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Dear Friends,
It seems like Fall went so fast, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and winter is not far behind. LCRVHC has been so busy with all the hunter pace prep and trail work, then the pace itself, followed by the games day reboot. It was nice to be active after the desert of activity last year. Keep in mind that it is hunting season. Be safe. Wear your blaze  orange clothing. Keep your dogs on leash. Hunters usually are out early morning and late afternoon hours so plan your riding time for late morning and early afternoon or Sunday.

On November 18 we will be holding our second in-person meeting since the beginning of the pandemic. Please try to attend. It is an election year for LCRVHC. All of our current officers and board members have agreed to serve another term, except for vice president Mary Wozniak who would like to be replaced. Mary has served in this position for several terms. The VP position is pretty much to back up the president and help out with planning and organizing. If you are interested in and available to serve the club in this way or if you have a suggestion or someone you would like to nominate for this or any position, please contact me or any board member before the November meeting. We will also accept nominations from the floor but only if the person is present and agrees. According to our bylaws, last fully updated in 1998, “the vice president shall take charge of the club in the absence of the president and act as a member of all official committees,” In 2005, we started to update the bylaws to include “arrange speakers or programs for general meetings, and make sure that the website is kept current” but we kind of got bogged down and frustrated as to what should happen if the club decided to disband and the re-visions were never completed. Obviously, things have changed. We no longer have monthly meetings with programs and speakers because . . . the internet. If we want to learn something we Google whatever we are interested in and tada! the informa-tion is at our fingertips. We have evolved into mostly a trail riding (and potluck, LOL) club, which is what our members seem to want.

Recent Activities
The LCRVHC Fall Festival Hunter pace on October 10 was fun and successful. We recieved tons of compliments on the marking and the venue. We ended up with 41 riders. (And believe me, it was down to the wire—the Sunday before the pace we only had 11 or 13—I was getting so discouraged! I should know by now that people wait for the weather!) The rain held off until we were (almost) done. A HUGE thank you to our landowners: Dave Beaudette and Julie Berman—the farm looked fantas-tic, as always, I know it is so much work; Tom and Gloria Elliott—your generosity for so many years is truly appreciated, we are sorry about the mud; Kristin Elliott Leas and Mark Leas—we heard so many nice comments about the jump area and the obstacle course and thank you for helping load the last horse so they could take it home!

Thank you to everyone who helped with the hunter pace, especially, but not limited to my co-manager, Liz Kennedy, and new treasurer, Lynn Burns, who took over from Lynda Perry (who had been doing it for many years) and somehow managed to divine what needed to be done without much guidance. VP Mary Wozniak for helping me organize the packets and doing with whatever needed to be done to set up the night before and the morning of the pace, including last minute replacing markers that were knocked down by the loggers and clearing the debris they left on the trail. Also Dave Beaudette, Julie and Emily Berman and Emily’s boyfriend Tomas (sorry, I forgot his last name), Tom Elliott, Rebecca Russell, Mark and Kris-tin, Peg Lupone, Liz Amendola, Bob Bandzes, Alyce and Doug Mallek, Judy Bosco, Lynn Burns, Jeannie Wigglesworth (with her amazing machine), Liz Kennedy, and Nancy Palermo Lee, for chainsawing, trail clearing, mowing, brush cutting, weed-whacking, and marking the course ( a few prep pictures on next page). Saldamarcos did a great job with the lunches (I kept calling to add, long after the deadline, and they were so so nice and accomodating), thank you to Alyce and Kathy Schuyler for picking them up and distributing them as riders returned. A special thank you to Bob Bandzes for his amazing help parking all the trailers and then get-ting out on his bike to remove all the markers during the week after the pace. Thanks again to Liz Kennedy and Lynn Burns for timing and safety checks, and costume judging, and Nancy Palermo Lee for scoring, and to everyone who helped cleanup as it started to rain. A HUGE shout out to Patty at Lakeside Feed for donating the prizes. I’m so sorry if I forgot to mention anyone. Guys, it literally takes a village, and we couldn’t do it without all of you! See pictures and results on pages 3–8.

On October 24 LCRVHC did a Games Day reboot. It was so hot on our original day in July that we didn’t get to play very long so, by popular demand, we scheduled another one. I researched pony club games and modified some of them for older riders (less mounting and dismount-ing) and made up some slower games with multiple steps that are more complicated than straight relay races. The rubber ducky game was a crowd pleaser. This has definitely become a favorite club activity and we will be doing it again! Thanks to everybody who helped set up and clean up and brought food. We missed Judy Bosco but there are some photos from Beverly Torell and Gina McManus on page 9.

