| Initial Meeting |
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We had a very successful first meeting on Sunday night, Nov 16th, 2008.
When we out grew “The Corwin Peddler” we went to a larger Day Lodge. Eventually we almost out grew the Day Lodge, there was standing room only and we had approximately 80 people attend our first meeting. We now have many volunteers and some great suggestions to review. We elected an interim Board of Directors who are empowered to coop other Board Members as our needs change. The Interim Board will craft the Articles of Association, and Bylaws, apply for 501(c)(3) non profit status, etc. There will be full democratic elections no later than the end of June 2009.There are minor changes between the presentation and what appears above. Those changes show who has been elected to each position, some additional comments, courtesy of our Secretary and also corrects some minor errors. Our Board is happy to answer all of your questions, listen to your suggestions and make use of your offers of assistance, but please be aware that we have been attempting to correspond with well over 160 people about “The Little Miami State Park”. If you do not get a personalized response as quickly as you deserve please do not take offence. Our Board are entering in all of the membership details, creating the By-Laws, Articles of Association, submitting a lot of legal paperwork, etc, to establish our Friends Group as a legal entity. After we have got those essential activities performed, we will then start working on other programs and activities. Sincerely, To watch the presentation that was given to the attendees, please double click on either of the following links: PowerPoint Slide Show PDF Slide Show Personal thoughts of the President What I have below is my (Simeon Copple's) personal priorities / desires for the "Friends of The Little Miami State Park" : 1) To ensure that the bridges remain structurally safe. (So the trail does notbecome fragmented.) 2) To blacktop all of the bridges, so that the bridges become safe. (We have had many accidents on our bridges, including at least two broken hips, a broken collar bone, a broken shoulder blade, and recently a person hospitalized for 3 1/2 weeks because he was paralyzed from the neck down. The paralyzed man actually is recovering well enough now that he came to my store and rented our three wheeled recumbent from us onOct 31, 2008.) 3) Analyze the effect of river erosion on the bank supporting the Little Miami State Park close to Oregonia, and if needed prevent further erosion. 4) Ensure there are adequate bathroom facilities for the many ladies who would like to use the trail year round. The State closes all of the bathrooms from now until May. The Trail is 60 miles long and there are very few business along the trail, therefore the lack of facilities limits quite a few of the ladies. 5) Resurface areas of the trail that have degraded surfaces, because of tree roots, or subsidence. 6) Obtain reliable and current usage data, showing the number of people, the times, and days of the week they are using the entire Park. This data has many purposes: a) Provide The Ohio Dept of Natural Resources (ODNR), Ohio Dept of Transport (ODOT), Counties, benevolent organizations with usage data. This data will justify their continued support of our Park. b Enable businesses to tailor their opening hours to support the largest number of cyclists and other users. c) Encourage other business and individuals to invest in the communities adjacent to the Park. d) Document the benefits to our communities, which may be used to help other communities to invest in similar Parks. 7) Publicize the trail, to encourage even more users, which in turn will enable us to raise more funds allowing us to enhance this Park and adjacent Trails. 8) I would also like to get a number of improvement done, such as park benches, improved signage and landscaping. Quite a few of these ideas are very suitable as Eagle Scout and Gold Award Projects |
