Cherokee Hiking Club
198 Crews Drive, Benton, TN 37307
Monthly
Club Meeting
Thursday, September 11,
2008
September Club Meeting: The September 11 meeting will be held at the First Baptist Church in Benton with a potluck supper beginning at 6:30. Bring a covered dish; drinks & ice are provided by the club. A slide presentation will be made by James Anderson & Rick Harris of their recent trip to the Wind River in Wyoming. Special guest Jeff Hunter, now with the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, will also give a brief presentation on new areas he is proposing for wilderness designation in the Cherokee National Forest. Also, we will be voting on acceptance of the Bylaws for the Southeast Foot Trails Coalition. It should be a very exciting & informative evening. Some T-shirts are still available for purchase at the meeting.
Directions: Take Hwy 411 going north from Hwy 64. Come through the traffic light in Benton. Turn right on Hwy 314 just past the Sonic. First Baptist Church is on the left just after you turn. If you are traveling south from Etowah, Hwy 314 is on the left just past the Benton Municipal Building.
September Meeting Minutes: The monthly meeting of the Cherokee Hiking Club was held on September 11, 2008 at 6:30 PM at the First Baptist Church of Benton. There were 23 members and 6 guests attending. Thanks to Evette Strickland and Belinda Mantooth for arranging this meeting place. Following a potluck meal, President Randy Morris called the business session to order at 7:20 PM. Since we had several new people, we had introductions by the group. Minutes of the previous meeting were read by Secretary Jane Bohannon and were approved as read. The Treasurer’s report was omitted.
The club will send cards to Gayle Jones and to Julie, James Anderson’s daughter. Gayle is at home following surgery. Julie is improving and will soon enter a rehabilitation center. Please keep Gayle, Julie and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Rick Harris presented an interesting power point presentation using maps and photos to report on his and James Anderson’s hike on the Continental Divide Trail on the Wind River Range in Wyoming.
New Business: Rick Harris, our representative for the Southeastern Foot Trails Coalition, presented information about the organization and requested that the club discuss and vote at the next meeting whether to support the SEFTC and their by-laws. He also spoke of the financial support necessary to continue the coalition, since the American Hiking Society no longer funds SEFTC. One option is to increase club dues by $1.00 per year with all proceeds going to SEFTC.
Jeff Hunter, with the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, spoke on proposals which would increase acreage designated as wilderness in Big Frog, Little Frog, Upper Bald River and the Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas. Clayton Pannell presented arguments regarding the negative impact of increasing wilderness areas and requested we not support the expansion as a club. Clayton also gave details of his experience maintaining trails over the years, echoing comments made by Ken Jones (found on our website) regarding the Upper Bald River Area as wilderness. The club will vote at a later date on whether we wish to support the expanded wilderness area.
INFORMATION REGARDING SEFTC & THE PROPOSED WILDERNESS EXPANSION CAN BE ACCESSED VIA THE CLUB WEBSITE AT www.cherokeehikingclub.org. We will have a vote about supporting SEFTC at the October club meeting so please review the information.
Richard Carroll, a representative of the Boy Scouts in the Cleveland area, spoke and requested that the club lead 1-2 hikes for the scouts. This request will be discussed at the next meeting.
Old Business: Club tee shirts are still available in all sizes.
Hikes completed: Discussed
Upcoming hikes: Discussed
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM.
October Club Meeting: The October 9 meeting will be held at the home of Al Rymer beginning about 5:30 with supper around 6:15. Al will provide hotdogs & fixings. Bring a covered dish, a lawn chair and roasting sticks if you have them; drinks & ice are provided by the club. Directions: Take Hwy 411 going north from Hwy 64. Come through the traffic light in Benton. Continue another 6+ miles, crossing the Hiwassee River. Turn right onto Savannah Shores Drive at the now defunct Cowboy’s Restaurant. Al is at 380 Savannah Shores Dr. on the right.
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