Please see the Upcoming Events box on the first page and the Calendar on the last page for more activities. We always welcome ideas for the calendar—now more than ever! Any ride ideas are extremely welcome. And if you want to share the calendars from other local horse groups we will try not to schedule on conflicting dates.
I hope to see you soon!
Melissa

PS A 2022 membership form is included in this newsletter and is always available on our website HERE. Get yours in early and save Alyce some frustra-tion. Please write clearly—especially your email address, since that is how we communicate with you and we hate it when they get bounced back. Thank you to everyone for your support of LCRVHC. Membership is really a bargain at only $15 annually for individual, $25 for family. If you have friends you ride with or know people who are interested in trail riding with small groups or working on local trails, spread the word. And please, I can’t say it often enough, tell us what you want to do as a club!

The summer is flying by. I was late getting the May/June newsletter out so I ended up including the May ride, now it has snowballed so I am including the July Games Day in this one. Probably the only one who really cares is me! Download July/August newsletter here.

Membership renewals—Our membership secretary, Alyce, has gone through the list, emailed a final notice reminder to those who have not renewed, and cleaned up the list. Only those who have renewed for 2021 should be getting emails. A 2021 membership form is included in this news-letter and is always available on our website. Please write clearly—especially your email address, since that is how we communicate with you and we hate it when they get bounced back. Thank you to everyone who has renewed. Welcome to several new members who have joined at our rides or at Games Day!

Recent Activities
On June 12 LCRVHC held a member-only ride at Hurd Park. Seven riders (Liz, Nancy, Julie, Hannah, Colleen, Liz2, and I) waited out the rain and enjoyed the mountain laurel loop and a loop to the pavilion and back. Alyce met us for lunch and many desserts to celebrate my birthday-60!  Don’t know how that happened. I was just 35 a few years ago! Thanks everybody for the well wishes. Pictures, page 3.

On July 10, LCRVHC and the BPC teamed up with CTRA for a work party at Machimoodus/Sunrise State Park. Thir-teen workers, including eight LCRVHC members, worked on clearing brush, vines, and weeds along the edge of the road and the boundary/hedgerow between the “camping field” and the one next to it. There is much more that could be done but our efforts were noticed and  appreciated.

Thank you to Ruth Strontzer who is a VP of CTRA, and well as an active member of LCRVHC and the CHC Volunteer Horse Patrol, for organizing this event! We should have taken more before and after pictures, the change was pretty significant. See email from Park supervisor and pictures on pages 4 and 5.

Games Day was rescheduled to July 17 and combined with our summer picnic. It was very hot and humid but we still had a blast. I believe we had 14 horses and close to 30 people. The club provided hotdogs and burgers and iced tea and lemonade and we had tons of sides and desserts. Everyone had so much fun that they want to do it again when it’s a little cooler. Maybe in September or after the hunter pace. See pictures on pages 6 through 9. I didn’t get any pictures at the picnic.

Please see the Upcoming Events box on the first page and the Calendar on the last page for more activities. We always need ideas for the calendar—this year more than ever! Any ride ideas are extremely welcome. And if you want to share the calendars from other local horse groups we will try not to schedule on conflicting dates.

I hope to see you soon!
Melissa

PS LCRVHC membership is really a bargain at only $15 annually for individual, $25 for family. If you have friends you ride with or know people who are interested in trail riding with small groups or working on local trails, spread the word. And please, I can’t say it often enough, tell us what you want to do as a club! (Download membership form)

Dear Friends,
It was so nice to finally see so many of you in person at the annual planning meeting on April 16! Despite the cold, which made for a brief meeting, we got quite a few dates filled in. I am especially excited for Games Day as every-one always seems to have so much fun. A big thank you to those who stepped up to serve the club. Lynn Burns has agreed to take over as LCRVHC treasurer to finish Lynda’s term and hopefully will stay on at election time. Hannah Gossett has offered to fill Lynn’s at-large position on the board of directors. And Bob Bandzes has agreed to fill a long open at-large position on the BPC board. Bob brings hiking and mountain biking experience to the trail sharing table (and did a fabulous job parking trailers at the hunter pace). We welcome and appreciate you all!
 
