News Archive, September through October 2002

On October 24 we had yet another meeting at Phillips, and this time the turnout was higher than usual.  Along with the typical attendees, we had some members who hadn't showed up in months.  In all there was at least 40 people present.

Our president had other obligations therefore myself and Frosty conducted the meeting.  A lot of information was covered, and a copy of the minutes can be found by clicking here.  Most notable was the revisions to the club Bylaws formally creating two new officer positions and further defining membership requirements.  The updated bylaws can now be accessed in three different file formats, and are availably here.  Other notable outcomes from the meeting was Beau Flowers approval for the newly formed Sergeant at Arms position, as well as Dan Buffett's (no relation to Jimmy) acceptance into the club.  Congratulations to Dan the Beau.

In the October 12 Editorial section of the Anchorage Daily News there was an interesting piece written.  It is specifically about how special interest groups can gain exceptional power in property rights (or lack there of) due to the peoples ignorance of the situation caused by the great complexity in government programs.  The editorial is directed at the loss of rights on private properties due to programs like the endangered species act, but I focused on the explanation of how extreme environmentalist can control government land use programs even if they are the minority.  I encourage all that are interested in land use, and especially those who are not, to read the article.  A scan can be viewed by clicking here.

Last Saturday a small group of us headed to Permanente Trail.  The intent was to explore some boulder fields.  A number of members went along to be spectators and photographers.  A number of good pictures were taken.  Brentt has written a 3 page trail report and it can be found in the the Past Trail Rides section or by clicking here.  A big thanks to Brentt for writing the report.

A couple newspaper articles from the Anchorage Daily News have been added under News Clippings in the archives section.  

The first article was published Sept. 29 in the Outdoors section and is titled "Snowmachine makers get an extension from EPA".  It does not deal with fourwheeling or the club directly, but it is about the Environmental Protection Agency backing off from some of its standards.  The article serves as an example of manufacturers, the BlueRibbon Coalition, and others successfully getting EPA standards curtailed to be more reasonable.

The second article added hits a little closer to home, but again is not directly related to fourwheeling.  The Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and more specifically the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation managed to advertise an open house the day of the event.  More access to the Chugach State Park is to be added, and DNR is opening up to comments on the topic.  Most increased access appears to be directed towards foot traffic.  A club member looked over the maps made available later in the week and discussed the plans with a parks representative.  There should be a short synopsis of his findings at the October 10 meeting.  The article, which includes information on various ways to submit comments for this issue, was in the Oct. 1 paper and was title "Chugach solicits park comments".

The menu for the webpage has been expanded a little to accommodate the increasing content of the site.  At the left you can now find the Bylaws off the main menu, as well I have an added an Archive section.  That section contains links to the old news, scans of newspapers clippings, and meeting minutes.  The meeting minutes are a new addition, as last meeting was the first time we keep formal minutes to my knowledge.  A big thanks to MaCro for typing them up.

I will not give an in-depth summary of the last meeting since the minutes are available, but I want to note the key points:  Sage Dennison is now our acting treasurer.  The barbeque idea for next month has been postponed indefinitely, instead Brentt will be redirecting his efforts to coordinating the club Christmas Party.  Our next meeting will be October 10 at the Valley Street Park (see link above for more information).  We voted to amend the bylaws so that having an FRS or CB on the trail is mandatory.  As well, we elected a new member into the club, Bill Chubick is the newest addition to the roster.  Congratulations Bill.

The meeting was done in a fashion closer to parliamentary than we have in the past.  It appeared to by very effective, as we covered a lot of material and still adjourned the meeting before 8pm.  Members can expect to see similarly run meetings in the future, at least when we have a lot of material to cover.  Thanks to everyone who attended and showed patience and courtesy during the meeting, that's one of the reasons it ran so smoothly.

Our next meeting is October 10.

Well it has been so long since a trail write-up was added I'm too embarrassed to say when that last occurred.  Most of the active members probably were not even in the club at that time.

So a big thanks to Piff for writing about the some of the club's adventures from this past weekend.  The article can be found under the Past Trail Rides section on the menu at the left, or you can access it directly be clicking here.

I will take this opportunity to remind all members that you are welcome to contribute to the website through the submission of write-ups or pictures.  The best way is to email the article or pictures to me at littlegiant@gci.net.  I will gladly post it, and try my best to do do in a timely manner.

On the 12th of the month we had another large turnout at the meeting.  It was almost standing room only at the usual location.  Our president came prepared with 'the football' and moderated the meeting.  The discussions were a little disjointed, but as best I can recollect the topics covered were:

• New member vote

• Club barbeque

• Trail run planning

• Windshield stickers

• Raffle

Gary Ehrheart, after attending multiple trail runs and participating in several meetings, was voted into the club.  Congratulations Gary.  Hopefully I can get specs and pictures of his YJ in the near future to add to the member's rig page.

Brentt has approached the club with a suggestion for a club barbeque, to occur early next month.  It will be a potluck barbeque for members and guest, and will likely be held at one of the city parks.  The club is currently looking into reserving the Russian Jack Chalet if possible, and other alternatives.  More information will be relayed through the webpage and meetings as plans are finalized.  In the same discussion our president asked if we would like to do a club Christmas party.  Parties have been done in the past but not recently.  The membership approved of the idea.

Trail runs for the upcoming weekend were discussed.  One possibility was to forego a trail run and do some much needed trail maintenance in the King River area.  Apparently there is an abandoned full-size Blazer by the second lake that needs to be removed, as well as trash and debris scattered around the area.  Due to the possible logistics needing to be worked out, the recovery and trail maintenance was scheduled for the weekend of the 28th.  Details will be worked out at the September 26 meeting.

The club domain name windshield stickers arrived last week and were on sale.  We had three different styles for $5 each.  Approximately 15 stickers were sold in a matter of minutes and the club has recouped the cost of the stickers.  Two of the three styles were sold out so more will be ordered shortly.  Side note from webmaster:  Thanks everyone for helping to support and advertise the webpage, I will continue adding content to and improving the website.

With Hi-Lift and raffle tickets present, we were able to do the raffle.  Yours truly went home with a new 48" Hi-Lift jack (actually went home with it Saturday night because I forgot it on Thursday. Putz).  A big thanks to Five Star Automotive for donating the jack (and to Denise for choosing the winner).  Our next raffle will be an assortment of recovery gear including a strap, tree saver, and leather gloves.  Tickets will be for sale at the next meeting, probably for $5 a piece.

Our next meeting is September 26, at Phillip's International Inn.

Sage Dennison and his old school Bronco have been added to the Member's Rigs section.

The turn out was typical for the last meeting in August.  Our president was available and presided over the fairly informal meeting.  Topics included:

• New Member Vote

• Trail run planning

• Raffle

Sage Dennison and Todd Elliott were elected into the club in the typical unceremonious manner.  Congratulations Sage and Todd, I'm sure both of you will make great compliments to the club.

Various trail runs were discussed.  To my knowledge the runs went successfully.

Due to the lack of tickets the raffle for the 48" Hi-Lift was delayed till the next meeting.

Our next meeting is September 12, at Phillip's International Inn.

In an effort to get some fresh pictures on the webpage, I scanned pictures from a trip to Ruby Lake in May of this year.  MaCro was kind enough to lend me a seat that day, so I was able to take a fair amount of pictures.  The gallery page has been updated, and the new pictures can be found here.  With a little time I might work up a trail report for the trip, but no promises.