Meeting Notes
April, 2008, Manitowoc Parks Department, 6:30 pm 
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Members present: Geri Bellin, Carol Caruso, Judy Corrado, Larry Corrado, Mark Klaiber, Dennis Larsen, Paul Literski, Bill Martin, David Martin, Gary Ward, Darlene Waterstreet
Visitor: Larry Preuss
Call to Order: Judy Corrado called the meeting to order at 6:33 pm. An agenda was provided by Dennis. The March minutes were accepted, with a slight change to the sixth paragraph: the information came “through a Point Beach Woodland Dunes contact.”
Treasurer’s Report: Dennis reported that we have the following amounts in our accounts:
Flowerbed Project: Gary, Mari Dawson, and Dennis have been working on a program to allow community organizations, families, and individuals to “adopt” flowerbeds. Gary has made maps showing the 18 sites. Four people have submitted applications so far. A press release has been sent to the Herald-Times-Reporter, and the project will be discussed in Greg Buckley’s column in the Chronicle. Judy zzzindicated that Buckley has said that Two Rivers would pay for small (probably 4x6 or 5x7 inches) plaques for the beds. Dennis will try to get discounts for flowers from nurseries.
Concerning the brick site flower barrels, Dennis pointed out that they are not part of the Flowerbed Project. Darlene said that Sue DeSteffen might be interested in the Two Rivers site. Judy will try to get someone to take care of the Manitowoc brick site. [Johanna Worley will plant and care for the Manitowoc site.]
Trail Clean-up: Our annual Mariners Trail Cleanup will take place on Saturday, May 3. John Brunner is dividing the Trail into ten sections for cleanup purposes. Volunteers, both members and non-members, should meet at the Woodland Drive Wayside at 8:00 am to get Trail sections assigned.
Natural Ovens is providing bakery; Larry said he would bring coffee. Afterward, Thrivent Insurance is offering a free lunch at Neshotah Park for all workers in conjunction with Join Hands Day.
Judy mentioned that Stangel School children and Riverview School teachers cleaned sections of the Trail today (April 23.)
Trail Map: Larry reported on the Trail Map meeting which was held on April 3 and attended by representatives of FOMT, Friends of Point Beach, and Malley printing. The group is creating a new and improved trails map similar to the one printed about three years ago. The new map will be paid for by advertisers. Twenty to thirty thousand are expected to be printed.
Concerning an FOMT ad in the map, it was pointed out that we were having a major part in the production of the advertiser-sponsored brochure, and it seemed odd for us to also advertise in it. It was the consensus that we should not have an ad ourselves unless it should be necessary for the completion of the project.
Bench installation: Bill talked about the installation of two Trail benches on March 29 by John, Larry, David and Cody Martin, and Bill himself.
Trail-a-Thon: Judy talked a little about the event, coming up on Saturday, August 9 this year. She is actively recruiting sponsors, and would appreciate any help from other people in making contact with potential sponsoring businesses. Larry indicated that Trail-a-Thon information and applications are on our Website, and that he will keep the sponsor list updated on the Webpage as sponsorships are received.
Mark will contact Dave Nickels about having the Manitowoc Track Club run the Fun Run again this year. Mark will emphasize the need for publicizing the Run. Larry said that Run applicants can use the same application as Trail-a-Thon walkers.
Gary has talked to Patty Sturtz about team recruitment; she will try to find information for him.
FOMT will have a booth at the Manitowoc Farmers’ Market on August 2 to publicize the Trail-a-Thon and calendar photo contest.
Trail Maintenance: Dennis brought up the subject of erosion along the Lake side of the trail in the areas where cedar fences are located. It was agreed that it would be a good for FOMT to have work days for the purpose of repairing the damage and stopping further erosion. Dennis will talk to Judy Goodchild of the Two Rivers Parks Department about the feasibility of this and what help the City might be able to provide. It was suggested that those working the Trail Cleanup on May 3 document places where work is needed.
Dennis also mentioned the “pocking” in the concrete at one of the bench slabs around Davis Street. Paul pointed out that this can be caused by rain on cement which has not dried completely.
