FoOTNotes - Vol. 2 / No 7 (Nov. 2005)

FoOT Volunteers and Supporters,
This will be brief, but I wanted to get out an alert and a couple of pieces of good news ....

• Central Arkansas Storms: All of you who live in Central Arkansas know we had some wild storms Sunday night (11/27/2005), including some tornado activity. We desperately needed the rain, so won't complain, but the strong winds, tornado-like in some areas, and large hail played havoc with a few areas of the trail. Those of you who have adopted in the eastern sections may want to go take a look at your section. Even those of us who thought they just had their section fixed up nicely for the fall term, have been surprised with the opportunity for more work due to damage from these storms. Sections 7, 8, and 9 are most vulnerable, I believe, but I certainly don't mean to limit it to those areas. If you have not yet had a chance to do your fall maintenance, this is one more reason to get out there now, before it gets too cold.
  OK, on to the good news....
  
• Nancy Mountain Shelter: As of Monday morning, November 28, 2005, the rebuild of the Nancy Mountain Shelter is underway. Under the leadership of Mike Bean of the ONF, three USFS representatives and three FoOT volunteers started to rebuild the shelter. Mike Bean was involved in building the original string of nine shelters on the trail, including Nancy Mountain. His knowledge of the shelters and how to build them will make the project go smoothly and quickly.
  By the end of the day, the support structure was in place and the floor was laid. The new shelter is underway and now resembles a nice deck. Unfortunately, the logs for the shelter walls have been delayed and not yet delivered, so the project is on hold, probably until January.
  Mike Sims is coordinating the FoOT volunteer effort for the shelter build. Once the log delivery is scheduled, Mike Bean will schedule the remaining work and Mike Sims will work up the volunteer schedule. Anyone interesting in working on this project in January should also check with Mike Sims.
  This is another great example of partnering between the USFS and FoOT, and it would not have happened at all if FoOT had not made the offer to participate. We hope to schedule a completion ceremony and some publicity once the schedule is completed. Stay Tuned.
• Americorps Team: The Americorps Team that FoOT has applied for has been approved. Special thanks to Kris McMillen, Mike Sims, and James Wilborn (Lake Ouachita State Park) for their part in acquiring the team. Their work with FoOT will begin on January 31, 2006. Kris is working on the detail plan of projects to be completed. "I don't think we will have any trouble keeping them busy," said Kris. "And now we have all these new tools from the USFS for the team to use!" Anyone with ideas, or wanting to get involved, let Kris know ( bamkm@sbcglobal.net ).
• Volunteer Work Agreements: Loretta Melancon, FoOT Vice President of Recruitment, tells me that for the first time in FoOT history all of our trail adopters have signed the Volunteer Work Agreement. This is great news. Thanks to all of you for taking care of the paperwork side of keeping our organization going.

Thanks Again for All You Do.
Jim Gifford, President
FoOT is organized exclusively to provide assistance for the maintenance, enhancement and use of the Ouachita National Recreation Trail