Membership renewals—wow—in March 2020 we said “this will be your last newsletter if you have not renewed.” And then the world came to a screeching halt. So . . . we did not drop anyone from the list in 2020 and you continued to get emails, but now it’s 2021. Our awesome member-ship secretary, Alyce, has gone through the list, emailed a final notice reminder to those who have not renewed, and cleaned up the list. A 2021 membership form is included in this newsletter and always available on our website. Please write clearly—especially your email address, since that is how we communicate with you and we hate it when they get bounced back. Thank you to everyone who has renewed. And welcome to new members!

Recent Activities
On March 27 LCRVHC held a member-only ride at Bluff Point. Alyce, Liz, Lynn, and I had a nice time exploring some of the interior trails. Our April 18 member-only ride was at Chatfield Hollow. Kristin, Rebecca, Lynn,  Julie, Alyce, Liz and I enjoyed a lovely ride followed by lunch at the trailers with cupcakes left from the meeting. Judy Bosco, our “official stalker” showed up for some pictures in the park and many of the ponies were happy to pose.

The Capture the Flag ride planned for May 8 at Machimoodus will be resched-uled. There was interest but Mother’s Day just didn’t work for many. Instead, Liz, Nancy, and I enjoyed a beautiful day in the park and the debut of Nancy’s new horse: Nyha. Nyha (Ny-ya) is a Russian word for moon (for the cute crescent moon of white hidden beneath her for-lock) and can also be pronounced Luna. She is a 12-year-old Missouri Foxtrotter mare. In her former life she packed hunters and their game at a hunting camp in Colorado.

We had sent an email about a possible De-spooking Clinic to be held on June 13 but, due to insufficient interest, we will not be offering it this year. Kristin Elliott Leas does have an obstacle course set up at her farm and welcomes trailer-in lessons to teach these concepts. You can contact her at [email protected].

Please see the Upcoming Events box on the first page and the Calendar on the last page for more activities. We always need ideas for the calendar—this year more than ever! Any ride ideas are extremely welcome. And if you want to share the calendars from other local horse groups we will try not to schedule on conflicting dates.
I hope to see you soon!
Melissa

PS LCRVHC membership is really a bargain at only $15 annually for individual, $25 for family. If you have friends you ride with or know people who are interested in trail riding with small groups or working on local trails, spread the word. And please, I can’t say it often enough, tell us what you want to do as a club!

Read May/June Newsletter

I apologize for this newsletter being short and late. To be honest, I am struggling. A year into this pandemic I still feel like we are doing the best we can just having a trail ride every month. I miss our meetings, potlucks, and parties. February was awful, I didn’t ride for the whole month, we had so much ice. Kevin plowed the ring to try and make it melt faster but then it rained and froze so we had more ice. If anyone has any ideas of a place you would like to ride as a group, please let us know. Meanwhile, we are trying to keep it fairly local and mostly doing what we did last year. We will be having an outdoor meeting in April (see Upcoming Events) to set some calendar dates and catch up on club business now that folks are starting to get vaccinated and the weather is getting better.

One of the major business concerns we need to concentrate on is finding a replacement for long-time LCRVHC treasurer (and my right hand), Lynda Perry. Lynda is retiring May 1 and is already in the process of moving to New Hampshire. Lynda did/does a lot more than just take care of the club’s money. She is also the one responsible for the e-mails you get from the club. She has managed our monthly MO Rides for years (until Liz Kennedy took over in 2020), she has co-managed the hunter pace for many years, she is my sounding board and voice of reason. Chuck Sharples used to call us both Melynda saying were like sisters. I will miss her desperately. So . . . who is up for filling this position and helping out the club?

Membership renewals—wow—last March we said “this will be your last newsletter if you have not renewed.” And then the world came to a screeching halt. So . . . we did not drop anyone from the list in 2020 and you have continued to get emails, but now it’s 2021, so please renew and support our club. We mean it this time. You will stop receiving club e-mail in April if you do not renew. A 2021 membership form is included in this newsletter and always available on our website. Our awesome membership secretary, Alyce, says please write clearly—especially your email address, since that is how we communicate with you and we hate it when they get bounced back. Thank you to everyone who has renewed. And welcome to new members!

