During our last Delegates meeting we discussed Divide Ride 2010 in the Boulder area, and Don Apker and I spoke a bit more and I happened to mention that we would have good "2 meter radio coverage" for the area thanks to a repeater on Boulder Hill and other resources. As many of you know, I picked up a new hobby a year ago by becoming a licensed ham radio operator. Don expressed some interest in what advantages ham licenses could be for all of us, and what steps are involved. So, here's my attempt.

Blacksburg, VA (October 2, 2009)... Forest Service road crews are working to finish repairs to the Patterson Creek Road (Forest Service Road 184) in Craig and Botetourt Counties in time for most of the fall hunting season. Crews are using heavy equipment to repair/replace culverts, reestablish drainage ditches, reconstruct hardened road base, and fill the largest mud holes. The road was closed in the spring due to extensive damage created by illegal off-road vehicle use that resulted in citations being issued to 39 individuals.

“The repairs are going well,” reports Eastern Divide District Ranger Cynthia Schiffer. “Although progress has been impacted by vandalism and thunderstorms, we will have the road opened by October 16th.”

Equipment on site has been damaged by vandals twice. Anyone with information about this vandalism is encouraged to contact the Forest Service at 1-866-241-6669.

Southwestern Virginia Four Wheelers assisted the Forest Service with the repair work. The club acquired a grant from United Land Action Fund to help cover the cost of stone, arranged for donated lime from Titan America (Roanoke Cement) and had individual club members donate straw for erosion control. Martin Morrison, Club President, said “The club would like to thank all of the companies and individuals for their donations. As a club, we are proud to assist the Forest Service in promoting responsible use of our public lands.”

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/newsroom/2009/10/patterson-rd-reopen.shtml

Uncle Vic Eklund passed away on Saturday, 9/19/2009 at the age of 82.

Obituary

Saturday Sept. 19th we lost an Icon in the 4X4 comunity. Uncle Vic Ekland passed away.
A memorial service is set for Sunday Oct. 4th at Lakeside Comunity Chapel in Lakeside Montana.
For the full obituary go to the Daily Interlake Web site.
Uncle Vic was a lifw Member of the Skyliners and will truly be missed

Bozeman Top Truck

Saturday, July 18th, Gallatin County Fairgrounds
Registration 8-10, Racing at 11

Frontier 4-Wheelers, along with some Continental and Mountaineer members, will be having an overnighter near Deerlodge on June 13-14th.

We'll be camping at [url=http://www.travelmt.com/mt_sites_6902_Racetrack+Campground.html]Racetra… Campground[/url] outside of Deerlodge starting Friday night. There are toilets and water available on site (so travelmt tells me)

We plan to run some trails in the area, including pre-running for DR 2009. The three trails suggested are: Alpine Lake, Altoona Lake, and Caruthers Lake. We could also head up to Mountain Ben, or other destinations depending on how things proceed.

Everyone is welcome to join us.

Please join me in congratulating our 2008 M4x4A Award Recipients.

These include:

John Hazard Memorial Conservation Award: Big Sky 4-Wheelers member Shawn Baker
M4x4A Four Wheeler of the Year: Skyliners' Nancy Hines
Junior Four Wheeler of the Year: Frontier's Kelsey and Hannah Kerker

1981 Wendy Wilson
1982 Mark Wilson
1983 Mike Riebe
1984 Ronnie Ferguson
1985 Corinna Riebe
1986 Jennifer Slagle
1987 Jim Bradley
1988 Mike Bradley
1989 Chad Jones
1990 Albert Drebes
1991 Tyler Gordon
1992 Leona Nelson
1993 Todd Whitman
1994 Jeremy Forozowsky
1995 Dale Nietzel
1996 Leona Nelson
1997 Tyler Gordon
1998 Tye and Lane McKay
1999 Jerry Gran. Jr
2000 Rebecca Koob
2001 Amanda Arnold
2002 Doug Misko
2003 DJ Blyton
2004 Sam Schlessler
2007 Jordon Richer
2008 Kelsey and Hannah Kerker