
service as chair of this committee. Due
to his efforts, the committee has offered many excellent leadership training
activities over the years, setting high standards that will be a benchmark for
those of us who follow.
Charlie
Killam, Chair, Leadership Development Committee
Conservation committee
This year the Conservation Committee responded to the popularity of
“hands on” community conservation projects by adding two events to bring the
total “Hands on” projects to five. A
total of 18 conservation events were offered in 2005.
The Naturalist Training program was initiated in 2002. It was developed
to help Leaders and members improve their ability to discuss common trees,
flowers, plants and wildlife. This
training is now open to all members. In 2005, a two-day program was held at the
Audubon facility in Wellfleet (Cape Cod). The Audubon staff provided
instruction in the morning, primarily on ducks & gulls. In the afternoon we
visited several ocean sites to view and identify these shore birds. Sunday we
discussed other shore creatures and waves, currents, sand flow, storms, seals,
fish, shore habitat, storms, and erosion control techniques. The instruction
was outstanding. The informal presentations and beach walks encouraged broad
participation. The brisk sea weather provided a superb background for learning.
A total of thirteen attended including eight from RI and two each from the
Southeast and Boston Chapters. A portion of the cost was underwritten by
Special Projects Funding. We plan to offer another weekend of Audubon
instruction on Cape Cod in 2006.
Nine events included commentary by naturalists or a forester.
In 2005, we participated in RI Earth Day for the fourth year and added
School Yard Habitat to our Backyard Habitat presentations. We will be
installing our first School Yard Habitat at an elementary school in 2006.
Many thanks to Committee members for their ideas, enthusiasm,
leadership, and diligence: Patty D’Ambra, Linda Cooper, Roseann Evans, Barbara
Flagg, Yvonne Federowicz, Tim Grover, Ilse Hill, Terri Pinto, Robert
Sumner-Mack, and John Stevens and Dick Yeaw
Jack Schempp & Linda Pease, Co-Chairs, Conservation Committee
The AMC Narragansett Chapter Trails Committee had many dedicated
volunteers working in a variety of areas for the October 2004 thru October 2005
season. Trails Committee volunteers
logged a total of 1009 hours planning and doing trail work. Of this total, 344 hours were spent on administrative
work and 665 hours were spent getting hands dirty and muscles sore on the
trails of Rhode Island. This year a
total of 18 volunteers received the Stewardship Society Award for contributing
12 or more hours in the planning and/or working on trail projects.
A total of 344 hours were spent by volunteers attending and preparing
for monthly meetings (i.e., the Trails Committee and Trails Advisory
Committee). Our monthly meetings attendance averaged 8 persons. A trails web site was created, with a link
from the Narragansett Chapter’s home page, which summarizes the yearly event. The URL to this web site is: http://www.amcnarragansett.org/trails/
A total of 10 hours was spent on walk
throughs of the Canonicus and the Ben Utter trails.
A total of 83.5 hours was spent installing trail signs at the trail
heads in Arcadia Management Area. These
signs, created by DEM, were mounted on 4x4 by 8 foot posts. A total of 28 post signs were installed and
6 smaller signs which were mounted on trees.
A total of 211 hours was spent
doing light trails maintenance. This maintenance consisted of any combination of the
following (with minimal planning):
blazing, brushing, putting in stone steps or water bars, removing downed
trees, cleaning out waterbars, and repairing small constructions. This work was done on the River Trail, the
Ben Utter Trail, the Shelter Trail, the J.B. Hudson Trail, the Escoheag Trail,
the Tippecansett Trail in Arcadia, and the Vin Gormley Trail in Burlingame, as
well as the Tri-Pond Trail in Wakefield.
A total of 356 hours was spent on five big projects in 2005. These projects took place at the Arcadia
Trail, Ben Utter Trail, Carter Preserve in Charlestown, Tri-Pond Trail in
Wakefield, and on the Vin Gormley Trail for our annual Vin Gormley Weekend in
September. Volunteers spent 30 hours
putting in step stones on the Arcadia Trail with some light brushing; 25.5
hours in the Carter Preserve installing four 19 foot water bars; 43 hours
replacing a bridge on the Ben Utter Trail; 111.5 hours working on the National
Trails Day project installing 9 board walks at the Tri-pond Trail in Wakefield;
and 146 hours were spent by volunteers working in Burlingame on the Vin Gormley
Trail installing a new bridge and a rock turnpike.
A total of 8 hours was spent on a cooperative project in Blackstone
Park (Providence, RI).