Recent Activities
I included the January Freeze Your Butt ride in the January/February newsletter. We attempted a Chatfield Hollow ride on January 31 but Liz and I ended up being the only ones. It was so cold even Liz couldn’t take her gloves off to get pictures. Abner Lane and the roads in the park were black ice. Thankfully Homes and Clover were sensible and kept their feet. At one point Homes had had enough and jumped off the road into the woods to bushwhack through the deeper snow with me lying on his neck! We moved the February ride twice and finally went to Hammonassett on March 6. The wind was incredible. It literally brought tears to my eyes. We only managed one pass on the beach. Happy to see Hannah Gossett back in the saddle five months after her broken leg. Judy Bosco braved the wind to get a few pictures.

Please see the Upcoming Events box on the first page and the Calendar on the last page for more activities. We always need ideas for the calendar—this year more than ever! Any ride ideas you would have brought to the Pizza and Planning Meeting are extremely welcome. And if you want to share the calendars from other local horse groups we will try not to schedule on conflicting dates. I really want everyone to be safe but I hope we can resume more normal activities soon. I miss Games Day and our social events so much! Liz is organizing a Capture the Flag on Horseback game. I really miss hugging my friends!

I hope to see you soon!
Melissa

PS LCRVHC membership is really a bargain at only $15 annually for individual, $25 for family. If you have friends you ride with or know people who are interested in trail riding with small groups or working on local trails, spread the word. And please, I can’t say it often enough, tell us what you want to do as a club!

President’s Letter
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year. I hope you are all safe and healthy. In normal times we would be looking forward to our annual holiday party and the pizza and planning party to do our calendar but not this year. At this point we are doing the best we can just having a trail ride every month. If anyone has any ideas of a place you would like to ride as a group, please let us know. Meanwhile, we are trying to keep it fairly local and mostly doing what we did last year.

​Membership renewals—wow—back in March we said “this will be your last newsletter if you have not renewed.” And then the world came to a screeching halt. So . . . we did not drop anyone from the list in 2020 and you have continued to get emails, but now it’s 2021, so please renew and support our club. A 2021 membership form is included in this newsletter and always available on our website. Our awesome membership secretary, Alyce, says please write clearly—especially your email address, since that is how we comminicate with you and we hate it when they get bounced back. Thank you to everyone who has renewed.
​
And welcome to new members!
Recent Activities The annual Sue Davenport Memorial Chili Ride was held November 8 at Chatfield Hollow. Eleven riders in two groups rode out from the cul de sac at North Chestnut Hill, down Abner Lane to Beckwith, through the state forest and back through the park. Our official “stalker”, equine photographer Judy Bosco, met us in the park and took pictures near the covered bridge. After the ride we enjoyed a socially distanced lunch with three kinds of chili, cornbread, side dishes, and desserts. We were joined by several non riding members.

Our Christmas Soup Ride had to be postponed from December 5 due to heavy rain but we were able to hold it on Sunday, the 13th. Only five riders braved the mud to ride but several other members joined us after for—again socially distanced—soup, breads, and desserts on the Rough Draft Farm porch. The soups were all delicious but Nancy’s cream of mushroom was the best I’ve ever tasted. It was a nice warm day and several of our injured members were able to make it for a visit. Beverly Torell and Cathy Clouse were able to compare their recent comparing rotator cuff surgery experiences. And Hannah is healing. See pictures pages 6 and 7 of the newsletter. Rain was predicted for New Year’s Day (even though it didn’t materialize) so we moved the Annual Freeze Your Butt Ride to Sunday the 3rd. The weather was still pretty iffy and several who had RSVPd ended up bailing. Five diehards rode despite the sleet and wind. My cheeks were more frozen than my butt, even Liz didn’t take many pictures. our hands were too cold to take off our gloves! Sarah Grote met Liz to take some “alumni” pictures of her and Clover to highlight their successful adoption story for the Connecticut Draft Horse Rescue. Liz’s husband made lobster salad sandwiches and we had hot chocolate and cookies after the ride. See pictures page 8.

Please see the Upcoming Events box on the first page and the Calendar on the last page for more activities. We always need ideas for the calendar—this year more than ever! Any ride ideas you would have brought to the Pizza and Planning Meeting are extremely welcome. And if you want to share the calendars from other local horse groups we will try not to schedule on conflicting dates. I really want everyone to be safe but I hope we can resume more normal activities soon. I miss Games Day and our social events so much! I really miss hugging my friends!

