From the President
It has been a while sense I put some thought in a newsletter. So excuse me if this comes to you a little rusty.
My last letter ended in May, so I’m going to pick up there. Fairfield OHC has had a fantastic summer of activities. In addition to several local club rides, 21 of our members made a trip to the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois for a week. Shawnee was described to me prior to the trip as Hocking on steroids. That is for the most part accurate. Awesome rock formations and pretty scenery. Only down side were the rocky trails themselves. Definitely need shoes or boots on your horses to protect their feet.
In July several of us camped at AEP Fallon Park near Coshocton during the OHC Central Regional ride. Our Central Regional Rep, Craig Santee along with his side kick Charlene, hosted the event. They did a great job. The weather was nice, the food fantastic and the friendship with the other camper as always the best part of the trip.
On the first weekend in August, several of our members attended the Gibby ride at Barkcamp State Park in eastern Ohio. The campground was full. Several had spent most of the previous week clearing the trail and it showed. On Saturday evening, a singing DJ named Gene provided music and entertainment for the crowd. Good time for sure.
The second weekend in August our club camped at Dillon for a weekend. The ride was well attended and trails in great shape for us to enjoy our horses. On Saturday evening, itn had been decided to order in pizza and declare the weekend a club birthday party. No one actually had a birthday that weekend, but the concept legally excused the cooks from preparing food on a warm August evening. Unfortunately, the originator of the idea, Donna White, had picked up Covid at the Gibby ride the previous week and could not attend. The pizza was great, sorry about your bad luck Donna.
Over Labor Day weekend, as has been a long tradition, our club hosted an OHC State Ride at Scioto Trails. This event has grown over the years to quite possibly the largest state ride on the state OHC calendar. If you did not attend this year, put on your schedule for next year. We organize an entire weekend of activities, which include a couple free meals, live music, a poker run, cookie/ brownie cooking contest, door prize drawing, silent auction, and the list goes on and on. Oh did I forget - there are 50 miles a some of Ohio’s prettiest horse trail to enjoy. To some up the weekend, we had as best I could count, 43 rigs in camp and at the community meal on Saturday evening, ruffly 83 people went through the food line for the feast our camp cooks had prepared. Over the years we have had multiple talented singers entertain us with their live music. This year our head line act was the Poverty String Band. This is a trio of men from southern Ohio that play a variety of instruments plus sing a wide range of music. There is no other way to put it, Out Of Bounds great entertainment. Three hours of sitting 
around a camp fire listening to music. It just doesn’t get any better. We held a special raffle this year as part of our fund raising efforts to support this ride. One of our members, Ray Smalley made and donate a white oak tack box to our club for this raffle. June and I hauled it with us all summer selling ticket for this project. In the end, Linda Emke, a Shelby Co. OHC member won the box. Her winning ticket was purchased at the Central Regional ride.
Last weekend several of us attended the Chilli Cook Off State Ride at Mohican. The weather could not have been more perfect. Part of the weekend does involve a Chilli tasting and contest. I represented Fairfield OHC in the contest. Unfortunately the judges and I disagreed on the perfect taste of a bowl of Chili and I didn’t win. There will be a next year I hope. On side note, as most are aware, a tornado hit Mohican State Forest and the surrounding area a little over a year ago. Chad’s crew as well as professional loggers that were contracted have done a fantastic job of restoring the forest as best they could. As I am writing this, they are finishing up the last area that took a major hit. (an area on the blue trail in the SE corner of the trail system). This area was open, but is temporarily closed to allow for the logging equipment to do it’s thing. One other area, the north/south yellow trail is closed and most likely will stay closed. All other trails are open and it is expected the blue trail I mentioned will reopen in a few weeks depending on the weather.
Cochocton OHC hosted a hog roast at AEP, Fallon Park, the first weekend of September. This is their main source of income to support their trail maintenance projects at Fallon Park. About a half a dozen of our members attended the event and reported a good attendance and great pork.Give this a try.
Now to future activities. Our last scheduled ride is coming up in about 2 weeks. That is the Halloween ride at Hocking. We will be staying at the special use camp (group camp). June has put together a list of potentially fun activities including camper decorating, costume contest, steer roping, rock finding, and who knows what else is in her head. For those that have their horse in top shape (not our club) but there is an organized ride leaving from the state camp to Ash Cave and back on Saturday morning for anyone interested. Round trip is approximately 30 miles.
On a different note, a committee from our club is working on a plan to expand the trail miles at Slate Run Metro Park. This is not a new idea, just one that hopefully can make it off the back burner this time round. A goal of November has been set to present their thoughts to the park manager. A presentation of their ideas and a vote by the club on their ideas will take place at our October club meeting.
The last 2 items on my list today are just to remind every one about our Christmas party the first Sunday in December. There will be more details when we get closer. Plus, at our November meeting we will need to elect officers for the club.
Saddle up and get out on the trails and enjoy the fall weather! The color changes in the forest are only a couple weeks away.
Chris
