Join us on Saturday, April 27th for our first trail day, 9AM at Pine Hill Park. We have a couple of projects to tackle. One is to repair Exit Strategy corners, clean drainage’s out and clean up the front entrance. Many hands make light work! Hope to see you there.
Category Archives: Pine Hill Partnership
2019 Annual dinner Monday march 25, 6pm
Dear Pine Hill Partnership Enthusiasts,
2018 was a great year on the trails. Please join us at our annual meeting to enjoy light dinner fare, a short recap of our projects and an introduction to our plans for 2019.
The meeting will start at 6pm, Monday, March 25th, at the Godnick Center at 1 Deer St. Rutland, VT.
We will have some excellent food including vegetarian fare to be consumed before the presentation. The meeting will begin with a short, required, business meeting. There will be a quick review of the 2018 accomplishments in the park and surrounding trails. We have a few guest speakers from surrounding trail systems giving us an update on their 2019 plans. Pine Hill Partnership will have some cool raffle prizes to give raffle off. Tickets are $5 each sold at the door. Afterwards, we plan to have an extended question and answer period and hope you will contribute ideas and suggestions that can be incorporated into the future Pine Hill Park trail projects, the Pine Hill Partnership organization itself, and surrounding trail networks.
As our organization grows, we are looking for a more diversified group to serve on a couple of committees. In particular, we have a fundraising project for 2019 and would like to make a concerted effort to increase our paid membership rolls. We are hoping some folks can join us on this project.
We are also looking for additional board members. The board generally meets six to eight times a year and we are looking for people with a range of interests. Some people might have a passion for trail work while others might have a focus on growing Pine Hill Partnership membership or on strategic planning. If you are interested in being a board member, please fill in the form below and include your qualifications and reasons why you would like to become actively involved in the Partnership so that we may share it with the membership before the annual meeting.
If you shop online and use Amazon please consider using www.smile.amazon.com. Amazon will make quarterly contributions to Pine Hill Partnership if you enter us as the non-profit.
Hope to see you there and big thanks for your support this year in our continued efforts to make these area trails so special.
Sincerely,
Andrew Shinn, Joel Blumenthal, Dave Jenne, Claus Bartenstein, Peggy Shinn and Shelley Lutz
Board of Directors
Bryan Sell
Executive Director
Thank you Community Bank
Community Bank gave us a very nice contribution this spring. We used it to purchase materials to build two benches for the park. Thank you to Augie Levins who built the benches and to all the other volunteers that helped move them.
One is located on Underdog powerline and the other one is on Droopy Muffin powerline. We have several other locations we would like to install the same type bench in the future.
IMBA National Award
RUTLAND’S SHELLEY LUTZ RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN BIKING ASSOCIATION VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD
BENTONVILLE, Arkansas (Oct. 29, 2018) — The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) has presented Shelley Lutz (Center Rutland, Vt.) with the 2018 “Scott “Superman” Scudamore Volunteer Leadership Award” for her relentless and selfless service to her community. Lutz is one of the founding members of the Pine Hill Partnership and currently serves as the organization’s secretary.
The award honors outstanding volunteers who are making a significant contribution to the mountain bicycling community. IMBA received more than 20 nominations from all ten regions in the United States.
“I may seem biased when I say this, but I am continually learning that Shelley Lutz has done more for mountain biking in Vermont than any one person I’ve yet to meet,” said Bryan Sell, executive director of the Pine Hill Partnership. “She is the backbone of the trails in Pine Hill, which has achieved a cult-like status among mountain bikers and would not exist without her efforts.”
“Also, consider that growth in the sport is in no small part being driven by women and children, and Shelley has been a leader since the early days of mountain biking. Again, I do not know of any other woman who has done so much to get women and children pedaling on trails. I think that few of our residents appreciate how uncommon it is to see so many women and children on mountain bike trails, so this honor is as good for Rutland as it is for Shelley.”
Lutz has devoted thousands of hours to Pine Hill Partnership since the organization’s start in 2006. For over 25 years, she mountain biked, hiked, and skied in Pine Hill, and helped to layout, create, and maintain the trail network that we know today. In addition to trail work and organizing work days, Lutz has led a women’s mountain bike clinic and youth mountain bike clinic in Pine Hill Park for the past 10 years. She also has helped other trail advocacy groups in the region begin and grow their trail networks. Lutz exemplifies the Scott “Superman” Scudamore attitude of getting everyone she meets to volunteer in the Park.