The problems on the Trail section in front of West of the Lake Gardens was brought up. This was discussed about a year ago, but not followed up at that time. It was pointed out that we should talk to Tom Bare of the West Foundation about help they might be able to provide. Dennis will write a draft letter, and will work with Mark, who is acquainted with Bare.
Dennis said that he thought we should begin looking into sources of grants for bigger Trail projects, such as repaving, which will be coming up. Bill recommended talking to Greg Buckley for ideas. Darlene emphasized the need for spending some of our money, also. Being able to point to significant improvements we have made to the Trail could be a strong factor in our favor when grant application time comes around. Dennis suggested the need for a good, longer-term (five year?) plan that we can show to potential donors. [Didn’t we work on one some time ago? Does anyone have a copy?]
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 pm. The next regular meeting will be Wednesday, May 28, at the Two Rivers Community House.
March 26, 2008, Two Rivers Community House, 6:30 pm back
Members present: Jeff Allen, Geri Bellin, John Brunner, Carol Caruso, Judy Corrado, Larry Corrado, Mark Klaiber, Dennis Larsen, Bill Martin, David Martin, Gary Ward
Call to Order: Judy Corrado called the meeting to order at 6:35 pm. An agenda was provided by Dennis Larsen. The February minutes were accepted, with the addition of Darlene Waterstreet’s name to the members present.
Treasurer’s Report: Dennis Larsen gave the Treasurer's report. He indicated that FOMT owes about $1000 on one of the benches we purchased.
Tax-free status: Mark Klaiber has not received the package of materials from Terry Fox; he feels he will have to pick them up in person. He has enough materials to complete the application.
New Trails Map: John Brunner reported that nothing has been done on a new Lakeshore Area trails map. It was mentioned that Dale Schambureck, one of the leaders in creating the previous map, has been quite ill.
Bill Martin brought up the possibility of FOMT sponsoring a printing of perhaps several thousand of the old maps. Judy will look into printing rates.
Flower Bed Project: Dennis said he is working on a press release. The subcommittee working on this project plans to meet sometime before April 9.
May Trail Cleanup: The annual Trail Cleanup is coming up on May 3. Members and other volunteers will meet at the Woodland Drive wayside (opposite the Aurora Medical Center, “Walk Central”) at 8:00 am and will be assigned sections of trail. In past years, we have had coffee and bagels at the start, and have had a free lunch in conjunction with the Thrivent Financial “Helping Hands” day.
Judy said that Darlene Waterstreet had information (through a Point Beach contact) about having a Cub pack help with the cleanup. The difficulty of supervising and taking responsibility of a large group of boys was discussed. Having them participate in the Trail Cleanup would be a possibility, or they could do it on their own at some other. There is virtually never a lack of debris on the Trail, Carol brought up how good it is to have young people involved.
Benches, Bricks: John said that we have three benches to be installed. Two of the concrete pads are already in place, and one more must still be poured. John, Jeff Allen, and Larry Corrado will meet this coming Saturday, March 29, at the “Chamber” wayside at 3:30 pm to install two benches on the existing pads.
Jeff volunteered to install bricks that John has had engraved.
Portable Toilets: Judy has been looking into the possibility of having two porta-potties on the Trail during our Trail-a-Thon. She said that the Two Rivers Recreation Department has offered to provide them at no cost to FOMT.
Trail-a-Thon:
Auction: The group felt that it would be better to have some items (probably smaller ones) available only to bidders who were actually on-site at Walk Central. It was decided that it would be best to wait until we actually see what items we have for auction before making final decisions.
