Updates from the club meeting

Last night was the first membership meeting of the year for the Virginia Creeper Trail Club. No speaker last night but a good bit of business from the winter months was discussed.

One of the coolest things was the announcement that the new maps for the trail kiosks are being finalized for printing. They will be made out of fiberglass and hung in vandal-proof frames on the new structures that have recently been built at points along the trail. Both the map project and the kiosks were funded by grants from DCR. I think trail users will be VERY excited to see the maps as they are really well done and will be a great resource for people biking, hiking and riding the trail. In addition to using them on the kiosks, there was some discussion that the club print and sell posters of the new maps, which I think is a great idea and would be a great souvineer, especially for those who come from outside the region to complete the entire length from Whitetop to Abingdon.

At the meeting, I also spoke with Lawrence Dye who has biked another 6,000 trail miles since being honored a few months back for his 100,000th mile on the Creeper Trail. Absolutely amazing.

Chris Johnson from the Town of Abingdon reported that, with a few minor fixes excepted, the trail re-surfacing has been completed. This is great news.

I reported to the group on some website developments to the club site as well as a new communication resource for members and folks interested in the trail. It's an email listserv on the Yahoo Groups site. The link to sign up is on the club website (www.vacreepertrail.org) or you can go there directly at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/virginiacreepertrailclub/?yguid=98264518