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2020 SierraFest Raffle Proceeds

cj_mike

NAXJA Member
NAXJA Member
Location
Newcastle, CA
Hello Everyone,

I'd like to start the discussion for ideas from everyone about what they'd like to see be done with our $4,420 in raffle proceeds from this year's event.

Please post up your thoughts, be it a project, donation or other things for the club.

So far here's the ideas I've heard discussed thus far:

1. Work with the Stanislaus National Forest to install 3 remaining fire rings at the Hermit Valley Campground at remaining sites not yet installed. Cost is ~$300/ea ring, shipping included in that figure.

2. Work with the Stanislaus National Forest to install picnic tables at the Hermit Valley campground in other sites as only one has the picnic tables currently - costs to be investigated.

3. Cash donation to the Rubicon Trail Foundation to support the oil spill kits handed out at the Loon Lake spillway when we started the Rubicon ($100, $200 or $?)

4. For emergency situations, investigate purchasing a Sierra Chapter satellite phone - I know many of us have HAM radios and HAM networks are good on the Rubicon for contacting emergency services but other locations like Deer Valley/Slick Rock or out in the desert at RenoFest or down in the Shaver Lake area don't necessarily have linked HAM repeaters with the ability to place emergency calls through. Cost for a satellite phone ~$600-$800 + investigate a prepaid monthly service fee to activate the phone only on months we have an official club run. We could keep a reserve in the account to cover some initial phone fees for the next year or two from this years proceeds but in future years, we would need to build in a few extra $'s to each registration to cover the reoccurring costs.


Please post up your additional ideas or support for one or more of the already mentioned ideas floating around.

Thank you all again!! :yelclap:
 
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I think:
3 new fire rings at 300$ each -900$
Plus 2 picnic tables 700$ each -1400$
Plus Donate 100$ or 200$ to RTF for swag kits - 200$
Thats 2500$ so far.

Plus save some money for other hermit and DV maintenance


Other Hermit Valley needs:

bathroom paint
fencing to keep people from driving out of certain areas
If we adopt Deer Valley trail we should keep somme money aside if we need to purchase anything for the trail.
 
Re: putting money towards Hermit Valley Campground:

I think donating equipment (upgrades) such as fire rings are great. Picnic tables.... possibly, but they might not last as long and I'd hate to see them get destroyed after a couple years.

Other stuff such as bathroom paint and other "maintenance" -type projects should only be pursued if we decide to adopt the Stanislaus NF end of the trail. Keep in mind that will require a commitment of man-hours for the labor. I'm not saying I think that will be a problem for our group, just an FYI.

Personally I like the idea of adopting the Stanislaus (HV end) end of the trail, especially if we can work out a deal if we can reserve the campground *exclusively* for our Sierrafest weekend. (Maybe trail adoption is a topic for another thread...)

Other donation ideas:

Rubicon Trail Foundation - yes, always a good idea

Also I would suggest a donation to the Blue Ribbon Coalition. They have always been thankful and supportive of NAXJA. They are one of the largest, if not THE largest and most powerful advocacy group fighting on a regional / national level to keep our trails open.
 
I started typing out a whole long response but realized I was just echoing Eric.

I would like to finish off the Camp fire rings though.

And this! Having the campsite reserved would be an awesome perk for adopting the trail (if possible).
Personally I like the idea of adopting the Stanislaus (HV end) end of the trail, especially if we can work out a deal if we can reserve the campground *exclusively* for our Sierrafest weekend. (Maybe trail adoption is a topic for another thread...)
 
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skipper brought this to my attention. I like it so far. we just need to see about paying for minutes on whatever device we buy, and get one where you pay for minutes as needed

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/561269
 
Only downfall with that setup is we can't make calls. Just sos stuff. Would be easier with a Sat phone for parts.
 
Only downfall with that setup is we can't make calls. Just sos stuff. Would be easier with a Sat phone for parts.

I think that one sends text messages?
 
Even though I'm not an official Sierra chapter member, I wheel with you guys a lot so I'll throw my 2 cents in....
- Yes on the additional DV fire rings, and as mentioned before would be beneficial to add the words "Jeep Club" next to NAXJA on the emblems since 99.99% of the people using them have no idea what NAXJA is.
- If the cost of the picnic tables really are ~$700 each, I'd rather this money go towards a Ready Welder or a land use organization. More club members will get way more use out the welder than the two (expensive, IMO) tables.
- Yes on RTF donation
 
yeah Ready Welder was an idea I brought up and a satellite phone - things the chapter could use forever and make runs go smoother and be more prepared.

