This February, EVTA Governing Board members were honored to accept recognition for outstanding volunteerism at the Friends of the MST annual meeting. But we really accepted it with all of our EVTA volunteers in mind. We are all working hard together to create amazing things for our community, and our accomplishments this past year are outstanding...

6,574 hours . . . including meetings, steel art structure construction, three Eagle Scout projects on trail, six benches, viewing deck, two rain shelters, middle and high school work days, native species planting and grant work, new trail work, grant applications, Christmas decorations on trail, watershed management, trout fishing initiation, new e-birding with designation of birding hotspot, mountain bike trail planning, three new bridges of 25, 25 and 140-feet, new handicap accessibility planning and implementation, wellness walk and program with local hospital, Insane Terrain 5k fundraiser, Tour de Vino cycling fundraiser, vineyard stomps fundraisers, Tour de Yadkin "Night in the Village", Elkin Valley Fiddlers Float, Memorial Monument for Fallen Warrior, website upgrade, Constant Contact monthly news blast, Duck & Turtle Regatta fundraiser, horseback trail construction, Trails Boogie & Silent Auction, mailing fundraiser, book, hat and shirt sales, farmer's market booth, new signage construction and installation, QR coding signs, project management with high school, radio & TV programs, new easements, new trails, bushwacking, networking, at least 17 presentations, coordination for construction donations, coordination with towns, counties and regional organizations like Piedmont Triad COG, Yadkin Valley Chamber, YV Rotary, YV Heritage Corridor and OVT, and some we're sure we forgot . . . and we have a lot on tap for 2015!

Elkin is really going places and people are starting to notice. Those of us who live here love a small town with a big quality of life. We're excited to be a Trail Town here at the confluence of the NC Mountains to Sea Trail, the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail and the Yadkin River Trail. Take a look at this UNC-TV feature...

NC Weekend - Elkin Valley Trails

One more bit of good news we learned recently...

Elkin Ranks on National List of Best Small Towns

Yes, it's a little confusing with all the recent trail developments in Elkin. Let us clarify...

EVTA is developing a roughly 24 mile trail from Elkin to Stone Mountain State Park through Surry and Wilkes counties. This entire section is a segment of the state-wide, 1100-mile NC Mountains to Sea Trail (a state linear park). We will simultaneously be heading east toward Pilot Mountain State Park.
 
We are calling this local 24-mile segment to the northwest our very own Stone Mountain Trail.
The in-town part of the Stone Mountain Trail is on the old railroad bed of the historic Elkin & Alleghany Railroad and is called the E & A Rail-Trail.
In 2015, we will be developing a spur trail off the E & A Rail-Trail that will be a The in-town sections of trail are for hikers, strollers, dancers, cart-wheelers, skippers, runners and cyclists. Horses are not allowed in the city limits of Elkin. As the trail heads north out of town, hikers, runners and cyclists are invited to use the trail that will eventually link downtown Elkin to four area vineyards and wineries (trail still in development). At a point north of Elkin and in the Carter Falls area, the trail will accommodate hikers and horse-back riders, with no bicycles allowed on this segment of trail. Horse/hike will continue towards Wells Knob and eventually will connect with horse/hike trail at Stone Mountain State Park.

Our trails are under development and we are tackling the hardest parts first. As sections are finished, we will open them to the public, eventually linking the entire 24 miles. We will be publishing maps as soon as we are able to firmly say where the trail will be. Thanks for being patient. It takes a lot of work to build a 24-mile trail!

Bill Blackley, Bob Hillyer, Joe Hicks, Randy Mays and Denise Lyon of EVTA attended the annual meeting of the Friends of the MST this month and received recognition for outstanding volunteerism on the MST. They also helped lead a discussion on "Trail Towns".

EVTA is honored to be a part of the efforts to develop this premiere trail across our beautiful state and to join the hundreds of others who have a passion for the MST. Please learn more about this organization that builds, advocates and hikes the MST...and consider becoming a "Friend".

Visit the Friends of the MST Website

The NC Wildlife Resources Commission has completed the Burch Station Access at the Mitchell River/Yadkin River confluence off NC 268 east of Elkin. The new access area now provides parking, steps to the river, a launch area and informational signage.

EVTA and Surry County Staff and Commissioners and several other partners are making a tangible difference for paddlers' access. The Burch Station Access was spearheaded by Daniel White, Recreation & Parks Director for Surry County, along with NC Wildlife Resources staff. EVTA played a role in developing the Master Plan and being part of the big push to get boat landings on the Yadkin, along with Carolina Heritage Vineyard owners Pat and Clyde Colwell. Thanks everyone for your dedication to our beautiful Yadkin River Trail!

