INTRODUCTION
Where
Do I Start?
President's Message
GSW Welcomes You
President's Message
In an era when too many people and organizations are complaining about a tight economy, I can’t begin to express how fantastic it is to be in a situation like GSW where we have an abundance of funds. Even greater is the ability and desire of your BOD to share the wealth. Once again the GSW was able to generously donate 10 $2,500 grants to various rail trail organizations in New Hampshire. Thursday July, 29th represented the culmination of several months of work, going back to our BOD meeting in January. The entire board spent several hours reviewing the applications. Approximately 20 people showed up to watch and receive the grants. Winners of the grants represent organizations from the Massachusetts border all the way up to the Lakes Region. For me the most rewarding part of the evening was the pleasure of rewarding groups that had worked hard to bring an idea to life. They had gone out and beaten the bushes to get support and funding. Many hours were put in by many volunteers. These efforts were not donated because the individuals were looking for glory or recognition. They were put in because they wanted something that we as GSW members want: We want to ride our bikes!
When completed these trails will form part of a system that will stretch from Massachusetts to the Lakes Region and from the Connecticut River to the Seacoast. There will be a system that will provide a safe place for families to teach their kids how to ride. There will be a system that will enable families to travel together on family outings by bicycle. I see it as part of a growing trend of a more bicycle friendly Country. Hopefully when these youngsters get older they will be more willing to integrate their bicycles into their personal transportation system. Hopefully that will lead to less air pollution, less congestion, less obesity and health problems. We may not be able to contribute such a large amount to these organizations next year, but whatever amount we are able to contribute will hopefully contribute to part of a wonderful growing trend.
The grant recipients were: Derry Rail Trail Alliance; Friends of Northern Rail Trail, Merrimack County; Friends of the Goffstown Rail Trail; Friends of the Salem Bike-Ped Corridor; Londonderry Trailways; Milford Conservation Commission; New Hampshire Seacoast Greenway; Pathways for Keene, Inc.; Windham Rail Trail Alliance; and WOW Trail. Space doesn’t permit me to list the web sites for these organizations, but I strongly encourage you to check them out. These organizations have invested a tremendous amount of time and energy into projects that they believe in. Many of these active volunteers are your fellow GSW members. I wish them all the best and I look forward to riding on their completed trails in the near future.
Speaking of investing time and energy into a project, please check out our ballot for the upcoming GSW election of our Board of Directors. You’ll notice that “open” is running for many offices! Our by-laws require us to post the ballot in this issue of Pedal Talk. The actual elections aren’t until our October 11th meeting, so you have plenty of time to volunteer. The GSW was founded in 1971. That’s 39 years of tradition. That’s 39 years of providing rides for Granite Staters all over the Granite State. I would strongly encourage you to run for an office. Most of them don’t require too much time and effort, just a willingness to help an organization that does a lot to help over 600 cyclists
Help Spread the Word, Cycling is cool!
Bill Kennedy
President, Granite State Wheelmen
