Ice Age Trail Dispatch
September 2012
September Trail Improvement Day, Saturday, Sept. 15
Our September trail improvement day on Saturday, Sept. 15, will include a variety of maintenance activities for all tastes and skill levels. Add that to the usual beautifiul September weather, and you should make plans to join us.
For this trail improvement day, please meet at the Chippewa Moraine Interpretive Center at 9:30 AM. Bring a lunch, water, and insect protection (in the unlikely event that they make an appearance). Wear long pants, boots, and good work gloves.
Please RSVP by email if you plan to make it to this work day as it sure helps with planning.
Meet Trail Friends at September Chapter Meeting, Monday, Sept. 17
Chapter members will meet at 6 PM Monday, September 17, at the Chippewa Falls Public Library in Downtown Chippewa Falls. It's a great chance to reconnect with trail friends who've been busy all summer, and help plan our busy fall agenda.
Most important will be to put the finishing touches on the Fall Color Hike, coming up on October 6. We also need to discuss a proposal to move our annual meeting to November, review corridor planning, and begin to plan for 2013.
Join the Parade of Colors! Saturday, October 6
We'll celebrate the Ice Age Trail at its colorful best on Saturday, October 6. Whether you come to hike or help out, you won't want to miss this opportunity to enjoy the trail at its glorious highlight of the year.
Full details are available online, but the general idea is that we welcome hikers of all ambition levels and get you off on the right food. Whether your flavor is 6 miles, 1 mile, or anything in between, we can design a hike just for you. When you are finished, you are at the Interpretive Center where snacks, exhibits, a beautiful place for lunch, and your car await.
If you are coming to hike, just arrive anytime between 9 and 11, and we'll whisk you off to your starting point. If you want company, wait a moment, and someone is sure to appear.
Better yet, plan to volunteer for the event. We need a cadre of volunteer shuttle drivers, greeters, refreshment hosts, and the all-important refreshment bakers! If you wish to volunteer, please RSVP soon.
Time to Report Volunteer Hours
Regular trail volunteers know how important it is for us to keep track of volunteer hours. It's that time of year when we wrap up our lists and submit them to IATA main office for tabulation. If you have been to a chapter event and signed in on a sign-in sheet, we have you covered. But if you've put in time independently, cleaning your section of trail or doing other work for the trail that isn't captured on a sign-in sheet, it's time for you to gather that all together and submit it.
Our volunteer year runs from October 1 - September 30.
The benefit to reporting is that the IAT receives funding in proportion to our volunteer hours. The secondary benefit is that you have the satisfaction of bringing your dream for the IAT a little closer to reality. Finally, there are recognition gifts to honor your time, presented by the National Park Service each year.
Just fire off an email with your list of dates, hours worked, and activity. Or download this form, fill it in on your computer, save it, and email it back (or print it out and bring it to the chapter meeting). Better yet, download the form and keep it where you can keep it current throughout the year, and send it in quarterly. The form is on our chapter web site under Volunteers/Recording Our Work.