Job Leaders:
Product donation, sponsorship: Judy Corrado
Fun Run: Mark Klaiber
Logistics, setup: John Brunner
Publicity:
Pre-Event Ceremony: Carol Caruso would possibly help
Auction: Dennis Larsen
Registration: Linda Larsen, Larry Corrado
Event Day contests
(eg, flower garden, trivia quiz):
Food & water: Carol Caruso
Vendors:
Team Recruitment: Gary Ward, tentatively
Course Layout: John Bruner, Paul Literski
T-shirts: Paul Literski
Website updating: Larry Corrado
Larry showed a new registration form he has mocked up. The consensus was that it looked good, but should be re-arranged to include a “tear-off.” Several other suggestions were also made, including removing the “Photo Authorization” section.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm. The next regular meeting will be Wednesday, April 23, at the Manitowoc Parks Department location.
March 18, 2008, Special Trail-a-Thon Meeting, 6:30 pm back
Members present: Jeff Allen, John Brunner, Carol Caruso, Judy Corrado, Larry Corrado, Dennis Larsen, Paul Literski, Jim Rabata, Darlene Waterstreet
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm by Judy Corrado. She explained that the purpose of the meeting was to plan the 2008 Trail-a-Thon. She distributed an agenda, as well as copies of a set of three documents which she envisions sending to potential sponsors.
Event Name: There has been some confusion as to the spelling of the name of our event, Trail-a-Thon vs Trailathon. There was a consensus that the spelling should be Trail-a-Thon.
Event Content: The activities which make up our event, and the possibility of attracting more families, were discussed.
Fun Run: Several thoughts on publicizing the Fun Run were discussed, but no major departures from past practice were envisioned. Several people thought we should have better publicity.
Start Times: There was considerable discussion about start times for the walk and run, specifically, whether the walkers should have one or two specific, mass-start times. (Of course, it is assumed that the Fun Run runners would all start at the same time.) Four possibilities were noted for walkers:
* continue as before, with people leaving whenever they wished during a fixed period, eg, 8:00 to 11:00 am
* have all start at one specific time
* have two start times, eg, 8:30 and 9:30 am, with the Fun Run beginning at 9:00 am.
* have three start times
It was pointed out that some walks have the walkers start at one specific time. It was also mentioned that we could have a specific start time, but keep registration open and allow people to begin whenever they wanted. Several people mentioned that, if a specific walk start time were used, it might be good to have an announcer and/or other things (eg, a band) to send off the walkers/runners. The matter will be discussed further at the regular FOMT meeting on Wednesday, March 26.
Portable Toilets: It was brought up that several people mentioned wishing there were toilet locations along the walk. Some people even purposely refrained from drinking water because of the uncertainty of toilets. Judy will look into prices for portable toilets.
Auction: The possibility of having two types of auction were discussed, the “radio” auction we have had in previous years (which opens up all items to radio bidding, but actually does permit bidding in person) and an “on site” auction only for people at Walk Central. There was consensus on using the “two auction” model, with larger items put into the radio auction and smaller items put into the “on site” auction.
One suggestion made was that, in the case of multiple, small items (like fast food coupons), a fixed price could be set with items sold on a first-bid basis.
Sponsor forms: Judy passed out a set of three items for sending to potential sponsors: a cover letter (with room for a personal note,) a Trail-a-Thon description, and a sheet showing sponsorship levels.
* Those present liked the use of bullets on the sponsorship-category sheet.
* Festival Foods, which is planning a Manitowoc store, should be approached for a sponsorship. [Kohl’s might be included here, too. LC]
* Among ideas for naming the various levels of sponsorship, the possibility of using names of fish, naval ranks, or types of ships was brought up. Paul said that he would email Judy an ordered list (by size?) of sailing ships for possible use.
* There was a consensus that we should send all three sheets to all potential sponsors.
Judy said that she would like to have others contact specific business to take some of the load off of her and take advantage of relationships that Friends members have with area businesses, especially in Two Rivers. Judy also said that Carol had offered to follow up on possible sponsorship contacts already made.
Job Responsibilities:
Product Donations and sponsorships: Judy Corrado
Publicity:
Auction: Dennis Larsen
Registration: Linda Larsen & Larry Corrado
Food & Water:
T-shirts: Paul Literski
Fun Run: Mark Klaiber
Logistics, Set up/Take Down: John Brunner
Vendors:
Team Recruitment:
Course: John B. and Paul L.
