February 25, 2017 URE Work Day

[blue98stang]

Being a member of this club for ~11+ yrs, I will admit.. In years past I felt like we(the club) was being hounded to attend these events, by a member that didn't seem to attend many of the events for any length of time. Now that the kids are old enough that we can attend these workdays, I now understand why someone can be so passionate about these workdays and become ticked off with club members who do not participate at these events.

My father, against our strong efforts to guide him, he bought a Jeep, and is a member of the Triad Jeep Club. They don't seem to have club meetings as often as we do, they don't have HAMOMs, but what they DO do is they show up in droves to the URE Workdays. So we can bad mouth what "The Jeeps do to the trails" when we are out on the trails.. But "The Jeeps" are the ones showing up in DROVES to the work days, signing the volunteer sheets that turn into grant money, to keep the trails open for all of us.

So we need to stop talking about "The Jeeps messing up the trails" and how they need to be caught by the forestry service, when they are the ones that seem to give a dang about showing up to work days. The Jeep guys talk about how no LC people are at the workdays, and it's sickening to see all the Jeep people there, and be one of two LC's there. Makes us look like we are too good to be out there, puts us in the same grouping as the Land Rover crew.

I'm not going to hound the club about attending these events. But I will work to educate the club on how bad of an image we are creating for our club and all other LC owners that enjoy the URE trails. We take pride in our club size, and participation at Logan's Run.. So where is our pride for our local trails?

Eric and I have some ideas we have been tossing around and he will be posting shortly.

 

[erymer]

Well I'll chime in as well here. For years I've been too busy or didn't want to leave Stacy with the kids while I worked. The past couple years it's gotten easier and last year we logged more hours than we ever have before. The work weekend in which the group camp was reserved for workers was amazing. I'll come back to that in a minute. I'm fortunate logistically speaking as I only live just over an hour away. Some don't have that luxury and I can certainly understand the problems that can pose. Especially when it seems like work is not as organized as it could be. The latter was what kept me from participating more in the past. Last year was a lot better than previous years and I left each time feeling like we got a lot done.

So I want to share a pic from FOU from the work weekend last year. They rented out group camp and offered up free camping as well as dinner and breakfast for any that came to work. Amazing turnout that weekend and just two LC's at that time. We were remarkably outnumbered. Kids were given gift bags that included grabbers to help them pick up trash. There was absolutely something for all ages.

So allow me to offer this. Stacy and I would be willing to rent out a spot at group camp for the Saturday night of each workday and offer it up to each of you to join us. We can bring a grill and after a productive workday, come shower at group camp and have some fellowship, good food and a free night of camping. This way no one has to be rushed to make a long drive home after a hard dusty day working on the trails. I like the idea of shirt, stickers and maybe a prize for the most logged hours or even a dedicated raffle for anyone that exceeds a preset number of volunteer hours. 40 hours or 5 volunteer days enters you in a separate raffle held at the Christmas party for example.

 

[fourtrax]

the volunteer time i put in is for my kids and their kids. I have seen so many area closures in my lifetime, i am afraid that if i am not involved at some level then the trails will dry up and OHV activities will become folklore. the members of ONSC and the jeep crowd are good people and they are doing their part in the community. I'm not shaming anyone here, or mandating everyone must help. What i am asking for help, and you can do that in many ways. you could hand write a letter to the forest ranger and tell them how much you and your family enjoyed the opportunity to use the trails. you could send an email to your senator, or representative as well, getting the word out that the resources are appreciated and that the motor vehicle access allowed you to be with nature and enjoy the forest when you weren't able to hike or enjoy it otherwise. there are other ways to be involved, as a club we should regularly contact those in control and help steer the resources to keep the trail systems open, for all who use them responsibly.

sorry for rambling on, I seem to have a touch of ADD tonight, too many thoughts and it was a long day.

 

[lumbee1]

Being a member of this club for ~11+ yrs, I will admit.. In years past I felt like we(the club) was being hounded to attend these events, by a member that didn't seem to attend many of the events for any length of time. Now that the kids are old enough that we can attend these workdays, I now understand why someone can be so passionate about these workdays and become ticked off with club members who do not participate at these events.