Trail maintenance is a necessary and rewarding activity. Recruiting and maintaining new volunteers
is an issue the Trails Committee continues to address. We are very grateful to all our volunteers,
however often you can manage to come out and work with us, and we look forward
to working with you again soon.
Jodi Imms and Anne LeClerc, Trails Committee Co-chairs
After taking over the Local Hike Committee, I believe we had a very
good year with the amount of hikes we had. The only problem was the weather
didn’t cooperate totally.
Between December 3, 2004 and October 30, 2005, hikes were planned for
almost every weekend, in some cases on both Saturday and Sunday. Some of these
hikes had to be canceled due to inclement weather, but the spirit was there.
·
The committee
led 75 hikes covering all parts of Rhode Island, parts of Massachusetts, and
parts of Connecticut, East of the Connecticut River.
·
Bob Cilette
listed 50 Wednesday night hikes with socials.
·
As in the past,
the Local Hikes committee participated in the Spring Fling by leading a hike at
Fisherville.
·
There were 4
New Member Hikes lead by Maria Earley to help new members find out more about
the club and what is being offered.
·
There are
currently 56 leaders listed on the Local Hikes roster.
I feel that the local hike committee had a great year, and great group
of leaders. We are trying to encourage more people to be leaders. This past
year we added 2 leaders, with a few more co-leaders waiting to get their lead
hike in. I feel good about the up coming year. In the next six months we have
many hikes scheduled on both days of the weekends.
Louis Jacobs, Local Hikes Chair
This past year the Backpacking & Northern Hikes Committee sponsored
a diverse schedule of outdoor activities.
The group, which includes 19 leaders and co-leaders, sponsored 41 hikes,
16 of which were during the winter period.
Backpacks included summer trips to the Kinsman Range and Mt Carrigain
while winter backpacks included the Carter Range. Most of the hiking activities were in Massachusetts and New
Hampshire. However for the first time
hikes were also in the Catskills and Adirondacks of New York. AMC facilities, including the Shapleigh
bunkhouse at the Highland Center, Mizpah Hut and Zealand Hut, were used to
facilitate several of these activities.
Our leaders continued to serve
as instructors at AMC Mountain Leadership School and to offer inter-chapter
trips. Leaders also served as resources
for the Leadership Development Committee for workshops and trips.
Many activities were offered to
improve outdoor skills and interest members in expanding their range of outdoor
activities. An indoor winter workshop
was conducted in December to demonstrate the equipment needed for safely hiking
in the mountains in the winter. This
workshop was followed by an introductory skills workshop in New Hampshire. We also continued our Step by Step hiking
series which gradually exposes local hikers and new members to mountain hiking
skills and conditions. A map and compass workshop was also conducted.
We thank our northern hikes
leaders and co-leaders for the many activities they provided this past year.
Henry Donaldson, Chair, Backpacking & Northern Hiking Committee
Paddling committee
Another successful and full schedule of paddling was completed in
2005. We had more paddles than we can
remember -- 26 paddles were held and 3 were cancelled due to bad weather.
The flatwater program is continuing to run strongly and smoothly with a
variety of paddles on open water, wide rivers, narrow rivers and twisty
rivers. The twisty rivers such as Big
River offered opportunities for experienced paddlers to teach turning
techniques that a few paddlers took advantage of. Many pond and open water and
pond paddlers don’t realize that paddling in the confined space of a twisty
river requires a variety of paddling techniques in order to navigate the river.
The Big River paddle trip also served two other purposes. The first purpose is that the Conservation
Committee is always looking for activities and this paddle counts as both a
Paddling Committee activity and a Conservation Committee activity. The more important purpose is that it
introduced a new river to our repertoire and we educated the participants on
the politics of the Big River project and that this habitat, abundant with
wildlife, birds and a broad sampling of trees and other types of plants could
be lost if not protected.
Another new paddling venue this year was West Thompson Lake in Thompson,
CT -- a large lake with a river we were able to paddle on for quite some
time. In the parking lot, we discovered
this lake has trails, which we suspect may be similar to Buffumville. We’ll be checking the trails out for
possible future hikes.
The sea kayak program is growing
out of its infancy. It’s two and a half
years old! With only a few sea kayak
trips over the last two years, there were 7 trips that included two overnight
trips this year. The overnight trips included a sea kayak trip in Maine and
a trip to Squam Lake. Several local trips were held including a paddle in
the Providence area and a few late day to sunset paddles in Warwick. We are lucky and very pleased to have
a group of qualified sea kayak paddle leaders and co-leaders who were able to
offer so many trips this year.
