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Chesapeake Bay |
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Chesapeake Bay |
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SIERRAThe Newsletter Of
Sep/Oct 1999 | ||||||||
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Last year we selected a few
goals and did them well. They
included: more attention to Singles
Outings, concentrating on a limited
number of issues (Fort Story,
Route 17, Stumpy and Tulloch
ditching), performing Service
Outings at the Back Bay Wildlife
Refuge and the Hoffler Creek
Wildlife Preserve. Finally, we had a
couple of "wine and cheese" events
where we wrote letters to our delegates
during the legislative session. One significant result of these activities has been that we have essentially doubled the size of our local Board. This makes it possible for us to do more and do a better job of meeting the needs of more of the membership. So this year we want to consolidate and expand on what we were successful at last year (doing things that the membership supports) and add some new areas. |
This coming Fall we will do
even more with the Singles
Outings, continue with worthwhile
Service Outings and add a few
more of the important local issues.
We are adding: over night camping
events for outings, developing a
survival training program, and
organizing for greater political
impact on important local issues.
There are many exciting local issues
concerning Sprawl, transportation,
quality of life and the environment. In many cases local governments are not responding to the needs of the Public. In order to have a positive impact, we need to form coalitions and better organize our membership. Come join us for an exciting year of enjoying and preserving the environment. |
September Program
Backpacking the Appalachian Trail
| Fall is the best time of the year to go camping and hiking. It's the
time of the year to be immersed in nature. To be better prepared to enjoy
the outdoors, we are beginning our Fall Program schedule with a presentation
on backpacking and camping the Appalachian Trail. Backpacking is to hiking as touring is to biking. It is a premiere way to enjoy the outdoors. Backpacking is a skill that can be learned and the more one knows the more one can feel at home in the outdoors. Our speaker: Tyler Jones, has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail. He will discuss how to choose a backpack, what you need to carry and how to pack it. He will also discuss training for and hiking the AT. Come join us on the 13th of September at the Virginia Beach Central Library at 7PM. |
| We are going canoeing!! Our
primary location is York River State Park and we may end up going to other locations depending on the number of members who are interested. Many years ago we went to this park and had an outstanding canoe trip, so we would like to do it again. We will meet at Lake Wright Motel at 8 AM on Saturday the 18th of September. We plan to be at the park by 9AM. We will canoe for a couple hours and then go have lunch. September along the York River will be beautiful. So come and join us for a pleasant time with the outdoors and nature! The contact person for this outing is: Fred Adams 467-2775. |
| Sierra Singles is one of the larger activity groups within the Club. We are beginning this years activities with an outing at First Landing State Park.The park has a new visitors cen-ter with all sorts of new and interest-ing features. First Landing is one of the parks in Virginia where part of the facility is a nationally recognized Natural area. Numerous hiking trails make up the biggest part of this section of the park. The group will meet at the old educational facility on the South Side of the main entrance off of Shore Drive. We will meet at 9AM on the 25th of September. There will be a good brisk hike, a visit to the new center and a visit to a local coffee shop afterward. See you there!! Contact Nancy McAdoo at 464-4483. |
October Program
Environmental Panel Discussion
| There are many political issues. Our approach to these issues to from a "quality of life" considera-tion and not just environmental. We are planning a panel dis-cussion with several individuals from the community to present their viewpoints. Each of the pan-elist will be invited to talk for
about 12 minutes and afterwards there will be a question and answer period. We are inviting Jan Eliasson to discuss "Quality of life and Open Space;² Barbara Henley to discuss the Green Line and the Agricultural Reserve Program; and Glen Besa, to present the Sierra approach to political activism as relates to the Tulloch Rule and Stumpy Lake. We all need to spend a reason-able amount of time addressing political issues. Local communities are beginning to struggle with the very real issues of growth, sprawl, transportation, open space, educa-tion and quality of life. Sierra Club is very interested in Smart Growth and controlling sprawl; to save financial resources for education, recreation areas and Greenways. All of these considerations are interrelated. This will be our one and main meeting involving political subjects. It will be most informative. Come join us on the 4th of October, at 7 PM at the Virginia Beach Central Library. |
| There are so many things we can do at this park on the Eastern Shore. These include: watching for hawks at the hawk platform; observing the birders checking over the neotropical migratory birds (this is without a doubt the best place to observe these birds in Virginia); going to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and observing the migration of the Monarch but-terflies. We may also have a chance to visit with Reese Lukie at his hawk-ing station at the Eastern Shore National Wildlife Refuge. We also plan on one session of our outdoor survival training course tobe given on Saturday morning. The date for this outing is Friday, October, 22. Come when you can make it. We will camp that evening, have 3 or 4 sessions on Saturday and depart around 5 oclock on Saturday. Those who would like to stay Saturday night are welcome to do so. The cost of camping at State Parks is $22.00 per tent site. There are no stores at this park so you need to bring your own food and drinks. Several of our members would like to do more camping. If this adventure goes well we can consider trips to the Shenandoah and the outer banks. Looking forward to seeing you all around the camp fire. Contact person is John Fisher at: 495-5406. |