Happy Halloween all! If you rode the Blue Trail this past weekend, someone’s hard work reflected the ghoul and goblin tradition of All Hallows Eve. Our hats are off to those of you who added an interesting & delightful twist to our Poker Run fun and to all of you who have kept up the trail throughout the summer. We have had many wonderful comments and praises for our hard work. Pat yourselves on the back, you deserve it!

Speaking of maintaining the trails, I had the pleasure of ridding with CJ and Keith to canvas the Blue Trail for the Poker Run on Friday. Boy, oh boy, did you see their adopted miles? They said it took them 3 days to put down all those leaves in order to give their trail that fall foliage look!

I missed September’s ride and meeting due to Richard’s father passing away. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank those of you who sent your condolences, cards and the beautiful flowers from the club. It meant a lot to us. Thank you.

First off, thanks to those of you who attended September’s ride and meeting. Sorry it got dark on us.

I also want to say "Thank You" to all of those who had a hand in making our Poker Run, which is also our yearly fund raiser, a great success. We had many great items collected and donated for the auction and many thanks go out to those who did the "beat feetin" and donating to make it such a huge success. I don’t have all the facts and exact figures but when our treasurer, Paula Duff, gives her report at October’s meeting, I’m sure you will be pleased with the results. Give yourselves a much deserved round of applause!

We had so many compliments on the Blue Trail that it just set my mind to reeling and would take all day to quote them all. So I’ll just mention a few. One lady in particular said it reminded her of God’s Country and the trail was absolutely beautiful! Another gentleman stated we were doing one heck of a job and it had become his favorite trail to ride and so on and so on. We made it work people; let’s keep up the good work.

I also want to thank Tana and Kelly for donating Friday’s evening meal, keeping the camp in coffee and for our Sunday morning breakfast. They put a lot of effort into making our members and guest feel at home and it was much appreciated. Excellent vittles girls! Oh, and I want to thank Donna C for her lessons on how to delegate staff duties, thank you young lady. And no John and Cindy, I don’t think it would be a good idea to paint the leaves on your trail blue, we would like to see you sometime before the snow flies. <chuckle>

Now on another note, I was in a tizzy trying to get cards to a stop when I got a phone call from The Bobbsy Twins at Look Out Point. They commenced to yapping and telling me when they got to the Point, they had no cards AND that one of their horses had acted up on the way out and they had lost all their change money but $2.00! Well, the first thing that went thru my mind was "How in the world am I going to get cards and money out there to that stop (no other way to get there except ride out) in time for the first rider. My heart was just a pumping! Then one of the twins says, "Just kidding!" I could hear giggling and laughter in the background. Girls, I am going to send you a bill for the extra medication I had to take that day for the heart attack you almost gave me! (-:

Trail Mileage Estimation:

For those of you who joined the club late in the year I just wanted to touch base with you on our Trail Mileage Program. This program is an honor system in which it is up to the individual reporting his/her mileage as accurately as possible. How are miles ridden determined? By estimation. Ride trails of various types that the miles are marked & develop a habit of looking at your watch... Then it is as simple as multiplying the length of the ride times the speed of the ride. Seasoned trail riders use between 2.5 to 5.0 miles an hour, but most average from 3 to 4 for an all day ride of 6 to 8 hours. Remember, you don’t count breaks or stopping to chat with someone. You subtract your breaks from the length of the ride. We turn our mileage in to our President in December so it can be tallied and turned in at the state level. These miles are used as a tool by the state so we can continue to keep our trail systems open for the equine industry. Please turn your trail miles in by the Dec meeting.

Just a reminder….Our state meeting is Nov. 11 2007 at 10:00am at the F.O.E. Hall in Delaware OH. A buffet brunch will be served prior to the meeting during the hours of 10:am to 11:30am with a cost of $9:50. per person. Reservations are required. The meeting starts at 12:00pm. We had discussed holding a silent auction at the state meeting. More on that at October’s meeting.

Tally Ho and Away! Our own Donna Cimons will be sponsoring a fox hunt, at no cost, on Oct 20^th 2007 @ 72325 Grapevine Rd. Freeport OH 43973 (in Antrim past Salt Fork off of Rt 22) at her place. You take Rt. 22 past Salt Fork to Grapevine Rd, make a left on Grapevine then a right when you reach Weep Willow Lane. At the end of that road, turn right to the bunk house. If no one is there, wait, someone will come along shortly. The hunt will begin at 11am but Donna says you should be there 45 min. early. There will be 3 courses, one with jumps, one that will be fast and hard and one just laid back for those of us who just want to kick back. All are invited and she assured me the fox would not know the difference between Western and English gear so come on out and let’s have some fun! Call Donna if you need further information. 740-489-5087

Don’t forget to renew your memberships in December so as to continue your Equine Liability Ins. with no relapse in between. The state has incorporated new membership forms this year. At the bottom of this form please put your birth and anniversary dates. This part of the form stays with our county chapter. Please contact Paula Duff, GCOHC treasurer, for membership and Equine Liability Insurance fees. I’m sure she will have the forms at the next meetings.

The 2007 Cambridge Christmas Parade will be held on Saturday November 24^th at 6:00pm. Registration is from 3:00 to 5:00pm at the Hartley Company 319 Wheeling Ave. The Parade Theme is "A Dickens of a Holiday." Deadline to enter is 4:30pm Nov.19^th. Please see me, President, Bob Oakley if you are interested in riding in the parade. Tiny Tim? Scrooge? The Ghost of Christmas yet to come? What a wonderful idea!

Keith and CJ would like to invite all of us to hold our November meeting at their place. They have some fun and games planned, trail riding as well as pot luck covered dish Thanksgiving Dinner with deep fried turkeys YUM! The date: Nov 10^th 2007. (Holiday Weekend) weather permitting. Should the weather be horrid, we will meet at the Eagles as planned on Nov. 14^th at 7pm with the same dinner in mind.

Tentative ride time at Keith & CJ’s is 10:30am with dinner around 3:30pm, meeting at 4:30pm. (Since it will be getting dark at 6:00pm. The times & date to be verified at the October meeting. Keith said there is plenty of room for your rigs in his field so not to worry. There will be an obstacle trail course set up for those of you who would like to try your hand at this. It’s all about the relationship between you and your horse and having fun. Never lose sight of having fun. Directions: From Cambridge: 77N to Kimbolton Exit, make left off the exit, go to Birds Run (rd dead ends goes go L or R) go Right. Then go to the 2^nd road on the right, turn right. Their place is on the left. 74335 Standing Rock Rd, Guernsey OH. Contact Keith or CJ if you have any questions 740-498-8222 or cj@tusco.net We will have poster signs up to help you along.

Marian Cremer 9/21 Gerald Klies 10/29 Tammy Zimmerman 11/29

Joan Wilson 9/24 Don McIntyre 10/31 Don Watterson 11/29

Brittany Lawton 9/29 Lloyd Carpenter 10/31 Bonnie Braden 11/27

Bob Daugherty 10/6 Mike and Becky Warner 10/30 Myra Bales 11/13?

Joan Cremer 10/8 Nov.

Sharon Beaverson 10/22 Heather McIntyre 11/01

Paula Duff 10/23 Mike King (the biscuit) 11/12

Marci McIntyre 10/28 Keith Alley 11/21