2017 All Hands Meeting

Jan. 22, 2017 by Kara "Red Hawk" Baden

Several Attend 9th Annual Lawrence Trail Hawks All Hands Meeting

After eating several delicious goodies and countless enjoyable conversations, former President Sherri “Signer Hawk” Klover called the 9th annual Lawrence Trail Hawk all hands meeting to order around 7:08 p.m. on Jan. 21. Klover began the meeting with her address to all the members.

“This year was a year of kindness,” said Klover.

Klover continued to talk about the successful year of 2016. This was the first year that all Trail Hawk races were profitable and how some of that money has gone to replacing old equipment. She went on to thank all the race directors for putting on amazing races and mentioned how membership with the club has continued to grow. In the end, Klover says she’s looking forward to 2017.

“Thank you all for your support,” said Klover.

Klover then turned it over to Josh “Free State Hawk” McVey, the Trail Hawks treasurer. McVey had printed out copies of the past year’s expenses and what the budget looks like overall. During 2016, the Lawrence Trail Hawks raised $600 for the State Park, $3,652 for Baby Jay’s Legacy of Hope charity and $306 for the Kansas Trail Council.

Overall, the club raised $5,882 from all of the Trail Hawk races. Membership dues brought in $2,550, leaving the club with $4,822 with its operating budget. The Trail Hawks expenses are available through Google Drive. Any member is welcome to view the budget, just ask McVey.

McVey ended his report with Trail Hawks need for a quartermaster to be in charge of the storage unit. This person would be responsible for making sure that the storage unit is kept organized and that equipment was returned after its use. He also mentioned having a race director retreat on Feb. 26 at the Holcomb Park Community Center to go over the financial process.

Membership Director, also known as Sweet Caroline “Kobol Hawk” Wroczynski, took the stage to talk about the increasing membership. According to Wroczynski, 174 people are members of the Lawrence Trail Hawks, roughly 100 more than this time in 2016. To renew your membership, sign on to ultrasignup.com. It’s $20 for individuals and $30 for families.

After Wroczynski’s report, Gary “Story Hawk” Henry along with a secret committee, surprised last year’s race directors and run leaders with awards. Each director and run leaders received a free entry to any of the non-charity Trail Hawks races and a custom made trophy by Matt O’Reilly. They were also given a personalized mug from Matty Makes Mugs and More.

During this time, Klover surprised Henry with gifts of appreciation, including a personalized jacket to keep him from getting frost bite. However, Henry also created some buzz by surprising Klover with a book on bees. Moving forward, Vice President Benita “Novocaine Hawk” Jones revealed her plans for a new club tech shirt. The new shirts will be Caribbean color and will be available in men’s and women’s cuts. The shirts will cost $18-20. Jones plans to bulk order them and hopes they will be available by the Pi Day race, also known as March 11. The Trail Hawks opened up the floor for members to discuss anything amongst the group.

Karen “Hawk Who Walks” Henry started it off with her concerns for the whitewater park proposal that the city of Lawrence is considering. The proposed Kansas Outdoor Lifestyle Center at Clinton Lake would be a 1,500-acre facility hosting outdoor activities such as whitewater rafting and kayaking, zip lines, etc. The center would include bulldozing Bunker Hill and the possibility of moving the trails. Karen would like to get together with other members and groups that use the trails to come up with talking points to bring to city leaders.

Gary would like to keep a history of the club. He asked that any member with a great story about the Trail Hawks to write a narrative with time and dates and send it to him. His goal is to have an e-book or blog with the Trail Hawks story by 2018.

Wroczynski gave us an update on Relay for Life. She is looking for a chairperson from the Trail Hawks to help with the cause. During the Frozen Fatass, the club was able to raise $250 for Relay for Life.

Michael “Smokey Hill Hawk” Miley said he heard some awesome comments about the Hawk 100 and shared it with the group.

Lisa “Copperhead Hawk” Ball gave an update on the Unity Run. The run is to raise money for the local high school cross country teams. The run for this year has been tabled, but organizers plan to hold the run in August of 2018.

Klover talked about the trails. Klover and David Simmons are trail stewards for different sections of the North Shore Trails. Please report any dead trees, down trees or anything that needs to be removed from the trails to Klover. Just email her.

Cara “Color Hawk” Combs brought up the Grand Circle Trail Fest, a three-day run event that is happening the first weekend in October. She has created a Lawrence Trail Hawk team, which splits up the running. The team must have five members. If need be, they plan to create another team.

Shari “Border Hawk” Hicks talked about the South Shore Trails. There are 33 miles of bridle trails out there. There are three trails-blue, yellow and orange. They are a lot tougher, with more elevation, but can only be runnable during the winter months. They trails are unkempt, but beautiful.

Then at 8:08 p.m., Kara Protasio hiccupped causing terror amongst the group, which resulted in a short break. The Trails Hawks resumed its meeting with the naming of Bowie Houser. Houser is officially known as Bowie “Pennywise Hawk” Houser.

The Lawrence Trail Hawks resumed their meeting with elections for the 2017 board members. Protasio was elected as secretary. McVey was reelected as the treasurer and Jones as vice president. Matt “Civil Hawk” O’Reilly was not one for speeches, but sucked it up before he was elected president. After elections, the newly-elected president adjourned the meeting.

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