Event day contests, flower gardens, trivia, etc.:
Paul agreed to take care of getting tee-shirts. John and Paul agreed to put together a course map. Larry will send them pdf and jpg forms of our Trail Map. (These names were added to the above list.)
Registration forms: The group felt that we should use a single registration form for both Fun Run and Walk, using the artwork from our poster.
February 27, 2008, Manitowoc Parks Department, 6:30 pm back
Members present: Jeff Allen, Carol Caruso, Judy Corrado, Larry Corrado, Mari Dawson, Judy Goodchild, Mark Klaiber, Dennis Larsen, Paul Literski, Darla Powell, Gary Ward
Call to Order: Dennis Larsen, acting in place of Judy Corrado at her request, called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. The minutes of the October 24, 2007 meeting were accepted as written.
Treasurer’s Report: Dennis gave the treasurer’s report.
Name Tags: Newly-received name tags were distributed. Appreciation to Darla Powell and The Cawley Company was expressed.
Farmer’s market: Judy Goodchild indicated that she would look into the possibility of having a table on one Saturday in the Farmer’s Market in Two Rivers this year. Presumably this would be just before our Trailathon. Judy Corrado indicated that this year’s table at the Manitowoc market seemed to be worthwhile. A motion instructing Dennis to try to get us a date for this year passed unanimously. He will try for August 2, one week before our Trailathon.
Flower Bed Decorating: Dennis passed out his proposal (attached) for a flower bed decorating contest, along with a possible application form. His proposal would have a number of volunteer groups plant and maintain flower beds along the Trail. There would be a contest held later in the summer, probably in conjunction with the Trailathon, for the best flower bed. There was considerable discussion about the proposal. Carol brought up the possibility of having artists involved in the design of the beds. Darlene and Larry thought it would be best to keep it simple, especially for the first year. Judy Goodchild suggested that only plants be used because of the possibility of vandalism or theft of garden ornaments. Mark pointed out that the club should have no responsibility with respect to theft or vandalism. Getting donations or discounts from local nurseries was mentioned. Mari and Dennis agreed to carry this project forward.
Message Boards: Mari indicated that she would be updating the two message boards.
Photo Contest Prizes: Dennis mentioned that members of FOMT (except for the photo contest committee) will be eligible for Photo Contest prizes. It was also pointed out that the picture taking area has been extended to the complete Manitowoc and Two Rivers lakeshore, including harbor areas. Complete Photo Contest information has been posted on our website (www.marinerstrail.net).
Tax-Free Status: Mark is attempting to contact attorney Terry Fox so that he (Mark) can take over our tax-free status application.
By-Laws: Mark and Dennis are working on bringing our By-Laws up to date.
Trail Maps: John Brunner was not present to update the group on the trail map project, but Judy G. indicated that little seems to be getting done, especially due to the illness of Dale Schambureck who was instrumental in putting together the previous map. Judy indicated that the Two Rivers Parks Department would be willing to act as a drop-off point for add copy, accept checks from sponsors, and handle the finances of the project. Ads were $150 and $300 for the previous map. Mari said she would talk to John about the status of the map.
Trailathon: Judy C. brought up the idea of having a special Trailathon meeting to begin planning the event. She was especially interested in improving the auction, with possibly having some of the items auctioned off with some type of on-site only auction. Carol suggested that we send applications to those who participated last year. Jeff Allen has kept records of Trailathon participants. It was decided to have a meeting on Tuesday, March 18 at 6:30 pm. Judy G. will see about the possibility of having it at the Two Rivers Community House. [This meeting location was later confirmed by Judy Goodchild: The meeting will be held at the Two Rivers Community House.]
Larry brought up the need for having specific people in charge of various aspects of the Trailathon. Among the areas needing to be covered are:
Set-up
Tee-shirts
Publicity
Registration
Fun Run
Food & Water
Auction
Larry indicated that he and Linda Larsen would be willing to take registration responsibility. (Linda had indicated an interest after last year’s event.) Dennis and Judy C. said they would be willing to be responsible for the auction.
