Two very important positions for CVOA have been filled by volunteers this past month. The responsibility for managing our membership process has been assumed by T.L. Regan. The CVOA Facebook administration is now under the guidance of Steve Smith. In this age of internet communications both of these positions have become important to our continued growth and administrative efficiencies. I wish to extend a hearty "welcome to the team" to T.L. and Steve.

As you know, CVOA remains an all-volunteer organization. Without a continuous influx of new trip leaders, administrators and board members, CVOA does not thrive. To facilitate and encourage more volunteers, particularly event trip leaders, CVOA has put in place many resources to make being a trip or event leader easier than ever:

These resources make leading an event a very enjoyable and rewarding experience. We can also help you find an event leader partner. Sharing the tasks for a successful trip or event is always more fun and less stressful than going it alone.

I will have more thoughts on this subject in later newsletters. The rise in volunteerism this year is resulting in more recreational opportunities and more diverse activities than ever for CVOA members.

I look forward to seeing many of you at one or more events this summer and fall.

Best, Joe Loughran, President

• CVOA will provide the grill meats, condiments and paper goods.
• Meeting attendees can bring a pot luck dish or contribute $5.00 towards the lunch.
• Beverages are BYOB.
• Best pot luck would be salads, desserts and a cold veggie or pasta dish.

• 11:00   Begin grill cooking
• 12:00   Serve lunch
• 1:00     Begin meeting.
• 3:00     End meeting

There is still time to join the CVOA sail around Penobscot Bay. We have four signed up for the Victory Chimes sail the end of June with spaces for 16 more people.

Victory Chimes is owned & operated by Sugarloafer/CVOA member/WSKI reporter Kip Files .  He is offering CVOA an unbelievably low price of $430 per person, double occupancy, half the usual rate, for an early season cruise.

 

Penobscot Bay offers world class cruising. It combines the best of broad ocean passages, magnificent rivers, coastal islands and mountains, and even a fjord. Wildlife abounds, as do safe harbors, and often you can feel as if you are one of only a few lucky souls out there exploring in your own boat.  The Victory Chimes is the largest vessel in the Maine Windjammer fleet, ensuring a smooth, comfortable trip. 

 

Capt. Files is a gracious host and knowledgeable guide to the history and geography of the bay.  Last year we also enjoyed meeting the pleasant, interesting fellow guests.  Come join us in exploring lovely Penobscot Bay.

 

It is a four night trip Tuesday, June 27 - Saturday, July 1 at the reduced rate of $430 per person which includes all meals.

How much:

-- $430 per person - Includes all meals

-- $20 parking

-- $30-$50 tips per guest for the crew

-- ($75 single supplement if traveling alone)

Schedule:

Let's meet for dinner in Rockland before boarding.

June 27th: Board in Rockland between 6 and 8 p.m.

June 28th: Embark on our journey

July 1st: Disembark in Rockland before noon.

 

To register for the trip, call Lorraine at Victory Chimes, 800-745-5651 -  Please send the $430 per person, CHECK ONLY, payable to:

Victory Chimes, P. O. Box 1401, Rockland, ME 04841

YOU MUST SAY YOU ARE WITH CVOA for the special price.

 

Contact Adventure Coordinator with questions or to let her know you have registered for the trip: Betsy Chapman, [email protected] , or 207-944-3264.

 

~ Betsy Chapman, Event Coordinator

On July 13th through July 16th, CVOA has reserved the stand-alone group site at Schoodic Woods Campground of Acadia National Park.

Schoodic Woods is located on the Schoodic peninsula across the bay of Bar Harbor near Winter Harbor. It's a brand new (last year) national park campground with ample lots for tenting, RV-ing and travel trailers. The group tenting site is located separate from the other areas and has a lighted post and beam open pavilion with about a dozen tables. The restroom facilities are brand new with running water, real toilets and sinks.

The park offers 6 miles of one way mostly coastal paved road. Permitted fishing. An oceanside park with a kayak put in. Numerous miles of groomed interior hiking & biking trails.

In the planning stages are: Thursday evening restaurant get together in Winter Harbor; Friday night outing to Bar Harbor; and a lobster feed on-site Saturday night. The cost should probably be no more than $40 pp for all 3 nights.

Look for complete details in the July newsletter.

