From the President
How many are ready to pack up and move someplace warmer? I can handle the 20s, but when it gets down near and below 0 nothing seems to work right. I bought a used 4 wheeler back in late November. The guy I bought it from offered me a really good deal on a snow blade to go with it. I thought at the time it would be handy to have, but I never thought I would have to use it as much as I have up to this point. Oh well enough whining from me.
I was really pleased to see such a great turn out for our January meeting especially when you consider the nasty weather we had on Friday and Saturday prior to the meeting. We even had two new members, Willie Stonerock and McKenzie Keage attend the meeting and fill out the membership application. Welcome aboard!
For those not at the meeting, between myself and Kathy Smith we tried to bring everyone up to speed on the upgrades and changes Kathy has made to our web site as well as our FaceBook page. The web page features several new options to keep anyone in contact with it better informed as to what we are doing at Fairfield OHC. One major change is this newsletter. In the past it has been sent out attached to an e-mail. It will now be simply posted on our web page for everyone to read. I will send out a notice to members by way of e-mail notifying them the newsletter has been posted. My goal is to have it on our web page by the 3rd of each month.
Kathy Smith completely revamped our FaceBook page. It is now set up as a group which gives everyone with a personal FaceBook account the ability to post information once they have been accepted into our group. If you do not have an account you can still view the information on our FaceBook page, but you can not post information. I encourage everyone to post your horse-related activities, the more the better.
Tom McGuire covered several items related to our trail ride schedule, work-related plans and potential grant applications we had submitted to the state OHC office. A copy of the projected ride schedule is attached to this newsletter. One update to the schedule is that we were approved for the group camp at Mohican State Forest. It is the last weekend of March. I know that seems a little early for some, but it is tough to get a camping date at Mohican and that is what we were offered. Everyone who has ridden there will tell you they love the place. Let’s show how tough we are in Fairfield County and pack the camp.
Another update is related to the grants we applied for. We did not receive any money from the state OHC. I still feel like there are projects we need to address as a club to improve the overall experience of camping and riding at Hocking. We will tackle some of those projects at our February meeting.
At the January meeting, I brought up the All American Youth Show and it was unanimously approved by the members in attendance to proceed with this money making project. I now have a signed contract in hand, so we are committed to May 9, 10,11 and 12 to provide labor to assist their show. As before our responsibility will center around Cooper Arena. More on this at the February meeting.
As was the case in the January newsletter, we are featuring another of our officers so you can get to know us better. This month is your treasurer, Margaret Hite.
That’s all I have for now.
Later Chris
Calendar
February 10, 7 pm
FCOHC Meeting at Fat Cat Pizza
March 10, 7 pm
FCOHC Meeting at Fat Cat Pizza
About Margaret Hite, FCOHC Treasurer
I was one of eight kids raised on a livestock and grain farm north of Baltimore. We all had farm chores to do morning and night. This is where my love for horses started. My chores were to feed and care for our Shetland ponies and horses that we trained and sold. We all had our favorite pony. Mine was Ruby. I rode her everywhere until I was big enough to ride the horses. My favorite horse was a quarter paint gelding that I rode bareback to bring in our cattle. He loved this and you guessed it – I had to hold on tight because he was quick.
The ponies and horses were a lot of fun for us. We had a six and eight pony hitch of silver dapples that we took to parades. Most of us were in the Rough Riders. I rode a paint mare named Calico. In the winter when our pony’s were eating hay we would run across their backs! Oh, the fun we had with them!
After high school, I went on to nursing school. From there I began working at Children’s hospital. I married in 1972 and then became a stay-at-home mom. When our two boys, were in high school, I went to work at Meals on Wheels and now currently working at Foundation Dinners. My husband of 46 years and I have two dogs, a cat, three chickens and a guinea hen, two horses and are the grandparents of two amazing boys! I love riding and looking forward to a great year with the club!
Hope you enjoy my album, Margaret
Trail News
A hardy bunch rode at Greenbo Lake in Kentucky on January 6th. The image at the top of the newsletter is of Greenbo Lake.
Part of the Hardy bunch.
Julie McGuire, the glue that holds the group together and in line.
A less “hardy” group, the Smiths, booked it to Florida
Riding along the Suwannee River in Live Oak, Florida
Over 50 miles of wooded trails at Croom Preserve in Brooksville FL. NO MUD!!!