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Macomb Orchard Trail News Volume # 2/ Issue 3 Published By: Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail Autumn 2001 Table of Contents:
Special Attractions at Next Meeting- Tuesday October 9th Sneak Preview of Michigander Bike Tour video. Nancy Krupiarz of Michigan RTC describes fund raising campaigns for the trail According to our by-laws, four meetings each year are designated as membership meetings: January, April, July and October. Technically, the other eight meetings are Executive Board meetings, although members are welcome to attend all meetings and some do. Starting immediately, we will include special attractions to make the membership meetings more interesting. This month we have two special attractions: What's Next for the "Friends" By: Lee Sorensen First of all, I want to personally thank all who took the time to work in our booth at various events this past summer, passing out brochures, promoting the trail and (trying to) answer the often repeated How's that going? question. See the article elsewhere in this issue listing the workers. Having spent the summer scratching our heads over what we, The Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail, do next for the trail, a picture has begun to emerge. The County's move to purchase the trail was swift and decisive, but It left everyone guessing as to the next move. Interlocal meetings were put on hold, and we went about our business of promoting the trail at various events, but with less fervor than we had when the purchase was in doubt. Recently that all changed. County officials held a meeting in Romeo for representatives from all of the governmental units along the trail. There County officials laid out there vision and answered questions. The bottom line Is this: The County wants all of the communities to approve an Interlocal agreement creating a Trail Commission to own and operate the trail, regardless of their ability to provide local funding. County attorneys are now drafting a new agreement that will allow the communities to sign up, whether they have the money or not. There apparently was some talk of asking the communities for equal sums, but allowing them to pay over a period of years. When the new draft is ready, the community representatives will be reassembled. Meanwhile the grant application submitted by the County to the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund was denied, although three Oakland County trails were funded. County officials are now hard at work on the next grant application, which will be submitted to MDOT. Word out of Lansing is that new staff members at MDOT, who dispense the trail grants, are taking a hard line approach to local funding requirements. This means that the funding formula we once thought possible (where one grant could be leveraged against another, leaving only five percent to come from local funds) is gone. Now the local match to get an MDOT grant will be a minimum of 20 percent with no allowance for leverage. That does not mean grants can't be approved without local funds, but the local funds must be "in the bank" before the grant check Is written. Here's where we come in. We have the opportunity to conduct a fund raising campaign on behalf of trail. Nancy Krupiarz of the Michigan Rails to Trails field office will be at the October meeting to explain how to run a capital campaign. She will describe a well documented campaign of this type in Pennsylvania that can work for us. Your attendance at this meeting will show that the trail really is important to you. At our October meeting, we will show a sneak preview of the 2001 Michigander Bike Tour video. This video will not be released until later in the month, but you can see it at the meeting. The videographer, Michael Osborne of OZ Multimedia, will also give us a behind the scenes story of how it was made (NO home video available on that part). If you've done other bicycle tours and wondered what the Michigander was like; if you've thought about a bike tour but doubt that you could do it; If you ever wondered what 500 close friends having a lot of fun riding bicycles across the state looks like, be there. If you rode the Michigander but didn't order the video, see what you are missing. Then order you're your very own copy to show your friends how much fun it is. Michael will accept orders at the meeting. We're down to our last "show" of the season, the Armada Applefest on October 13th and 14th. If you haven't been contacted to work in the booth, and you can spare a couple of hours between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on either day, please call Lee Sorensen at (586) 781-3756. Sharing something you believe In Is easy and rewarding. Besides, you might find something to buy In the other booths. (Hint: Achatz pies are awesome.) Thank You to Friends of the MOT Volunteers The Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail want to thank the following
volunteers who worked at local festivals in the Friends of the Macomb Orchard
trail tent passing out literature and promoting the trail. We continue to need
more volunteers to step up for other trail projects Instead of always relying on
the same people. The Michigan office of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) has been a major supporter of the Macomb Orchard Trail since day one. If you aren't yet a member of RTC, you should consider joining now. The annual fee for membership in the national organization Is as low as $18, and you can also contribute to the Michigan office when you join. Check them on the web at www.railtrails.org for more information or call 1 (800) 888-7747 extension 11 to join. Board of Directors Click here for a list of our current board members The Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail also had a contest to win a free MOT
T-shirt - one for every day of each festival. The winners are: Friends of Macomb Orchard Trail meeting dates Regular meetings on 2nd Tuesday of month at Rotary Activities Building, 20505
29 Mile Rd (east of Wolcott) History of abandoned railroad corridor sought The Friends of Macomb Orchard Trail are developing a history of the Canadian
National/Grand Trunk railroad corridor (once known as the Michigan Air-Line) that
ran from Richmond, through Armada, Romeo, Shelby Township, and (as they used to
say when announcing train departures in the depot) points west. If you have any
historical or land ownership information, news items, vintage pictures, maps or
artifacts of this railroad line, or the people or trains that traversed it,
please send them to: Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail E-Mail We are communicating information on trail developments via e-mail to keep everyone up to date when things move too fast for the quarterly newsletter. If you have e-mail, but haven't given us your address, please e-mail your address to us at orchardtrail@egroups.com. Then you'll be in line to receive late breaking news (as well as requests for immediate support). Membership application Click here for a membership application Armadillo Custom Printed Dry Goods Discount priced T-shirts and sweat shirts ]ohn Nitz, O'Reilly Rancilio. Mail Boxes Etc.: prints this newsletter at discount Published By. Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail
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Friends of the Macomb Orchard Trail Inc. P. O. Box 385 Richmond, Michigan 48062-0385 www.orchardtrail.org |