 

The White-throated Sparrow is a common bird on the trail at this time of the of year.  Look for this attractive sparrow in undergrowth and at the edges of the forest.  They often come into wooded residential areas but usually avoid open fields. In winter they are usually in flocks, often mixed with other sparrows and with Dark-eyed Juncos.

 

Look for these field marks:
~ black eyestripe
~ white crown and supercilium (stripe above the eye)
~ yellow lores (area between the bill and the eyes) are prominent, easily observed field mark
~ white throat bordered by a black whisker (malar) stripe

GAMES BIRDERS PLAY

 

One nice thing about birding a relatively new eBird Hotspot is that a lot of firsts are up for grabs.  Record of the date that a specie is first reported on the Elkin & Allegheny Rail Trail Hotspot, including the name of the person who made the report, is maintained online by eBird and is available to the public.  See the "First Seen" record here

 

As the record reflects, in November Joe Mickey reported the first Wood Duck while Brian Ratledge captured the record for the first Hermit Thrush and Brown-headed Nuthatch. In October Brian reported the first Dark-eyed Junco and the first Purple Finch. In coming years, there will most certainly be many sightings reported of these bird species, but the very first recorded sightings will forever belong to Joe and Brian. 

 

If you would like to get an email whenever another specie is reported for the very first time on the Elkin & Allegheny Rail Trail Hotspot, send an email request with "Bird Flash" in the subject to [email protected]. I will send you an email with a photo of the newly reported specie; a list of identifying field marks; and, if available, the location on the trail where the bird was spotted. If you spot the bird and report it to eBird, your name will be on eBird's "Last Seen" bird list (also available online to the public) until the specie is subsequently reported by someone else.  The "Last Seen" list is 

here

 

By the way, in January a new game began - the Game of Year-Birds or who makes the first Elkin & Allegheny Rail Trail Hotspot eBird report of each specie for 2015. This record will be available online by setting the "First Seen" record to 2015.  If you are the first to spot and report a specie in 2015, you will hold that distinction for, virtually, forever.  So get out early on the Elkin & Allegheny Rail Trail Hotspot and claim your fame for 2015 by reporting the birds you spot to eBird.org  

 

Happy trails and good birding,

Ron Storey

For more info on local birding, contact Ron Storey or Brian Ratledge by replying to this email.

We have a core group to thank for getting our EVTA message out.

Welcome aboard, Randy Tulbert, as he becomes our new website Content Editor. He will join Rob Arnold, our all-purpose Website Guru in creating a fantastic website.

Thank you to Mecca Lowe who will be our new EVTA journalist. Expect to see some in-depth feature articles on EVTA projects appearing in local and regional newspapers and magazines.

Our newsletter is sent to you via Constant Contact email marketing. For the second year, EVTA was awarded an All-Star Award for audience engagement and email open rates. Only 10% of Constant Contact customers receive this award. Thanks to Denise Lyon, EVTA Newsletter Editor for this and for providing content to the website.

The majority of the great pictures you see on our website, Facebook page and EVTA newsletter are by Joe Mickey, EVTA Treasurer and by Joe (Beaver) Hicks, EVTA Governing Board member and #1 Trail Angel.

And finally, thanks to Bill Blackley and Joe Hicks for our Facebook updates.

Visit our website anytime at www.elkinvalleytrails.org for links to our archived newletters and be sure to friend us on EVTA Facebook

Doug Deming and Dennis Gruenling are bringing the Jewel Tones back to town for their FIFTH Trails Boogie on June 4.

Join us at The Liberty in downtown Elkin for EVTA's biggest fundraiser of the year. We'll give you more details as we head closer to Boogie time, but be sure to put this on your calendars!

Check out the music of Elkin's favorite jump blues/swing band:

Doug Deming & Dennis Gruenling with the Jewel Tones

The EVTA workday on 1/16/15 was at the Grassy Creek section of the Stone Mountain Trail south of the vineyard. Jerry Byrd, Jack Hammiller, Sharon Gural, James Collins, Jan Gilliam, Marianne Luther, Mike Reves, Bill Roth, Bob Larson, Bill Blackley and Herb MacDonald all volunteered, cutting trail from the tobacco field to toward the creek. It was a fine sunny day with temperatures in the 50's. The group started at 9:30 am and a half dozen worked until 2:00 pm. Two volunteers came late after lunch and helped for an hour or so. The reporter for the Tribune followed the trail ribbons to where the group was working and took some pictures of the work crew. Our work crew and the pictures made the front page of the paper that week! They finished around 100 yards north toward the creek.