Dear Members & Friends:

 

Hope all is going well for you & your families and that your enjoying the great Spring weather, trees & flowers.

 

I have committed myself to get out on my bike more this year- to enjoy the ride, get some exercise, & control a little too much of the middle-age spread that was developing. Lately, I've been getting out just before sunrise & when the weather is right it is a wonderful ride- the only thing that would make it better would be riding on the Chester Creek Branch. Hopefully all of you are getting to enjoy this Spring as much as I am, and soon we can all enjoy the ride (or jog, walk, etc.) on the Chester Creek Branch.

 

In addition to riding, Friends volunteers will be busy this Spring laying the groundwork for a successful release of our Feasibility Study. The Feasibility Study is now completed but won't be released until our work with SEPTA is completed. Hopefully this will be soon. In the mean time, we are trying to get prepared for the publication of the Study.

 

Following are some of the issues we will be addressing over the coming months:

 

    -We have to close out our Grants from the PA DCNR & William Penn Foundation for the Feasibility Study;

    -Continue to work with SEPTA;

    -Hold our annual meeting & election of a Board of Directors; and

    -Release the Feasibility Study and explain its findings to the local elected officials & the public.

 

As you can probably tell, this will be a very exciting, but busy, time for Friends. Because of all of the work on our plate going forward, we decided we need volunteers & fundraising to be successful with everything. Anyone interested in volunteering?

 

On June 1st, National Trails Day, Friends will be holding a Silent Auction/Wine Tasting Party at Newlin's Mill (in the actual Grist Mill!) on Route 1 in Concord. The time for the party is from 6:00 PM - 9:00  PM. Prices haven't been set yet for the event, but will be soon. Also, we will soon have a partial list of the items up for auction. We will need both volunteers & paying attendees for this event. If you are interested in volunteering, please get back to me- we need about five volunteers. Also, if you are interested in attending, please get back to me & I'll reserve some tickets for you. Finally, if you know of anyone else that would be interested in coming, please pass this information along. This will be a fun night for all of us & we'll be able to raise some money for the trail while we're enjoying ourselves.

 

Our second and third opportunities for volunteers are on May 4th. Starting at 8:30 AM on this Saturday we will be helping with the Creek Week Stream Cleanup. Friends will be stationed at Mount Road & 452 in Aston for the cleanup of the Chester Creek. We always have a great time with these cleanups & help get some interesting garbage out of the Creek. Please join us. There will be free T-shirts to the early arrivers & a free lunch at Rose Tree Park.

 

Also on May 4th we will be participating in Middletown Township Pride Days at the Rocky Run YMCA. Friends will be providing information on the progress of the Trail & trying to generate support within the community. We need volunteers for this event also- it starts at 11:00 and runs to 4:00.

 

Please get back to me if you would like to help us with any of the upcoming events, or would like to attend the celebration of National Trails Day with our Party at Newlin's Mill. Each of these events will be enjoyable, and will be important for Friends to get our message out & to raise needed funds for the trail ahead. Won't you help us?

 

As always, thanks for your support.

 

 

Mike