Beverly Thomas, who had been the white water chair, became the sea
kayak chair in 2003 when our chapter’s interest changed from white water to sea
kayaking. We thank Beverly for her good
work in getting the sea kayak program launched. Now that the program is successfully up and running, Bev felt she
could turn the program over to the capable hands of Bill Rush who will take
over in the 2006 season. We welcome
Bill as the new sea kayak sub-chair and are grateful that Bev will remain an
active leader.
In addition to the “teach-as-you-go” method that we employ when we see
someone who could use some advice and practice on the go, we also held two
separate all-day training classes. One
class was for our leaders, which is run similarly to mountain leadership school
and another one for our participants.
Both classes were well attended.
Respectfully submitted by:
Linda Pease, Flatwater Chair and Bev Thomas, Sea Kayak Chair
Biking committee
This was my third year as co chair of the Narragansett AMC biking
committee.
This year we scheduled over 30 week end and mid week rides!! Jack
Schempp’s Maine weekend trip continues
to draw full participation including several members from others chapters. Our
Spring Fling rides saw a couple of new members who liked what they saw and
participated in rides throughout the summer.
Our midweek rides while sporadically attended will continue as it is
nice to have riding options.
Unfortunately this year two prolific leaders were sidelined by
injuries, BUT as in years past Dick Schaffner and Sid Wax stepped up to once
again to be our chapter heroes as far as leading bike rides. They lead or
co-lead over 18 rides combined. Their love of cycling and their enthusiasm is
to be applauded. I am happy to say this
summer brought a couple of new leaders to our tight knit community
I look forward to working with our many bike leaders again and
hopefully inspire new leaders for the 2006 riding season.
Marcie Madsen, Co-Chair Biking Committee
2005
Season: Intermittently snowy
There was often excellent snow during a longer than usual
ski season.
Weekend
trips:
Five weekend trips were scheduled:
Day
Trips:
Sue McMillan led a day trip in early January to WindBlown
Ski Area in So NH. A day trip in RI
scheduled by Mike Rubin was cancelled due to ski conditions. A few local day trips were held in Rhode
Island during periods when excellent snow conditions existed and were mostly
geared to further advance skiing skills of those that attended the Sargent
Center instructional trip.
Dan Reardon, Chair, Ski Committee
Technical Climbing
committee
The Technical Climbing Sub-Committee had a very active and successful
year! The Beginner and Intermediate
climbing classes had a great turn-out.
There were 24 students in the Beginner course and 24 in the Intermediate
course. This was a very dedicated group
as the majority of Beginner students went on to the Intermediate course and the
majority of Intermediate students went on to climb with the group during the
trips. Through aggressive advertising
by our group members we filled the classes and have added a significant number
of adrenaline junkies to our group.
We held social events, classes, or trips in every month except December
and March. This year’s climbing trips were very well attended. The June trip to the Gunks was one of the
largest ever with 30 trip participants.
Thanks to the ongoing support and efforts of this year’s trip leaders
and co-leaders.
Brian Phillips and Peter Barlow,
Co-chairs, Technical Climbing Committee
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Narragansett Chapter -
AMC |
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Treasurers Report |
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October 31, 2005 |
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Beginning
cash balance (1/1/05) |
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$25,516.19 |
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Revenues |
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Chapter allocation |
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8,454.00 |
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Returned advances |
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1,200.00 |
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Membership in a bottle |
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2,545.00 |
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Grant - AMC (SDA/SPF) |
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250.00 |
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Grant - State of RI |
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0.00 |
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Donations |
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0.00 |
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Annual meeting |
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0.00 |
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Spring fling |
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1,055.00 |
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Workshops, activity fees |
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608.00 |
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Rental of equipment |
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140.00 |
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Misc |
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118.00 |
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14,370.00 |
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Expenses |
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Advances |
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1,629.78 |
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Canoe/Kayaking |
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0.00 |
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Trails |
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452.38 |
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Conservation |
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1,054.00 |
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Activities |
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0.00 |
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Local Hiking |
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0.00 |
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Northern Hiking |
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64.14 |
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Leadership |
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856.20 |
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Communications |
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6,310.19 |
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Membership/social |
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510.50 |
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Executive/Spring Fling |
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1,830.23 |
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Diversity |
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0.00 |
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Skiing |
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0.00 |
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Technical climbing |
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446.25 |
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13,153.67 |
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Ending
cash balance (10/31/05) |
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$26,732.52 |
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NARRAGANSETT LEADER SUMMARIES
Year 2005 Qualifiers for Narragansett Chapter Leader
Patch
Gene Chicoine (Local Hiking)
Dave Curry (Technical Climbing)
Henry Donaldson (Northern Hiking)
Anne Fusco (Flatwater Paddling)
Ilse Hill (Conservation)
Jodi Imms (Trails)
Mike Martin (Local Hiking &
Northern Hiking)
Jack Merchant (Local Hiking)
Jeannine Peterson (Technical
Climbing)
Brian Phillips (Technical Climbing)
Deb Sepinwall (Northern Hiking &
Young Adult events)
Andrew Shearer (Local Hiking, Paddling,
& Young Adult events)
Herrick Spencer (Local Hiking)
Prolific Leaders- Led/Administered Several 2004 and
2005 Activities
Peter Barlow (Technical
Climbing)
Peter Broderick (Northern
Hiking)
Sean Buckley (Northern Hiking)
Jim Burns (Local
Hiking)
Bob Cilette (Wednesday
Night Events & Local Hiking)
Jennie Crooks (Trails)
Henry Cruciani (Trails)
Patty D’Ambra (Conservation & Local
Hiking)
Sue DiSimoni (Skiing, Northern Hiking,
& Special Chapter Events)
Jim Dunn (Northern Hiking)
Sandy Dunn (Local Hiking)
Maria Earley (Trails & Local
Hiking)
Barbara Flagg (Bicycling, Paddling,
& Conservation)
Barbara Gilfillan (Local Hiking)
Janet Harris (Local Hiking)
Steve Harrison (Local Hiking &
Northern Hiking)
Lou Jacobs (Local
Hiking)
Gwen Jones (Local/Northern
Hiking)
Charlie Killam (Northern Hiking)
Mike Krabach (Bicycling
& Paddling)
Sue McMillan (Bicycling & Skiing)
Steve Morra (Bicycling, Paddling,
& Local Hiking)
Linda Pease (Conservation,
Flatwater Paddling, Bicycling, & Hiking)
Brian Phillips (Technical Climbing)
Steve Pierce (Local Hiking)
Joe Piotti (Northern
Hiking)
Denise Poyer (Northern
Hiking & Flatwater Paddling)
Ed Poyer (Northern Hiking
& Leadership Training Events)
Larry Rollins (Bicycling, Skiing,
Northern Hiking & Special Chapter Events)
John Ross (Local Hiking)
Bill Rush (Sea Kayaking,
Flatwater Paddling, Bicycling, and Local Hiking)
Richard Schaffner (Bicycling)
Jack Schempp (Conservation, Skiing,
Bicycling, & Hiking)
Chris Shafer (Trails, Skiing,
Flatwater Paddling, & Hiking)
Karen Stein (Local Hiking)
Ruth Strach (Paddling)
Dick Sullivan (Local Hiking)
Bev Thomas (Sea Kayaking)
Gail Trapp (Local Hiking)
Sid Wax (Bicycling
& Local Hiking)
Thanks to Other Year 2005 Outdoor Leaders, Also!
Bicycling- Nancy
Baker, Liz Kroll, Marcie Madsen
Conservation- Linda
Cooper, Roseann Evans, Yvonne Fedorowicz, Tim Grover, John Stevens, Robert
Sumner-Mack
Family Outings-Terry & Craig Gaspard
Local Hiking- Bob
Aldrich, Sue Boland, Mary Bonaventure, Joyce Chang, Richard & Donna
Chellis, Peter Church, Fred & Barbara Dallinger, Aram Deradoorian, Maryann
Heywood, Adele & Bob Holcombe, Roberta Jacobs, Hugh McCracken, Katherine
Mears, Eugene Mihaly, Sybil Pierce, Sue Smith, Eric Spencer, Karen Stein, John
Stevens
Northern - Jerry
Bernardini, Fred Griffith, Mark Heslin, Bob Janus, Roy
Hiking Loiselle,
Terri Pinto, Dale Stefano, Beth Sutton
Paddling- Antoinette
Breed, Linda Cooper, Maureen Daly, Al Stetbacher, Gary Whitney
Skiing- Mark
Dennen, Dan Kutcher, Greg Mannesto, Dan Reardon
Technical- Bill
Baxter, Peter Berard, John Fontaine, Joe Goudreau, Marilyn
Climbing Grant
Trails- Martha
Cruciani, Jim Dowling, Marjorie Gaunt, Anne LeClerc, Dan Reardon
Stewardship Award Winners (Conservation and Trails
committees)
Bill Burke
Jennie Crooks
Bruce Crooks
Martha Cruciani
Henry Cruciani
Jim Dowling
Maria Earley
Marjorie Gaunt
Ilse Hill
Bob Holcombe
Jodi Imms
Stephen Imms
Barbara Kilcup
Bill Kilcup
Anne LeClerc
Al PointeChris Shafer
Ruth Steward