Granite City Trail Riders ATC Club meeting minutes May1, 2014
-Meeting was called to order by Ken Fournier at 7:02 pm.
-Secretaries report was read by Ken. Alice was absent. Eric Licht motioned to approve, Lee Winkler seconded.
-Treasurers report was read by Tom Salzer. Ending balance in club account is
$3154.08. Lee Winkler motioned to approve, Dan Olmschenk seconded.
-Web site update-Dave who is in charge of the web site was not in attendance therefore no report of number of visits to web site was given. Dan Olmschenk thought he was indeed working on it though.
-TA report given by Eric Licht. All is good to go for the season. Eric reminded all
TAs to check trail conditions on the DNR web site before heading out to Trail
Ambassador. All trail conditions are updated on Thursdays.
-TA meeting in Brainerd. Dan and Alice attended. Dan reported it was a good meeting with some new information. He has a slide show from the meeting if anyone was interested. He told us the DNR is thinking of ceasing to print the paper trail maps that are placed at trail heads/parking lots. The maps are still available on the DNR web site and are downloadable and printable. There was extensive conversation about all the scenarios that would warrant a paper map being available. There will again be a spiral bound book with all the trails in MN available in a month or so.
-2014 Ride Schedule- Laminated copies are available from Eric Licht.
-YST changes. Phil Neske at the fairgrounds has informed us that we can no longer serve food inside the same building we currently have the YST class.
However, we could eat outside. Due to new regulations, any building where animals are present cannot have food in it. He showed Dan and Alice the building where food can be served. Also we will be moving our driving course as there is a conflict with our current area for the August class. As of May 1, 2014, there are 26 kids signed up and 19 volunteers. Mention was made that the ramps are getting worn out. DNR has instructed us we will need to fix them ourselves as they will not be replacing any of our supplies. Lee is going to take care of bringing all the food for YST as well as the roaster and some garbage bags. Phil commended our club for always cleaning up so well after our event.
Tom Salzer brought up that he has the large display and do we want that for
YST? Many thought yes, it would be a good idea and look professional. Also the question was brought up as to who would bring a wheeler to run the course and demonstrate to the students.

-ATVAM report. Tom Hansen had nothing to report this month.
-Hay Days-September 6-7, 2014 in North Branch. Anyone who wants to volunteer is greatly encouraged. They need haulers. You need to be an ATVAM member to be eligible to volunteer.
-Dan said the Over the Hills Gang needs volunteers for their Pork and Ride and also some help for the Blind Lake connector trail. It was mentioned that Mud
Nationals is also that same weekend.
-New business-question was asked about the status of our sponsorships.
Extensive talk was had about new sponsors and how to go about gaining their interest in our club.
-ATVAM-September 19-21, 2014 Ride and Rally in Roseau. Along with riding opportunities, one can tour the Polaris plant also.
-GCTR on Facebook? Conversation was had about the pros and cons of using
Facebook to try to connect with as many people as possible.
-June meeting is June 5, 2014.
-There will be no July meeting as it would fall the week of the 4 th of July and Ken will let the VFW that we will not be there that month.
-August meeting will be August 7, 2014.
-May 18, Pine Center Ride and Bar Be Que. 15 people are signed up to go so far.
The question was asked by Ken that with such a small group if we should just all meet in the bar/grill at the trailhead and eat after the ride. Many objections were made about whether small children would be allowed in the bar and how nice it was that GCTR paid for the food so it was decided to have the complimentary cookout as we always have. We will need a grill and since no one volunteered to bring one, we are still looking for someone to bring the grill.
Club will provide the brats, hamburgers and buns, condiments and plates and silverware. All members that attend are asked to bring a dish to pass and their own beverages. Remember to also bring chairs.
-Dave Thene won the monthly drawing and his choice of a logo item.
-Meeting was adjourned at 8:12 pm. Motion made by Eric Licht and seconded by Penny Weihrauch.