Condensed from approved minutes:
Attendees: BOD members Alex Bernhard, Amy Chan, Barbara Couturier, Steve Darling, Lindy Heim, Cody Hussey, Charles Martin, Myra Mayman, Joe Olimpio, and Loyal Guests Craig Heim and Patrice Rasche
Co-President Lindy Heim called the meeting to order at 5:02 PM.
Approval of February 15 meeting minutes was carried to the next meeting, April 19.
Treasurer’s Report. There were no questions on the Treasurer’s Report and it was unanimously accepted.
Correspondence had been sent in advance by Treasurer Tom Rousseau and there was no further discussion.
Old Business
Administration Committee:
Craig reported that a contribution from the Brown Foundation should be arriving soon. Other fundraising projects are in process, including an application to the Couch Family Foundation and the Concord Casino’s sharing program, May 1 to May 10. Special fundraising has been undertaken to meet the projected $25,000 shortfall in 2023 caused by the requirement to match two Recreational Trails Program Grants for resurfacing the Trail near Potato Road in Franklin and under the Route 4 bridge in Grafton.
Tech Updates:
Cody reported that our web site is attracting visits from other linked web sites.
He has registered FNRT for “New Hampshire Gives” day (June 6, 24 hours) for the first time. He signed up early to be eligible for a $1,000 raffle and other prizes. He will attend a training seminar next week in order to take full advantage of this new fundraising opportunity.
His second interest is in monitoring traffic to our website by looking at sources used, i.e., how people get to our site. For example, a link on the Dartmouth Student Life page gave us 50 hits. He plans to investigate how people find us via Google as well.
The digital version of the 2023 Annual Appeal, included in the March newsletter, has produced slightly more donations than last year, in the range of $900.
2023 Annual Appeal. Myra reported that volunteer extraordinaire Lee Carvalho is preparing the postal mailing from her home in Connecticut. It is scheduled to be in the mail the first week of April.
Promotions Committee
The Committee’s report was sent in advance and there were no questions
Cycling Without Age (CWA)
Amy led us through a branding exercise this week by requesting three words that describe the Trail. “Scenic” was the most popular, “peaceful” was second. One of the Promotions Committee’s goals is to develop our brand. Patrice will share notes from a webinar she attended on the subject.
Amy and Dan Moriarty, with the help of University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth researchers, hope to publish a paper quantifying the impact of the Cycling Without Age program on seniors’ well-being. No such study has been done before.
CWA is scheduled to start on April 11, subject to weather.
Amy has met with two different groups of Worcester Polytechnic Institute students interested in a trishaw design to be produced domestically and suggesting web improvements for the program.
She is working on a possible survey of the value of the program to passengers with results to be submitted for publication in a professional journal. She would be the principal investigator for such a project. The Board supported her doing so.
Maintenance Committee
Joe Olimpio presented extensive and promising ideas on kiosks, their content, size, design, and placement. He noted that Trails Bureau approval would be required and that while they had a standard design they also indicated they would consider alternatives. It was suggested that the next step in this process would be for Joe to review these and other issues with the Promotions Committee which he said he would do.
Joe intends to schedule monthly pop-up trail events this summer. Amy suggested that a schedule be set up for sharing booth materials, tent, and display items.
Alex reported on behalf of Don Moyer who is spearheading completion of the Trail to the Hannah Duston Memorial in Boscawen. Alex asked for the Board’s approval for this year’s Recreational Trails Program application to extend the Trail to that Memorial. Alex noted that there was a risk that the necessary lease amendment with the Scenic Rail Riders may not be in place by the summer of 2024 when the work would be done. While this is a risk, Alex and Don believe it is acceptable as Don has received informal assurances from DOT that the amendment would be done by that date. Craig expressed concern that this uncertainty could impede fundraising efforts for the required 20% match.
Vote: approval of Don’s going ahead with RTP application for Boscawen extension.
Upcoming Events
Saturday, June 3 is National Trails Day, in case anyone wants to organize a ride.
Charles Martin reported that the State-wide trails meeting location and date have been changed to October 27, 2023 at the Christa McAuliffe Discovery Center, 2 Institute Drive, Concord.
Next meeting: Wednesday, April 19, 5 PM by Zoom.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:31 PM.
Respectfully submitted by Co-Presidents Lindy Heim and Myra Mayman