I hope to see you soon!
Melissa

PS LCRVHC membership is really a bargain at only $15 annually for individual, $25 for family. If you have friends you ride with or know people who are interested in trail riding with small groups or working on local trails, spread the word. And please, I can’t say it often enough, tell us what you want to do as a club!

(Read the full newsletter here)

Dear Friends,

As the pandemic staggers on with no end in sight, I hope you all are faring as well as can be expected. First world problems, I’m bored and a little lonely, I actually miss going to my office and seeing my coworkers and friends, but I know how lucky I am to be able to work from home (finally, after 4 months of furlough), to have my horse on my own property (with access to trails), and my horse friends to meet and trail ride.

Membership renewals—wow—back in March I said “this will be your last newsletter if you have not renewed.” And then the world came to a screeching halt. So. . .we did not drop anyone from the list and you have continued to get emails, but now it’s almost 2021, if you renew now we will count it toward next year. Our awesome membership secretary, Alyce is trying to keep this all straight—please write clearly. A 2021 membership form is included in this newsletter and always available on our website. Thank you to everyone who has renewed. And welcome new members!

Hunter Pace and Other Activities
Most of the fall was spent cleaning trails and preparing for the LCRVHC Annual Fall Festival Hunter Pace. I need to thank all my cohorts and the landowners for their help and support in making this one of our most successful hunter paces in years, despite (or maybe because of) the pandemic. A HUGE thank you to our landowners: Dave Beaudette and Julie Berman, Tom and Gloria Elliott, Kristin Elliott Leas, and Mark Leas. Without your generosity in letting us use your land (and all the hard work that goes into maintaining it year-round and sprucing it up for the event) we could not do it. Deep gratitude to all the members and friends who gave their time weekend after weekend to clean up after Storm Isaias and the unnamed wind storms that seemed to come along almost weekly from then until the week of the pace; and all who helped mark the course and take markers down, pickup food and help with parking, timing, scoring and check-in the day of the pace: Alyce Mallek, Liz Kennedy, Lynn Burns, Nancy Palermo Lee, Dave Beaudette, Julie Berman, Tom and Gloria Elliott, Kristin Elliott Leas, Mark Leas, Beverly Torell, Bob Bandzes, Peggy Lupone, Rebecca Rus-sell, Mary Wozniak, Emily Berman (and her boyfriend Tomas and brother Nat—called in last minute to mow and weed whack when Dave cracked two ribs the week before the pace). I also want to thank the many members who supported the club by riding in the pace: especially my Golden Girls: Christel  Maturo, Ruth Strontzer, and Cathy Clouse (Cathy is a tireless recruiter for LCRVHC). And thanks to Lynda Perry for taking care of the all important behind the scenes details (food, portapotty, ribbons). Please forgive me if I missed anyone--it’s not for lack of appreciation.  I love all you guys and we couldn’t do it without you. See pictures and reports else-where in the newsletter.

On the same day the pace was taking place the BPC was working with Eagle Scout candidate Brendan Daly to construct a multi-use bridge on Westbrook town property on the Quinimay Trail south of Chittenden Hill Road. Tom Elliott had been working with Brendan for nearly a year making the plan and assisting him with the permitting process and getting materials in time of Covid. (Who knew there would be nationwide shortage of pressure treated wood?) Tom helped cut the wood to spec and supervised the actual construction. BPC president Beverly Torell was able to get some photos. See pictures and her report in the BPC section of this newsletter.

On September 21 several LCRVHC and BPC members met with forester Emory Gluck regarding the upcoming logging at Weber Woods. He told us they are expected to start soon and have one year to complete the project. The area they will be working is to the left of the main trail and parking area. The landing will be on route 145. They will also be working off Tower Hill in Clinton. You can see the blue dots on the trees to be harvested. As we get news I will pass it along.

On October 25, Lynda Perry and I attended the Clinton Land Trust’s annual meeting combined with the official dedication of the Weiss–Loveday property between River Road and Spencer Hill Road in Clinton. The short meeting and ceremony was followed by a one hour hike. Of course, I never thought to take pictures.

Please see the Upcoming Events box on the first page and the Calendar on the last page for more activities. We always need ideas for the calendar!

I hope to see you soon!

Melissa

PS LCRVHC membership is really a bargain at only $15 annually for individual, $25 for family. If you have friends you ride with or know people who are interested in trail riding with small groups or working on local trails, spread the word. And please, I can’t say it often enough, tell us what you want to do as a club!