Next meeting: Wednesday, March 26, 6:30 pm, Two Rivers Community House
January 23, 2008, Two Rivers Recreation Department, 6:00 pm back
The January meeting of each year serves as a “New Membership” meeting to help further FOMT membership and recognize contributions made to the Trail during the previous year. This year’s meeting was attended by about 48 people, including longtime members, members who have recently joined the group, and people interested in learning more about the group. A complete lasagna meal was served.
Judy Corrado welcomed members and guests to the meeting, and presented a slide show highlighting FOMT goals and activities. The slide show included photos from various Trail activities and many of the winning calendar pictures from the 2008 FOMT Calendar. She was aided in her presentation by Board members Dennis Larsen, John Brunner, Mark Klaiber, and Larry Corrado.
Judy also awarded the first annual Trail Blazer Award to Greg Buckley, Two Rivers city manager. In making the presentation, Corrado commented on Buckley’s strong support to both the Trail and FOMT:
Greg has shown his support in very tangible ways by being there and getting his hands dirty while helping with various trail clean-ups. He has been available to help with our Trail-a-Thon and supported our auctions. Greg has written many kind words about our organization and projects in his newspaper column. He was the first person to publicly support our Mariners Trail calendar.
Judy Goodchild, Two Rivers Parks and Recreation Director, accepted the award for Buckley, since he could not attend the New Membership meeting because of City Business. Buckley was actually told of the award on January 17 in a small ceremony at Two Rivers City hall. At that time, Corrado and treasurer Dennis Larsen presented him with a specially-printed FOMT sweatshirt and certificate. An engraved brick with his name will be placed in each of the FOMT brick sites along the Trail.
There are no monthly meetings during the months of November and December.
October 24, 2007, Manitowoc Parks Department, 6:30 pm back
Members present: Judy Corrado, Mari Dawson, Darlene Waterstreet, John Brunner, Dennis Larsen, Jeff Allen, David Martin, Bill Martin, Mark Klaiber, Larry Corrado
Guests: Gary Ward
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm by Judy Corrado. Darlene asked the the draft be changed to say that it was Linda who suggested we write something in the Nice to Know column in the Herald Times Reporter explaining why this brush cleanup was being done. This change was accepted. The September 26 minutes were accepted as amended.
Treasurer's Report: Dennis Larsen presented the treasurer's report.
Applefest: Judy C and Dennis reported on our participation at Applefest in Two Rivers on October 13. Gross FOMT income for the event totaled $167, and was composed of income from shirts, star ornaments, snack mix, and one 1997 calendar sold, as well as the FOMT share of sales of Russian crafts. The consensus was that participation in this event, as well as Ethnic Fest, was very beneficial to FOMT.
Brush cleanup: Workdays took place on September 22 and 29, and October 20, organized by Greg Buckley. The general feeling was that the trimming was a big improvement to the Trail. Judy indicated that she counted 17 people from FOMT who participated on one or more days.
Calendar: Judy, Dennis, and Larry reported on the status of the 2008 FOMT Calendar. The photo contest had about 125 submissions. The three judges picked twelve pictures for use in the calendar. These pictures were inserted into the calendar, and 500 copies printed by Prompt Print of Two Rivers. Copies were shown to the group.
Judy mentioned that she had distributed calendars for sale to the public at the following Manitowoc locations: Acute Angle, The Fitness Store, J. Pennae and Associates, Manitowoc Area Visitors and Convention Bureau, and the Rahr-West Art Museum. Two Rivers Locations are: The Honey Pot, Schroeder?s Department Store, and Two Rivers City Hall. Members were encouraged to show the calendar to friends.
Judy has been approached by Brad Yaggie of Shoreline Community Credit Union about the possibility of his purchasing FOMT calendars in larger quantities at discount for distribution to credit union members. This was discussed in some detail. It was decided that that we would make available calendars in large quantities at the following special prices:
100-249: $1.50 above cost
250-499: $1.00 above cost
500 or more: $0.50 above cost
Although Shoreline Credit Union was very tentative about their interest, if a large-quantity discounted sale is made to them, Judy will notify the other advertisers and make the same offer to them. [Note: The above prices assume a printing cost of $2.90 each. If this figure is significantly different than this figure, different prices may have to be used.]