RSVP to: Glenn and Peg at [email protected] or 207-712-8503

 

~ Your hosts, Peggy and Glenn Bickford

 

Greg and Cindy Foster's waterfront home

on McFarland's Cove in South Bristol offers:

 

What: a day of activities of your choice; lobster lunch at 1:00

When: Saturday, July 22, 9am - 4pm

Where: 43 Point Priscilla Road, South Bristol

 

Complete details will be in the July newsletter.

 

~ Cindy and Greg Foster

Plan a summer day for a CVOA Grandparent - Grandchild Outing - July 29th (rain date July 30th)!

 

We'll drive to Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad Museum in Phillips to learn about the 2-foot railroad that once serviced the Rangeley Lakes Region; then we will enjoy a ride on the newly refurbished steam locomotive Monson # 3. We will enjoy a picnic lunch ( bring your own picnic) at the museum.

  Our return trip will include a short hike (2/3 mile roundtrip) to Daggett Rock to view and explore the largest Glacial erratic in Maine.

What i s a Glacial Erratic? Click Here.

 

As a suggestion for some older grandchildren (with more stamina), in the evening there is a Summer Concert at Sugarloaf that may hold some interest to round out a Fun Weekend with one's Grandparents! The Concert is FYI only as I am not including this in the outing.

 

More details referencing time and meeting location will be in the July newsletter.

Questions? 

Contact Susan at [email protected] or 207-318-0430.

 

~ Susan Fraser, grandparent and outing leader

 

p.s. members with children are also welcome to participate!

CLICK HERE FOR THE COPPER BROCHURE

CLICK HERE FOR THE BANFF/LAKE LOUISE BROCHURE

CLICK HERE FOR THE SCHWEITZER BROCHURE

Our cleanup day on May 13th was very successful, and we even had a member of US Customs show up in uniform with sidearm, and he even brought his own rake. Of course, we welcome your cleanup help at any time during the season.

Our first Trap Shoot was also well attended. We hope you will be able to join us for our regular Sunday Trap Shoots, 9 a.m. to noon, from now through late fall. 

ID Tags were sent out May 15th, and include the new gate combination.  If you have paid your membership dues but have not received your tag, please contact the Range Secretary, Diane Stone, at [email protected]. 

The Five Stand project is moving along quickly due to many volunteers spending many hours at the range. Check out more photos at the end of the newsletter. Five Stand Shoots will be announced in the near future as our construction finalizes.

The grant request for enhancing the berms has been delayed, but we expect to have approval from the Feds in 4 to 6 weeks.

We encourage all members and guests to take a few moments to review range safety and etiquette. Range rules and regulations for CVOA can be viewed here: 

Gun Handling Rules and Range Regulations.

 

Sunday, May 28th, Trap Shoot and Fundraiser

It was a beautiful day at the Range for the trap shoot on Sunday morning, May 28th; there was lots of socializing and it was a successful fundraiser as well. 20 returning members, and a few new shooters, attended and shot a total of 45 rounds. For each of those rounds, we donated $1 to the food bank, and with additional donations the total came to $102. This is money that will directly benefit our community.

~ Diane Stone and Neal Trask

You might, or not, recall that my quest to find a membership manager was advertised in the May newsletter. On the morning of May 1st, just hours after the newsletter was sent out, I received an email from CVOA member T.L. Regan. He thought perhaps he could help with the membership database, and the whole membership process. Sure enough, T.L. can help!

Recently retired after a lifetime of adventures, and varied careers.  T.L. is completing a family ski camp in Dallas Plantation, six miles from and with a view of Saddleback. But he loves the lifestyle and people of Carrabassett Valley, and is looking forward to being more involved with like-minded people and CVOA. T.L. has experience and training using databases, and is very computer savvy. And he needs a project to round out his retirement days.

Sometime this month, T.L. will assume the membership duties, which include gathering online and paper memberships, inputting the information into an Access database, and keeping the Constant Contact list of contacts up to date so that our email newsletters and notices go to the correct members. I for one am delighted to have found the ideal Membership Manager!

Welcome, T.L., to the CVOA team.

~ Cindy Foster, Secretary

~ Cindy Foster, Secretary

• Do you use Facebook and if yes for what purposes, and if not why not?
• What do you want included in the CVOA Facebook page?
• How frequently do you use Facebook, and how often do you view the CVOA FB page? What motivates you to view the CVOA FB page and what might increase the frequency of your viewing it?
• If you view the CVOA Facebook page what are your reasons for doing so?
• What should be the most important content of the CVOA Facebook page?
• How should members be allowed to interact with the Facebook page including posting comments, photos, etc?
• Should the CVOA Facebook page include links to other relevant web sites?