Yeah the picnic tables are expensive. We could consider:
3 fire rings - 900
1 single picnic table 700
ready welder 600
satellite phone 500
RTF + BRC - 250$ each 500

thats about 3200$





Art I consider you a Sierra Chapter Member.
 
3 fire rings - 900
1 single picnic table 700
ready welder 600
satellite phone 500
RTF + BRC - 250$ each 500

thats about 3200$

Cool, and that leaves over $1K for Hermit Valley maintenance, Sat phone subscription, and/or trail adoption costs.
 
Costco has a Satellite phone package available. I keep seeing it when I go shopping, but haven't looked too closely. It's something like $250 or $350 (don't remember right now) and comes with pre-paid service. I think it said it does calls and texts, but I'm not 100% sure on that. Anyway, just a thought.
 
I just dont like the fact that we have to do monthly subscriptions. Im trying to find one where we can like buy prepaid minutes or something of that nature.
 
There are a couple different phones (iridium and Inmarsat) that take SIM cards and you can buy prepaid cards with different amounts of minutes. but the downside is that they expire after 1-6 months.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I own an iridium sat phone and will say it has been a life saver many times. As mentioned there are pre paid SIM cards but they do have an expiration. The nice thing is you can re load them say the week before the trip and be all good to go for 30 days or more. You can get used phones that where rentals for a decent deal and then set up a SIM card from places like Blue Cosmo or Satalite Phone Store. I did quite a bit of research before I got mine and would highly recommend Iridium over any other provider.
 
I think we need to finish the campfire rings at hermit valley. Get 1 or 2 picnic tables. Add jeep club to the fire rings for sure. Get some more man hours to help Stanislaus national forest! Boots on the ground, is always good for the cause.
 
You know if we got a text only satellite phone or whatever I bet you there's a handful of wives or girlfriends that would be willing to monitor it 24/7 while we're on the trail.
 
Hello All,

It's about time for an update on the raffle proceeds and next steps.

First: We're finalizing the receipt of our NAXJA National match to donation funds and we'll split the donations between RTF and BRC as mentioned.

Second: Talks with the Stanislaus National Forest are on-going about a formal trail adoption on the Stanislaus side of the Deer Valley Trail. The South County Trail Riders is the club who formally adopted the trail on the El Dorado County side, thus some coordination with them will be needed as well.

Proposed projects at Hermit Valley will happen in Spring time/early Summer given the time of year, I don't think we'll have the time to coordinate with them and receive a number of fire rings/picnic tables, etc. that we all agree upon and install them before the winter closure but as we did last year - we can purchase them over the winter to be ready to go first thing when highway 4 re-opens.

Third: Aaron with the Forest Service who happen to show up with the crew the same day we did the fire ring install has been our main contact with the Stanislaus National Forest as the OHV Operations Manager - in short, he is out for the rest of the season now due to a severe on the job injury. I spoke with him today for an update about coordinating a new project, trail adoption, etc. and he informed me that he won't be returning to the office until next season and gave me two alternate contacts to work with on coordinating for next season so we can keep the discussion moving forward.

Fourth: With keeping it G-rated and for privacy, Aaron's accident required him to be helicoptered out and was in a spot he said his or his colleagues radio did not work to reach their dispatch office to request help and the saving grace was someone in another department was able to hear them and relay the message to dispatch. To me, this echoed a need for an alternate communication device if a HAM repeater is not in range that one can use to request help, I think this is worth while to investigate for a club satellite communication device, even if just simple messaging is available.

Fifth: As a "Get Well Soon" - I'd like to propose to the club that we donate a couple of the extra SierraFest 2020 shirts to Aaron and his crew and fund the shipping to his house. When I talk to his co-worker about organizing the next project, I'll ask if that's okay and if we can have his address to mail them to him along with a "thank you for your work to keep our forests open and get well soon" note from the Sierra Chapter.

For those who met Aaron at the fire ring install day, he seems to have a great sense of humor but I'll also inquire with his co-worker if they think the "But Did you Die?" theme of the 2020 shirts is too extreme or as I suspect with what I can tell from his sense of humor, hoping he'd get a smile from that! :eeks1:

Thank you all, more to come!

Mike
 
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Mike

I can look into the options for satellite comms if you like.
 
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