Lutz has lived in the Rutland area since graduating from Castleton University in 1975. She worked for UPS for 36 years before retiring in 2011.
Scott “Superman Scud” Scudamore was a retired Air Force Captain who exemplified mountain bike volunteerism through his work with the Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiast.. Scud’s specialty was introducing new riders to mountain biking advocacy and to the efforts needed from local voices to ensure the sustainability of off-road trail networks to the growing population of outdoor enthusiasts.
Lutz was presented with the award at IMBA’s 30th anniversary party in Bentonville, Arkansas, on Saturday, October 27.
ABOUT PINE HILL PARTNERSHIP
The Pine Hill Partnership is a non-profit formed in 2006 to create, build, and maintain trails in Pine Hill and surrounding areas. The organization raises money for trail projects, recruits and organizes volunteers to repair, maintain and improve the non-motorized multi-use trail system in the city park at Pine Hill and adjacent lands. The Partnership also volunteers for the youth and women’s mountain bike programs that are run through Rutland’s Recreation Department, and also to help with the Rutland Go Play races in the park. This past summer the Partnership hosted over 20,000 visits to Pine Hill Park, either pedestrian or biking. New for winter 2018-2019, the Partnership will be winter grooming on some trails for fat bikes, hikers, snowshoers, and cross-country skiers.
ABOUT IMBA
The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) is the worldwide leader in mountain bike advocacy, and the only organization in the U.S. focused entirely on trails and access, for all types of mountain bikers in all parts of the country. Since 1988, they have taught and encouraged low-impact riding, grassroots advocacy, sustainable trail design, innovative land management practices and cooperation among trail user groups. IMBA U.S. is a national network of local groups, individual riders and passionate volunteers working together for the benefit of the entire community. They are focused on the quantity and quality of mountain bike trail communities as the catalyzer, resource provider, and builder of more trails close to home.
Girls Mountain Bike Program
The spring of 2019, the Rutland City Recreation Department is offering a new all-girls mountain biking program. Check it out!
Gritty Girls Mountain Bike Club: Grades 3-8; Sundays from 1-3pm, 4/28/2019 – 6/2/2019. Dates may change due to weather. Cost $35 for Rutland city residents; $46, non-residents. This all-girls club will be friendly and fun. Confidence, knowledge, and basic skills will be gained in a supportive, team environment. Includes t-shirt. Equipment loan and/or bike discounts are available. Get ready to ride the trails!
Girls having fun on bikes
Thank you Youth Works
We wouldn’t have our trail system today without Youth Works coming to Rutland every year. The hard work these folks put in without the benefit of using the trail system is amazing.
Summer of 2018 we have started a new trail near Intersection 36. It has about 1000′ of finished trail tread that still needs a few refinements next year. 2019 will bring another summer of working on this trail which when done will be roughly 3800′. It’s a very long, curvy trail that could use a lot more volunteers to complete it. We can only build about 1000′-1500′ of trail a summer depending on volunteer groups and weather.
Are you interested in learning how a trail comes to life?? Contact pinehillpartnership@gmail.com for more information on how to become involved.
Pine Hill Partnership over sees the building and maintenance of Pine Hill Park, Redfield Trails and the Carriage Trail. We are ALL volunteers, we are not paid by Rutland Rec or Rutland City. We raise all our own money to build, maintain the park. Please consider helping out with contribution, labor is always needed. If you can run a chainsaw and have safety gear we would love to add you to our list of sawyers primarily for downed trees. Could we count on you? Contact pinehillpartnership@gmail.com
THANK YOU!
Aaron’s Air
Lower part of Aaron’s Air is temporarily closed. It is getting some much needed refurbishment. Please DO NOT ride the lower part please.
Volunteering for Summer
Youth Works works with us every Monday and Tuesday from 9:30 to 3pm except for the week of July 4th. Anyone is welcome to join us on these days-you do not have to stay all day. We have gloves and tools for everyone. What to bring….bug spray, lots of water and food.
Rosey’s Rock Roller
Thank you Rosey, Chris and Bryan for spending 3 hours on a damp Sunday morning in Pine Hill Park. Complete with mosquitoes having breakfast on them.
News From 2018 Annual Dinner
Here is the slide show presented at our Annual Dinner held last Monday (3/26). We’ve added a photo reel of some the the cool things happening in our park.
At the Annual Dinner we had some great guest speakers that told us what is going on in their neck of the woods. Minutes of the meeting are posted too. Enjoy.
2018 Photo Reel
Annual Dinner Presentation Slides
[tribulant_slideshow]