A note of thanks . . . 

 

With CVOA well represented, as usual, about 45 residents and visitors showed up last Saturday, May 20, for the annual pre-Marathon cleanup of Rt. 27 in Carrabassett Valley.

 

"As wonderful a display of community involvement as it is, I'm always a bit angry after the cleanup to see so much evidence of the total disregard people can have for our environment," according to long-time CVOA-er John McCatherin who has coordinated the event for the last several years.

 

"On the flip side," he added, "it's so gratifying to have so many people who do care that they'll give up a half day or so on a weekend to help clean it up."

 

The annual clean-up has been conducted in Carrabassett Valley for almost as many years as the marathon has been run. Over the years the Stratton area, and more recently, Kingfield, have joined the project so now the entire route of the marathon is covered.

 

"If you've seen the route the day before the race, with literally truckloads of waste scattered about," McCatherin said, "It's so heartening to see what a difference a day and the spirit of volunteers can make. My most sincere thanks to all those who once again joined in on this terrific community activity."

 

Special thanks goes out to Carrabassett Valley Town Clerk Wendy Russell, who organizes and conducts a great barbecue for the volunteers after the cleanup, and to Town Manager Dave Cota, who provides financial support and logistics from the town and who personally volunteers for the cleanup.

 

~ John McCatherin, Event Coordinator

Fly casting trivia:  What part of the cast is the most important?  The answer later.

A few of we "bug lunches" showed up for "Fly Casting 101 and Beyond" with Joe Loughran on Saturday.  In the morning, Joe kept us busy with the basics of casting.  The standard overhead cast first, then a side arm cast.  Then a tired arm.  Joe worked us through the back cast (stop 1,2).  The forward cast (stop 1,2) and a little bit of the presentation.  Trout, according to Joe, are a cautious bunch that are very particular about their diet.  What was delicious yesterday is old news today.  Pick a new fly today.  And they are particular about how that bug looks.  No little "V" caused by dragging.  No bunch of line around the fly.  No splash that any fish knows is way too big for a little bug.  They don't make it easy.

	John the Student

The afternoon session demonstrated how to change directions and work in tight spaces.  Joe did make it all look easy.  My experience proved otherwise, but I learned Joe's most important lesson (this is the answer for the earlier question).  'Stop ... the rod'.  It's not the power of the movement as the rod guides line through the air.  It's the promptness of the stop that transfers all that stored snap in the rod to the line.  Now you know the trick.  All that's left is to get the timing perfect.  Next step:  a bit of yarn tied to the line and out to the back yard for practice.  Good luck!

~ John Morey, Student of Fly Casting

 

[ ed. note: Pete Weston has generously donated lumber cut from trees in his woodlots for the last range project, and now for the 5-stand.]

"I cut the pine logs last fall for a couple of reasons.  The pine trees were shading my garden at times, and we needed pine boards for the new 5-stand building at the range.  The original plan was to have the logs sawed into lumber last fall so the boards could dry over the winter and be ready to use this spring.  Unfortunately the person I had lined up to saw the logs last fall had problems with his mill, so the logs spent the winter piled up down by my garden.

"The low area where I had the logs piled up takes a long time to dry out in the spring, so I moved the logs up to my back garage before the

	The first log is on the mill.

ground was completely thawed.  It was a muddy job, but I was able to get all 60 of the logs moved.  The original sawyer I had lined up was not available this spring, but we were able to find another person with a mill, and he did a great job for us.  Todd Seavey showed up on May 10th, and finished sawing a week later.  We ended up with 3,700 board feet of lumber.

 

"I took me four trips to haul the lumber from Scarborough to Carrabassett Valley.  Thankfully, Neal Trask was able to line up help 

to unload and sticker the lumber at the range.  We ended up with 6 stacks of lumber, separated into 8-, 12- and 16-foot boards.  This lumber will be used to side the new 

building.  The cost of sawing the lumber will be paid for by CVOA, with partial reimbursement from the grant we received for the 5-stand project. The lumber should be dry by August and we plan to side the building at that time."

 

[ ed. note: Thank you, Pete, for your ongoing commitment to CVOA and the Range.]