THE TRAIL BLAZ E.R The Indianapolis Hiking Club Happiness- A Step at a Time VOLUME SEVENTEEN NO. ONE 1985 EDITION This yearly report to the members is the method by which the history of the Indianapolis Hiking Club is chronicled and kept up to dat e . The club enjoyed an exciting and interesting schedule of events last year, as it complet ed the 28th year of exis t ence, following the purpose for which it was organized; "To encourage a love of nature, through the promotion of outdoor recreation in the form of hikes and outings, and to sponsor other activities incidental to the foregoing" . Any organization needs the participation of individual members to be s trong and vibrant, and the Indianapolis Hiking Club excels in this r espect. The active and enthusiastic support of a l arge percent of the membership has helped to make t he club the outstanding outdoor recreation group in Indiana. The total paid up membership at the end of the year wa s 368. During the year the c lub sponsored 198 hikes , and 3 overnight outings, ·the summer picnic, the Christmas Party, and a backpack. There were 4 General Assembly mee tings, which are the bus iness and soci al genera l meetings of the members. Va rious items of interes t are presented by the o fficer s ~ ~nc luding the current financ i al report, and the members a re informed of recent decisions )Y-the board of directors. The September General Assembly is also the meeting for the election of officers for the new year. Speaker s with programs of interest are a rranged by the social committee for the entertainment of the members following the business section. E2~h year the club ha s always had capable and dedicated people as officers to direct the activities. Many hours are spent in work behind the scenes to make the club a success . The support of the members is really appreciated and makes the hard work all worthwhile. The fo llowing people served as officers during the year ending October 1, 1985. LINE OFFICERS APPOINTED OFFICERS DIRECTORS President . .... Sam Lloyd Membership ..... John Behrmann Will Harrer Vice President .. Bob Begeman Publicity ...... J oe Lehman Tom Palmberg Pathfinder . • .••• Charles Brunette Publications ... Bill Larrison Linda Elliott Secretary . ... Dorothy Field Conservation ... Al Drehobl Philip Lin Treasurer ..... • . Betty Woodward Socia 1: Programs ..... Harrison Feldman Refreshments.Carol Sutcliffe NOTE : Charles Brunette resigned as pathfinder in March, and the president, Sam Lloyd, appointed Mary Kidwell to serve as pathfinder for the rest of the year. Over the years the Indianapolis Hiking Club has always planned schedules in response to the requests and suggestions of members. THIS IS YOUR CLUB~~ YOUR SUGGESTIONS AND ADVICE FOR THE GOOD OF THE CLUB IS ALWAYS WELCOMED BY THE OFFICERS. The pa t hfinder in .--..-a-I'ticular is always searching for new and interesting ar eas to hike. The club needs a variety of hikes and activities to meet the needs of the varied membership long and rugged hikes, as well as short and easy ones and many others in between these extremes . YOUR HELP IS NEEDED in planning the future of the c lub. THE TRAIL B'I.AZER 1985 EDITION THE INDIANAPOLIS HIKING CLUB Page 2 Members of the club who have achieved special goals in hiking are recognized each year. Listed below on the SPECIAL HONOR ROLL are a ll who have hiked more than 200 miles during the year, or have been on at l east 20 hikes. SPECIAL HONOR ROLL HIKES MILES HIKES MILES HIKES MILES Joe Wilhelm 139 1225 Jim Ernsting 51 406 lil'e 11 Larrison 37 234 Tom Patterson 90 1093 Mabel Voyles 50 393 Dorothy Field 41 233 Bob Begeman 99 1052 Mary Kidwell 63 386 Paul Peirce 34 233 Marge Begeman 101 1038 Tom Bowers 30 383 Karleen Huneck 21 232 Alice Brink 89 762 Henry McFa 11 28 371 George MacLean 53 229 Robin Ott 55 752 Jill Harmon 28 370 Rose Damm 26 222 Harrison Feldman 54 709 Gene Waltz 64 366 Bill Flora 42 217 Jim Stern 84 695 Ron Craig 36 353 Bert Roth 28 217 Frank Thompson 104 656 Fred Eckstein 46 353 Marsha Hutchins 24 210 John Behrmann 55 612 Sam Lloyd 42 351 Estelle Cope 26 195 Carol Sutcliffe 70 569 Bill Larrison 48 350 Bob McConne 11 24 193 Philip Lin 79 561 Mary Pulsifer 53 328 Dennis Taft 25 184 Charles Brunette 45 546 Jim Jones 31 325 Mi lna Hense 1 23 166 June Pogue 47 528 Genie Waltz 55 313 Ken Brizendine 26 165 ?.ugh Weber 67 520 Ed Chambers 60 302 Henry Moore 24 165 Betty Woodward 58 510 Libby Moore 44 271 Linda Elliott 26 161 Wilma Thompson 81 503 Bob Pedigo 37 253 Alice Roth 20 1~6 Tom Palmberg 47 502 Hazel Morrison 39 252 Doris Flora 23 115 Margaret Flack 70 500 Tom Jordan 27 237 Tony Vitale 24 lll Al Drehobl 44 464 Win Pulsifer 35 236 Alberta Neill 20 78 Ursula Breeding 57 447 Congratulations t o all who made the Honor Roll. There were many others who came close. The club has many active and valuable members who for one reason or another are unable to do all the hiking they might like to. Please come out to the ac:i vities as often as you can - all the members are important to the club. HIKE LEADERS!! They need to be recognized and appreciated . They are the backbone of the club. They not only lead us on hikes, but they spend much time in scouting the trails looking for variations and exploring for new areas to hike. The club wants to esp~cially recognize and thank those leaders who led 5 or more hikes during the year. Bob Begeman 16 Thomas Patterson 12 Carol Sutcliffe 7 Mary Kidwell 16 Al Drehobl 11 Bill Flora 6 Libby Moore 15 Jim Stern 11 Frank Thompson 6 Ur sul a Breeding 14 Bill La rrison 10 Wilma Thompson 6 Marge Begeman 13 Alberta Neill 10 Dorothy Field 5 John Behrmann 13 Charles Brunette 8 Betty Woodward 5 These leaders led for about 160 hikes out of a total of 198 hikes during the year. Some­ times there are 2 leaders on a hike, so therefore the total number of leaders will add up to more than the total number of hikes. THE SUMMER PICNIC On a nice summer Saturday late in July, the members found themselves at the Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary for a day of good hiking and good eating. This beautiful 600 acre park owned by the Indiana Audubon Society was indeed the proper setting . About 23 hikers came earl y for -.._ the morning hike, and the rest arrived around noon for the pitch-in picnic and general good times . We ate in the Markle Barn overlooking one of the l akes. THE TRAIL B~ZER 1985 EDITION THE INDIANAPOLIS HIKING CLUB Page 3 THE ANNUAL CHRIS~S PARTY Again we met at the Covenant Presbyterian Church on a Saturday earl y in December to enjoy the companionship of good friends in cel ebration of the Holiday season. What a huge success 'las the pitch-in dinner, where many of the "Che~s" of the club vied with one another to see who could produce the most delectable creation. What a t r eat ! M.any indulged a little too much - but that is the way with Christmas parties. GERRY GRAY and JERRY HAMMONS entertained us with their songs of the season - playing the dulcimer, the auto harp, and the guitar. And we joined in singing some of the carols. Santa Claus showed up again, and passed out apples along with a lot of hearty HO, HO, HO's. WORK ON THE KNOBSTONE TRAIL On a warm day in June, members of the club worked on trail maintenance on the Knobstone Trail. Under the direction of Chris Donovan of the Department of Nat~ral Resources, the following people headed by Al Drehobl l abored in the area of Elk Creek - Fred Eckstein, Bill Larrison, Hugh Weber, Jill Harmon, Henry McFall, Pat Fox, Shirley Plunkett, Tom Palmberg, Louise Crandall, Al Crandall, Charles Brunette, and Bill Isham. The Knobstone Trail is of particular interest to the club, as the club has worked on it several times in recent years, and many have hiked the various sections of it. REVIEW OF THE SCHEDULED HIKES Self guiding as well as guided hikes were sponsored for each week in the month for various months in the year, repeating with the directions referred to on the first day of the hike. October found us at Ellenberger on Tuesday evenings for self-guided hikes with Ursula Breeding. During January, self-guided hikes from Devington with Charles Brunette. In February and into M.arch we ~t at Eagle Creek on Tuesdays and Saturdays with Libby Moore. M.ary Kidwell continued leading us on Wednesdays a t Eagle Creek. During June the Begemans had White River Parkway hikes Tuesday evenings. Met for the Thatcher ~ ommunity Levee hikes on Tuesdays in July with the Thompsons. And then on Wednesdays Jim Stern had self-guided hikes from Broad Ripple. During August Carol Sutcliffe led the Riverview hikes each Wednesday, and during September back to the self guided hikes from Ellenber ger with Ursul a Breeding. We started our regular scheduled hiking with Libby Moore's backpack in October at Hoosier National. Then followed Ed Chambers at Morgan-Monroe. Climbed the hills of Knob Lake at Jackson Forest with Bill Larrison.