Non-tax status: Concerning our non-taxable status application, Mark Klaiber reported that Terry Fox has the application ready, needing only financial balance sheets for the past three years. Dennis will get those to Mark, who will see to it that the application is submitted to the IRS, either by attorney Fox or himself. Evidently the application fee is about $500.
ByLaws: Dennis reported that he and Mark will be working on the new by-laws.
Trail Blazer Award: There was discussion about the possibility of giving out an award, possibly annually, to someone who has been especially supportive of the Trail. After discussion, it was decided that this would be a good idea, and that the award should probably be given at our January new members meeting. The group decided on "Trail Blazer Award" as a good name. Three people were nominated for the award for this coming January; voting took place, and the secretary counted the ballots and announced the winner. That person will receive the first Trail Blazer award.
Dennis and Mark will write up criteria and guidelines for making the award, and will submit these to the organization. Those present were in consensus that the awardee?s name should appear on a brick at each brick site and at the message centers, and that there should be no gift to the recipient.
Wayside Landscaping: Concerning the possibility of landscaping for the waysides on the north end of the Trail, Judy reported that Greg Buckley had received a bid for $5000 for having a landscaping firm prepare the flower sites, and then keep them up for a fixed fee of about $34 per cleanup. Some conversation had taken place with Buckley about the possibility of FOMT picking up part of this cost. However, this proposal was too vague at this point for any type of serious consideration. Among the concerns expressed was that no type of plastic weed barrier was being proposed.
Dennis presented an alternative proposal. Basically, groups or families would take over responsibility for individual sections (of which Larsen said there are 10 when non-wayside berms are included) in an "adopt-a-berm" program, with each group receiving an amount of money from FOMT for flowers for its site.
Mari mentioned the possibility of utilizing people from the Master Gardeners program. Evidently. those wishing to gain this designation must work on a community gardening project, and Mari thought this might be appropriate. She will look into the program.
Darlene suggested the possibility of using prairie grasses at one or two of the sites. They would have the advantage of being low-maintenance.
Trail Brochure/Map: John reported that plans are to have a new Mariners Trail/Rawley Point Trail map by spring of 2008. The map would probably be similar to the previous map, except that it would be larger (probably a four-fold rather than a tri-fold) with more map coverage and advertisers. John, Dale Schambureck, and Judy Goodchild will be working on this.
New-Members Meeting: The new members meeting in January was discussed. It will be hold on January 23 at 6:00 pm in the Two Rivers Community Center. There will be a dinner, slide show present-ation, and a short program, which would include the awarding of the Trail Blazer award. Judy G and Judy C will be responsible for the food for the evening. Members were reminded to invite prospective new members, or anyone who has an interest in the Trail. There is no charge for the meal, and it is open to the public.
Apparel Order: Judy C has been looking into ordering more FOMT tee shirts and sweatshirts, including zippered sweatshirts. She indicated that prices will be somewhat more expensive than when shirts were first purchased four years ago. The group decided that it would be best not to increase our selling prices, as long as we can still make some profit. It was felt that the Trail is benefited by simply having people wear the shirt with our logo on it, thus publicizing both the Trail and FOMT. Dennis will look into the size of our present inventory so that an order can be assembled.
Benches: John mentioned that he was working with two people who were interested in having benches installed. He will be searching out locations for the benches.
Website: Larry has been working on a completely new design for the FOMT website. He hopes to have the new website up within a week. [In fact, the new site went online on Friday, October 26, at our same address: www.marinerstrail.net.]
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 pm.
September 26, 2007, Two Rivers Recreation Department, 6:30 pm back
Members and guests present were: Dennis Larsen, Mark Klaiber, John Brunner, Judy Corrado, Bill and David Martin, Larry Corrado, Darlene Waterstreet, Linda Larsen, and Mary Dawson.
