TLCA grant available (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Robkc

Robkc

Joined
Feb 23, 2013
Threads
30
Messages
680
Location
kansas
Ross Woody announced at SCC that any chapter is eligible for $500 grant to be used for trail or park maintenance. I think we should apply for one to help defer supply costs as well as plan a work weekend for helping Ron and Sheila get moving with shower house project at Flat Nasty.

Let me know what you guys think. Probably could donate some of our club funds as well.
 
trainrech said:
Private trails/parks or public? Not sure I am a fan of using TLCA funds to improve a private for-profit facility.
Click to expand...

I totally understand the concern about using our club money to support a for profit business.

Previewing this before posting it turned out quite lengthy. Hopefully everyone actually reads it all the way through to understand where I am coming from with this suggestion. And we will have a meeting for all members to vote on this before committing but just wanted to get the wheels turning.

The TLCA grant is available for public or private trails and facilities as long as it is for some project that enhances wheeling opportunities.

The Cottonland and Razorback Cruiser chapters spent a couple of weekends this summer at the Hot Springs ORV park preparing 15 new RV sites from scratch. This was something those clubs choose to do with their funds generated from events at that park and occurred prior to Ross Woody's offer so no TLCA funds were utilized for that project. I saw signs throughout the Hot Springs park indicating areas where different clubs have taken the responsibility for trail maintenance as well as signage for the trailheads. I think this partnership is a main reason why they drew 169 rigs which covered their cost for providing dinner all 3 nights. Due to the attendance exposure, owners from Marlin Crawler, Metal Tech, ComeUp Winch and even Beno were there and donated lots of prizes. They had about $15,000 worth of prizes either donated or purchased. In addition they raised almost $11,000 for the St Judes Children's Hospital via a separate raffle with an ARB 47L Fridge/Freezer and a Warn Winch Kit w/ synthetic line, corded and cordless controllers as the only prizes.

Also, there are quite a few clubs that have donated time and supplies to enhance not only the trails at KS Rocks but they also built a whole bunch of air stations so that around 15 or 20 rigs could all be airing up at the same time. Furthermore, based upon conversations I had with Rob Wickett at Make It or Break It this summer, the Tall Corn Cruisers provided sweat equity for the little 2 stall shower setup at that park as well. This is happening at both public and private facilities all over from what I can tell.

I know that a lot of our members as well as other clubs near us that we used to draw from for attendance at Fall Crawl do not care for the current facility setup at Flat Nasty. In addition, I am not suggesting we fund the entire shower house project or all the labor. Just thinking that if we offer some sweat equity and maybe match the grant amount towards supplies it might help get Ron and Sheila more motivated to get that project rolling and get the attendance numbers back up for Fall Crawl as I don't see moving it to another park anytime soon.

I think that through this gesture it would help prevent a similar situation as to what we encountered with the other place we hosted our event at for a few years.

Sorry about the rambling.
 
Last edited:
At first I was on the same thought as Chris, but I do see your line of thinking and think it is something we should explore.
 
Just an FYI. I recall there has been discussion about a shower house at Flat Nasty since we went there in 2005ish. That trip we got to use portable toilets - no running water anywhere.

I suggest we focus on SMORR and/or KS Rocks. KS Rocks has added a considerable amount of land recently. SMORR has always focused on the family side of wheeling. I’m just not a fan of Flat Nasty.
 
@trainrech I love the facilities at SMORR and the trails are by far the best in Missouri. I wish the Fall Crawl could return there however, based upon the feedback from the owner over the last couple of years I don't believe there is anyway we will ever host our event there again. When we balked at his price of $8000 to rent the park for the weekend he wouldn't consider any compromise on reserving just the pavilion and the RV/Tent area along the trees on the south side of the RV Section. In addition, when trying to plan for this year in March, the 3rd weekend in Sept and 1st weekend in Oct were available according to SMORR calendar online. When I inquired whether we could reserve the Pavillion and our preferred camping area either weekend Brendan said he would get back to me the next day. He never called back and within 14 hours the same group that had the 4th weekend in Sept had booked both of those other weekends. Additional calls from my cell phone all went to VM and when I called from Leslie's phone I was disconnected and additional calls to VM. No return calls from any VM. So all of a sudden after my inquiry a club was hosting events 3 weeks in a row and only 1 week had any real details, the other 2 just claimed to have live music on Saturday night in the pavilion. In July the SMORR calendar was updated to reflect what is on the calendar now.

I am open to pursuing KS Rocks for the event but 2 pit toilets and no showers at all until we build something is a real stretch for the club. Maybe we could continue to use Flat Nasty until KS Rocks is built up enough. @2fpower and I had a pretty good time wheeling there a few weeks ago but there really aren't enough trails to keep from getting bored on a multiple day event unless there is a whole lot more acreage available that I don't know about because we ran all the new trails plus majority of the old in only 6 hours with most of my time spent spotting Tacoma's. In addition, unlike the Ozark terrain of SMORR and Flat Nasty where there is some grit to help keep you going, when it is wet at KS Rocks it is all slick clay and mud which tends to put you in much more precarious situations for harm to vehicles and people.

I know Ron has grand plans for the shower house situation and an honest conversation with him about how to bite off a smaller chunk of the pie in the sky would be appropriate. The past 2 years we have rented the house which is right next to the RV area and has 2 full bathrooms available for anyone registered for the event as well as a reasonable amount of tent space close by. I believe that is a big leg up on any other park we could utilize for our event but I am open to any suggestions and a consensus from the group as a whole.

Anyone else want to chime in?
 
The last couple minutes of this video are pertinent to this discussion.
 
@rockstate45 Please inquire on the next TLCA conference call whether this $500 grant is a one time deal, annual or some other timeframe for repeat utilization. I would appreciate a heads up on when the call is scheduled for so I can listen in as well.
 
There is an event at KS Rocks Nov 4th called Kansas Krawl which is a fund raising event for park facilities. Anyone else interested in running out for the day to see how their facilities handle a large event? Also get a better understanding from the groups that are currently maintaining the place, what the possibilities are for our club pitching in.
 
SIGNS at Tuttle. Took me years to figure out where I was.
 
2fpower said:
SIGNS at Tuttle. Took me years to figure out where I was.
Click to expand...
This ^^ with a way to mark the trail's difficulty as well. I'm not sure if I care as much for a map (there may be one online if my memory serves me right) but a way to tell the difficulty without walking it would be nice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom