June 2021 FCOHC Newsletter

I can say with 100 % clear conscience that I have been busy and but also slightly neglectful of this newsletter. I have tried to keep everyone up to speed with club activities by email, but not quite the same as the newsletter.

To start, we have held our first two club-sponsored rides. The first at Great Seal and the second at Caesars Creek. Both had a decent turnout, but certainly, room to grow in terms of additional participation.

Great Seal made the news the week after we were there. Our governor authorized the building of a stone sign honoring the COVID 19 fatalities. It is a beautiful sign plus they planted 15 trees in the area. The sign is facing west toward Ohio’s first capital, Chillicothe, which is the official state seal. Check it out, go for a ride at Great Seal, you will enjoy the ride plus the sign.

The Caesars Creek ride was a first-time visit for me. It was different than a lot of the places we ride (flat) but super nice. The camping area is great. Originally we planned to stay in the group camp area, but heavy rains in that area had us concerned and we moved over to the regular equine camp area. The group camp is simply an open field for parking. It has tie lines and a nice picnic shelter and certainly, I would recommend it in a drier situation. For this trip, a hard base place to park seemed the wiser choice. The trails as mentioned are flat for the most part and wind around the lake and up into the northern portion of the park along Caesars creek. Pretty!

To regress slightly, we have had two workdays at Hocking to construct improvement projects on the equine trail or repair existing facilities. A couple of weeks back, we built an additional tie rail plus two benches at the Indian Head Rock rest site. This now gives the area three tie rails plus the new benches. This is a popular location to rest. We observed a month or so back horses tied to the rails but the people sitting on the ground. Not cool. All of these improvements were funded from the donation by Charles Bolton, a member of our club and owner of Hocking Horse Farm near Cedar Falls.

Our second workday was May 18. Two poles in the special use area (group camp) had rotted off in the tie lines. So far only one group had used this area in 2021, but the park manager asked for our assistance to replace them before they start to receive heavy use. Richard Reisinger had two used electric poles, Craig Santee volunteered to bring his skid steer and post hole auger, Art Crist, Keith White, Helen Gillian, Charlene Santee plus myself provided the labor. The old poles were pulled and new poles installed in about an hour and a half. Thanks to everyone that volunteered their time and resources for these projects.

A reminder of the next two club-sponsored rides. The first is over Memorial Day weekend. We have the special use area reserved from Thursday, May 27 through Monday, May 31. There will be a community meal on Saturday evening for those interested. I am thinking 6 o’clock. We’ll pick a site to gather at after we get there.

The next ride is at Mohican on June 4-5-6. This is a joint ride with Licking county OHC. Charlene Santee, Licking OHC President, has organized this ride and tells me she is booked full on reservations. She has excepted a couple of backup requests, but it is unlikely she can accept any new requests at this time. Should the situation change, I’ll be in touch by way of an email.

Our next ride is at Dillion State park on June 25,26,27. You do need to call the State Park reservation line or go to their internet online service to make a camping reservation for this ride.

The final ride I need to mention is at Bark Camp over the July 4th Holliday. That ride has been canceled and we are not planning to replace it. If you wish to camp and ride, round up your buddies on the phone or float the idea on our Facebook

page. Guessing you’ll find some takers willing to join you.

Our June meeting is scheduled for Sunday the 13th at Fat Cats Pizza, 7 pm.

Last on my list is the shirts and sweatshirts everyone ordered a few weeks back. We hope to have them at the Hocking Memorial weekend ride. We will definitely have them by the June meeting. The club is paying for them when we pick them up at the Red Barn. You need to reimburse the club at the time you pick them up. Pam Dean has been in charge of this project, so see her for your shirts.

Love seeing your pictures on Facebook. Keep them coming.

Chris