Minutes from the August meeting were approved.
Treasurer's report: Dennis reported on the FOMT financial condition. We all agreed with Dennis that the group has been very successful financially. To help us celebrate Dennis provided non-alcoholic sparkling wine and mixed nuts. (Thank you Dennis!)
Calendar: Larry reported on the changes we are making in the 2008 Mariners Trail calendar format. Dennis has received about 60 photos and expects more as the contest deadline comes due. All the months have been sold to sponsors. Four businesses will place coupons in the calendar and eight will place an ad or their logo on the back cover. The judging will take place on October 11th and calendars will be available for distribution before November 1st. Several businesses will sell the calendars at their sites and our members are encouraged to individually work at selling the calendar.
New Website: Larry is working on a new design for our web site. He hopes to have it on the web in a month or two. Darlene suggested that the banner picture might be better if it had a walker as well as a biker, thus showing different ways the trail is used.
Flower barrels: Patty Sturtz feels that the barrels at the Manitowoc brick site would look better if they were repositioned or removed from the site. She would like to plant some bulbs near the Trail sign by the site. The barrels are too heavy for her to move. Dennis will talk to Patty about moving them.
Brush cleanup: Six people from FOMT worked with Greg Buckley's Two Rivers team to remove brush from the Trail on Saturday, Sept. 22nd. We all felt that much was accomplished and heard mostly positive comments from those using the trail that day. Bill purchased a 5 gallon water container and will bring cold water and cups for our next cleanup which is scheduled for next Saturday, September 29th. Linda suggested that someone should write something in the Nice to Know column in the Herald Times Reporter explaining why this project was being done.
Ethnic Fest: FOMT had a booth in front of the Two Rivers Fitness Store and Element American Bistro. We sold Trailathon and FOMT shirts and publicized our upcoming calendar. People also expressed interest in benches, bricks, trail maps and becoming members of our group.
Judy C. sold Russian crafts with 20% of the sales going to our group.
Applefest: The Lions Club of Two Rivers has given us permission to have a booth at Applefest without charge. Dennis will arrive at about 6:00 a.m. to choose a good site for our booth and set up the tent. Judy and Larry will work the morning shift starting at 9:00 a.m. Mark, Bill and Linda have volunteered to help later in the day. Judy would like others to call her if they are available to help.
Two Rivers Flower Beds: Judy reported that she has been talking to Greg Buckley about work that needs to be done on the flower beds along the trail and at the waysides. The project is bigger than our group can handle alone. Our group may be able to make a financial contribution to having the work done. Greg will work with a local nursery and make a proposal to our group. We will consider this at a future meeting.
Manitowoc Trail Rerouting: John will continue to talk with Mayor Crawford about work to be done near the Manitowoc brick site wayside. In the future we would like to see the trail routed around the parking lot rather than going through it as it presently does.
Map project: John is working with Dale Schambureck and others on a new trail map brochure. Paul Brown, from the city of Manitowoc, contacted John about actual map coverage. This map will likely show the trail going further south across the Manitowoc River and past the car ferry dock. The group discussed whether the name Mariners Trail should be applied to sections south of the present Manitowoc trailhead. There was no consensus.
Trailathon follow-up: It was decided to have a special meeting for those interested in working on changes for the 2008 Trailathon. We will meet on Wednesday, November 14th, at the Two Rivers Senior Center.
New Members Meeting: This dinner meeting will be held in Two Rivers at 6:00 p.m. on January 23rd, our regular meeting date. Note that the meeting time is a half hour earlier than usual.
By Laws Committee: Mark and Dennis will work on the by laws for our group. They would like to make them more user friendly for a group our size.
Election of officers: John Brunner and Larry Corrado were nominated for two year terms on the board of directors for Friends of Mariners Trail. No other names were submitted and these two were elected to the board.
The new FOMT board met briefly after our regular meeting to choose officers. Elected were:
President: Judy Corrado
Vice President: John Brunner
Treasurer: Dennis Larsen
Secretary: Larry Corrado
At large: Mark Klaiber
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