We discussed the upcoming WEMS series race, including insurance issues, volunteer
requirements. Regarding insurance it appears that plans to sell beer at this event will
considerably drive up insurance cost so it was decided to revisit this option next year
when we are more comfortable in making the investment.

Dave Mangan’s Trail building report:
Good numbers of people have been coming out to help so much is getting achieved,
thanks to all who have donated their valuable time so far and keep coming out. This third
week the effort moved to Emma with a new section built and opened. NMBP had been
out the week preceding the trails opening removing fallen limbs.

Emma Shelter project was discussed with possible options for sponsors being sought and
with the close proximity to the Ice Age Trail it was decided to contact the Friends of the
Ice age trail to see if they might be interested in contributing to the cost. We agreed that
we should pursue as “green” a solution as possible in keeping with the spirit of the forest.

Website improvements were approved involving a software upgrade so look for new
features coming soon including a forum section maybe later this year.

Membership: We are actively seeking members prior to the official sanctioning by
IMBA. Dues will not be collected until official integration.

We agreed to be part of the Wheel and Sprocket Bike Expo teaming with the NMBP and
the Fall Color Festival Committee who has a booth, we will be seeking members there

We plan to showcase the new chapter at the Fall Color Festival in September with the
eventual goal of taking over the running of this event

A lot of the more mundane nuts and bolts of the organization are coming together and as
details are finalized will be reported here

The next board meeting will be held May 14th

Get out and Enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.

Trails are OPEN and in GREAT shape – A Special THANKS goes out to the Volunteer Group the ‘eSpecially CrAzy IrRegular TrailBuildin’ Crew’ who look after the TrailSystem.  Other Groups to THANK for the Trails getting OPEN and looking Good, are the local WORBA/IMBA National Mountain Bike Patrol, who, by request of the WDNR, check and clear all of the MB Trails before opening; and also, a Major Help is the SKM ChainGang – a Group of Volunteers who were Trained and Approved by the WDNR to use chain saws in the SKM State Forest.

REMEMBER: It is Spring!  The plants are sprouting  and blooming FAST!  Plants quickly stretch out and may expand into the Trail path.  Be prepared for some ‘face-slappers’; even some ‘grabbers’.  Of particular note: the raspberry canes are Really Active right now, and they have some serious thorns on them – Be Aware!  But hey…. it’s Mountain Biking!

LOOK FOR THEM! – The John Muir had some shorter Trail ReRoutes built this Spring in the southern Trail Section know as ‘The Finger’, and one just after ‘Richards Revenge’ past the ‘RainBow Bridge’.  These ReRoutes were made to avoid sections of Trail that remained muddy most of the year.  OUR goal is to keep the Trails OPEN more by by-passing the wetter sections.  THANKS TrailCrew!!

And with that…… COME OUT and RIDE!!  and EnJoy the Forest!

Events: Plans are moving forward with the WEMS series race to be held in the forest June 21st, we will be seeking help from those interested in helping with the race committee. We are fortunate to have Kenny Dretzka heading up this event for us. He experience with this event in the past makes him uniquely qualified. We discussed other potential events including ideas such as an Off Road Poker Ride, Mountain Bike Enduro and a time trial event similar to that put on by the Metro chapter. Anyone with ideas interested in helping should forward them to Jamison.

Jim Wiser reported that the Chapter would become active officially July 21st 2012 if all goes through as anticipated. There are three other relevant organizations that impact us or overlap NMBP, WORBA and Bike Fed, membership in any of these organizations translates to membership in our new IMBA chapter and vice versa except for NMBP

Any organization that relies on member volunteers to achieve goals needs ways to recognize extraordinary contributions, we are working on developing ways to do this. The Dirty Dozen has been successful with the trail volunteers however this accolade will be reserved for these volunteers. Jim also reported that the website was back up, thanks to Ryan ……. for all his hard work.

In new business the Bike Fed Summit held recently in Madison was reported on. The bike Fed is a Wisconsin based group lobbying on behalf of cycling and of interest is that IMBA is working with the predominantly road based organization to develop connections to the mountain bike community. It was noted that WORBA would cease operations in September and that the Bike Fed will assume all former activities.

Technical Committee: Ryan …. has agreed to lead the this committee

Emma Shelter Committee: It was agreed to go forward with this committee with a goal to explore the funding and construction of a shelter built at Emma Carlin trailhead, Mike Seiler has agreed to lead this, stay tuned for volunteer opportunities.

We agreed to look into creating a forum section on our web site for members to post to.

Trail building: As you read this trail work has resumed with the first work day on March 17 with 25 or so showing up!! Dave Mangan has been out with DNR trials coordinator Dan Dane to walk the sections needing work and is working with him to develop the plan for this season

Membership, We will be present at the upcoming Wheel and Sprocket Bike Expo, April 5th -8th. The Fall Color Festival has agreed to share their booth. We will be there actively seeking membership in our new chapter.

The next board meeting will be held April 2nd.

Meet at 8:30am; Meet at John Muir Parking Lot.

A little socialization time, then off to the TrailWork.  We work from 9:00am ’til Noon.  We supply all the tools, you supply the ‘sweat equity and the humor’.

See ya there!

The board elected members to the various positions needed per our chapter By-Laws.  The positions were elected and filled as follows:

• Chair – 3 year – Jim Wiser
• Vice Chair – 2 year – Mike Bettinger
• Treasurer – 3 year – Mike Ellis
• Secretary – 2 year – Richard Palmer
• Trail Steward – 3 year – Dave Mangan
• Events Coordinator – 2 year – Jamison Stachel
• Membership Coordinator – 3 year – Marty Tank

The board finalized the information needed to fill out the IMBA Chapter inline application.  In the area of communication the new board discussed ways to get information to the mountain biking community.  These included mailings, use of our chapter’s website as well as FaceBook.

The process for IMBA chapter formation will take to about mid-summer to complete according to Hansi Johnson from IBMA.  The Fall Color Festival Board has approved the $500 required by IMBA to apply for chapter membership.

We discussed our website and the need to upgrade southernkettles.org as well as the skilled man-power to manage this.  Ryan Nanny heads this endeavor and has been very instrumental in this area and his work is much appreciated.  We need to get trail maps and other information back online at southernkettles.org since they were removed in the transition.

Events discussed

• The date has been set by Kenny Dretzka, for SKM WEMS race – July 21, 2012.  He has many years experience doing this very event and we are fortunate that he is willing to do this race again.  Jamison Stachel is laying the ground-work so this race can be added to WEMS schedule.
• Fall Color Festival in September sponsored by the Fall Color Festival Board.  The race is scheduled for September 22.  We are looking forward to working with the FCF board on this event.

We set next meeting date on 3/10/12 at DNR HQ at 9-11am