Archive for October, 2009

Announcements and News

Monday, October 19th, 2009

 Hi everyone


I have a few announcements about upcoming events & other NWIPA news.

 
 

Funding for equipment for our Blueways Stewardship Program ($2000 for equipment to help create water trails)

  I am pleased to announce that we received two separate grants to begin to purchase equipment that will be used to open up log jams on our rivers and streams.  We applied for an ACA grant for $1,000 a few months back & just received word that we will be receiving the grant. In addition, we will be receiving another $1,000 from NiSource that is also to be used for tools and equipment.  We are planning a Blueways Stewardship meeting soon where we will start figure out what we want to purchase for now & plan our projects for next year.

National Park Service RTCA – Rivers & Trails Program Technical Assistance Program

We also received word that our application to seek technical assistance from the the NPS RTCA program has been accepted & they have assigned Jeff Obirek to the E. Branch of the Little Calumet River Water Trail project.  Back in August, our Blueways Stewardship Committee helped put together the application to NPS to seek assistance.  Jeff Obirek is an Outdoor Recreational Planner that is coming in with a lot of experience from his last post out west on creating water trails. I met him last week & he has a great deal of enthusiasm for what we are helping to do.  Over the next year or so, we will be working with Jeff on this fantastic project that we hope will eventually connect along the E. Branch of the Little Calumet River the NPS Heron Rookery in rural Porter Co. to the NPS Portage Lakefront & Riverwalk (16 miles of continuous trail) through several communities and the heart of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. It will also link to the new Lake Michigan Water trail in Indiana which was dedicated this past summer. We look forward to working with Jeff & the NPS RTCA.

 Next Full NWIPA Meeting / Potluck - Sunday 11/1/09 @ the Portage Yacht Club 12:00 – 3:00 pm.
 
I apologize for not holding a full NWIPA meeting throughout the summer. It was a busy year & we wanted to get people out paddling a lot & not stuck indoors holding meetings. We also used this time to help lay the groundwork for making NWIPA a successful organization with some of the tools that it needs to help make northwest Indiana a great destination for paddling.  We are going to hold our next full NWIPA meeting at the Portage Yacht Club near the Bass Pro North on 249 (see attached map).  It is going to be a pot luck so please bring a dish.  We recently received word that our articles of Incorporation have been accepted by the State. Our next step is to hammer out the bylaws, create our board, and file for our 501 (c) 3 designation with the IRS.  We want to hear from you what we would like to do this upcoming year. For one, we would like to start planning early what trips we would like to take so people can start getting them on their calenders earlier.  The Portage Yacht Club is located on the Little Calumet River near Lake Michigan. After the meeting, weather permitting, I think a few of us would like to get out on the water & do some paddling.  Please bring your canoe or kayak if you would like to join us. 
 
Thanks again so much for helping to make the Northwest Indiana Paddling Association a huge success so far. Right now, we are well over 200 members, so for many of you on this e-mail, this will be your first NWIPA meeting. We look forward to meeting & hearing from you
  
Sincerely,
  
Dan Plath
Northwest Indiana Paddling Association
(219) 879-3084
  
 

 

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Eco-Fit Challenge

Friday, October 2nd, 2009
Hi everyone,
 
Sorry about the slow response on everything since the Eco-Fit Challenge. Things went well & we had a good turnout. The day after, my wife & I had our new daughter. We named her Katherine (Katie) Genevieve Plath.  I wanted to send out an invitation to our next paddling event. Kenneth Nesbitt, who is really active with NWIPA as well as several Michigan Paddling clubs is organizing the Kalamazoo River Fall Paddle Jamboree on Oct 2 – 4, 2009. More info on it is below. Please contact Kenneth at TillWeDance@acd.net if you would like to participate. It sounds like it is going to be a blast. We are also planning several paddling trips in the near future as well as a full NWIPA meeting where we will propose our draft bylaws & move towards forming our board.  Please keep your eyes open for upcoming details. Thanks so  much
 
Dan Plath

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