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!
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!