My father, against our strong efforts to guide him, he bought a Jeep, and is a member of the Triad Jeep Club. They don't seem to have club meetings as often as we do, they don't have HAMOMs, but what they DO do is they show up in droves to the URE Workdays. So we can bad mouth what "The Jeeps do to the trails" when we are out on the trails.. But "The Jeeps" are the ones showing up in DROVES to the work days, signing the volunteer sheets that turn into grant money, to keep the trails open for all of us.

So we need to stop talking about "The Jeeps messing up the trails" and how they need to be caught by the forestry service, when they are the ones that seem to give a dang about showing up to work days. The Jeep guys talk about how no LC people are at the workdays, and it's sickening to see all the Jeep people there, and be one of two LC's there. Makes us look like we are too good to be out there, puts us in the same grouping as the Land Rover crew.

I'm not going to hound the club about attending these events. But I will work to educate the club on how bad of an image we are creating for our club and all other LC owners that enjoy the URE trails. We take pride in our club size, and participation at Logan's Run.. So where is our pride for our local trails?

Eric and I have some ideas we have been tossing around and he will be posting shortly.

There were more Land Rovers at the workday than Land Cruisers. That says a lot.

BTW, I rarely make New Year's resolutions but this year I committed to myself to participate in more Uwharrie workdays with my minimum goal being 6 workdays. I had so much fun Saturday that next time I will bring the whole family and make it a fun camping weekend.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I haven't heard anyone in the past three years say it's the "jeeps" causing trouble in the forest, despite the occasional outlier like that recent video.

Very generous of @blue98stang and @erymer to offer up a group camp registration. Why don't you table that idea and it can be discussed with the bod when Stacy is installed, so we can come up with a plan using that idea without you dipping into your own pockets. I think it's great!

 

[weejub]

We are excited to do more (something?) here. We seem to always have an excuse

Both kids need service hours for school and are also wanting to come help.

Upcoming dates are probably found at a URE site?

Next work day is part of the M&G, correct?

 

[erymer]

We are excited to do more (something?) here. We seem to always have an excuse

Both kids need service hours for school and are also wanting to come help.

Upcoming dates are probably found at a URE site?

Next work day is part of the M&G, correct?

yes we are having one Saturday morning at the M&G but you can also find the dates in the Sticky section under our calendar.

 

[erymer]

Something at the work weekend still kinda stings for me personally. Darin was giving away a metric s*** ton of swag. He gets ready to give an item away and someone in the front says, " I hope it's not a another damn Toyota hat. There's none here." Thankfully there were a couple of us there and Darin pointed that out in his usual flair.

But, I want to publicly apologize to Darin. For the longest time it would frustrate me in regards to workdays. I felt hounded about participating by someone that I didn't see very much at events. I can only imagine his frustration at each workday with such little activity from us. I didn't see at the time that he was directly involved in helping us and just how much he was doing. Darin I am sorry for not doing more sooner.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Upcoming dates are probably found at a URE site?

Next work day is part of the M&G, correct?

ONSC calendar Jamie:

2017 ONSC Calendar

Yes, next work day is part of the M&G!!

I felt hounded about participating by someone that I didn't see very much at events

This is a key part of what you said, and it brings up an important point about how members view each other in a club of this size. It's easy to make assumptions about someone who you don't see at events, but trust me, Darin was extremely involved up until recently, not only in the workdays, but also our events. He wouldn't typically camp with us, but he'd always make an appearance. He's a genuinely good person who wanted to drive as much participation as possible. Not to mention he was on the ONSC BOD for a number of years, so even if he wasn't at an event I guarantee he helped shape it. His methods of increasing workday involvement could have been different, but the intentions were good, so try to view it through that lens, not just for the past, but moving forward. We're not trying to hound anyone anymore.

All each of us can do is try to attend more workdays than the year prior and keep in mind that recorded and submitted volunteer hours is how the forest receives money from the USFS, and thus how the trails stay open.

 

[blue98stang]

I think that is what E and I are trying to share with other. After attending a few workdays and workweekend, we've seen firsthand what Darin has been subjected to. Both visual, verbal and physically noticeable that other clubs are much more involved.

We both hate that our family wasn't able to participate sooner, as being outnumbered by little ones it was hard for even one of us to make it down for the day. That changed starting last year and we plan on attending many of the work days going forward. As Lumbee stated, make it a family camping weekend.

Darin for what is worth I'm sorry.