2017 Annual Report for the Friends of the Trails

Transcription

1 2017 Annual Report for the Friends of the Trails 1. Introduction The Friends of the Trails has been in existence for just two years and we continue to make good progress in achieving or goals. We have built trails, organized Hiking Marathons, organized Trails Festivals, accumulated a healthy bank balance and formed close relationships throughout our community. 2. Hiking Marathon In September we organized the third annual Cumberland County Hiking Marathon. Participation grew once again with 900 hikers registering for the marathon. The response once again was overwhelmingly positive and this event has become an annual tradition. All the Marathon Committee members fulfilled their roles with enthusiasm with everyone contributing to the success of the event. 3. Hit the Trails Festival This year we had our 6 th Annual Hit the Trails Festival. The festival has become a fall tradition on the first Saturday in October. This year we had some new participants such as the Bass Fishing Club and some old friends who upped their game this year, such as Crossville s and Recreation and the Model Sailing Boats. The attendance continues to grow as it benefits from all the Hiking Marathoners stopping by to pick up their T-shirts. 4. Fairfield Glade Trails The wonderful network of trails in Fairfield Glade continues to expand and improve under the excellent leadership of Don Hazel. In 2017 the main project was the rerouting half of the Overlook Trail. Valerie Naylor visited in the Spring and did excellent work as usual on the Overlook Trail. Mike Durnwald s Saturday morning team of volunteers have worked long and hard all year-long on improving all the trails and doing major work on the Overlook rerouting which opened in time for the marathon. In addition to the Tuesday hikes that Linda Barclay has been leading for three years, a new activity has started last Winter called Walk the Brae. These Thursday morning walks, led by Janice Noll & Cheryl Luhrs, in December, January and February when the Brae Golf Course is closed, have been very popular from day one. 5. County Trails We have made great progress establishing the Friends of the Trails reputation throughout Cumberland County. We completed two major projects in the City of Crossville. We built the 1.0-mile St Raphael Meditation Trail with the help of Crossville contractor Andrew Ingram from Hurricane Cycles. Andrew did a great job with the excavator. We also built the Woodlawn Loop trail with the combined efforts of two contractors Valerie Naylor from North Carolina and Page 1

2 Randy Conner from Knoxville. Both trails were completed in time for the Hiking Marathon and will be great assets to the residents of Crossville. We also helped our friends at Uplands Village do some improvements to the Lake Alice Trail in time for the marathon. We have started to promote the concept of the Crossville Greenway. This is a network of hiking trails throughout the city connecting various recreational facilities and residential neighborhoods. The concept has been well received and we are discussing possible trail routes with a number of property owners. Plans are well advanced for a 1.5 trail connecting the Woodlawn Loop to the Obed River along the Little. There are two areas where we fell a little short this year: a) We made the commitment in 2016 to monitor/maintain the Daddy s Creek Section of the Cumberland Trail, CT. This is a 7-mile section in Hebbertsburg. A number of volunteers did reinstall the Daddy s Creek Section sign that was knocked over. However we have not done a very good job in regularly hiking this section of the CT and reporting any issues. b) We also made the commitment to help the Cumberland Mountain State rangers to figure out a route for an extension to the Pioneer Trail. We did some work in 2016 but other priorities have prevented us from helping this year. We also offered to install Emergency 911 markers along the trails in the park but fortunately we did not commit to a schedule, as we have been unable to complete this activity. 6. Cycling There have been a number of developments this year for local cyclists. a) Andy Lacombe and Diane Richards have created a strong cycling presence in Fairfield Glade, creating the Pomeroy off-road trail and a number of on-road trail routes. b) Taco Tuesday weekly cycle rides have proved very popular. In Lake Tansi, thanks to Airin Harris. c) Andrew Ingram has built a Mountain Bike Trail in Cumberland Mountain State which had its grand opening in November. Cycling is not the primary focus of the Friends of the Trails but we have tried to be supportive of these efforts to create a cycling community in Cumberland County. 7. Administration and Publicity As we grow we needed to improve our record keeping so this year we invested in QuickBooks the financial accounting software for small businesses. Using QuickBooks is not necessarily easier than Excel spreadsheets but it forces a discipline in financial record keeping which is a good thing. Due to other priorities we have only published two newsletters this year. Hopefully we will get back into the routine of publishing them quarterly. Page 2

3 One measure of how efficient a 501(c)3 organization is operating is the percentage of income that is spent on administration rather than on the mission of the organization. In 2017 we spent $ on administration, which is just 1.55% of our income. I think that is pretty good. Some examples of our administrative costs are $68.78 PayPal fees, $ QuickBooks software, $70.47 Tennessee State filing fees. More information on the Board, Bylaws and Financial Statements is available at We are grateful for our donors and sponsors. 8. Our Volunteers Once again I would like to offer a big Thank you to all the hardworking volunteers who show up again and again at our work sessions to snip, lop, saw, dig and roll as needed to clear the new trails and maintain our old trails. Please continue your good work in Finances We are finishing the year in a strong financial position. We had income of $28,433 and expenses of $23,494 giving a net income of $4,938. We have $13,299 in the bank which up from $8,360 at the beginning of the year due to the net income. We keep records of a number of funds that allow us to designate resources for specific purposes. These are the fund balances: 2017 Net Income Balance Fund 3, , General 2, , Marathon , , Fairfield Glade , Crossville Church Cumberland Mountain SP Uplands Village Mountain Bike (Ingram) ======= ======= 4, , Total Funds a) The 2017 Hiking Marathon had a surplus of $2,981 due to our generous sponsors and the efforts of Dick Sammer. Page 3

4 b) We are waiting for a check from Uplands to settle the outstanding balance of $ c) The check for $ for the balance of the CMSP Mountain Bike Trail fund has been written but not yet cleared in the bank account. d) The Jim Lamb Memorial fund was closed out this year but in 2016 we received $3,495 in donations and after the expenses of the bench and the lunch on National Trails Day the surplus was $2, John Conrad President, Friends of the Trails john@time2meet.com November 30, 2017 Page 4

5 Proposed Crossville Greenway 7/5/2017 Duer Soccer Complex Black Drowning Creek 70N Highway I-40 Charleston Plantation 298 Centennial Fox Creek Road Old Jamestown Little Interstate Drive Cooke Road The Gardens Northside Drive Maryetta St 70N Woodlawn Loop 298 Genesis Road Cooke Road I-40 Peavine Road Sparta Highway 70W East 1st Street 70 I-40 Spruce Loop Holiday Drive St Raphael Church Peachtree Myrtle Avenue Oak Drive 101 Garrison 392 Miller Highway Oakmont Drive Spruce Loop Meadow 101 Cumberland Mountain State 7/05/2017

6 I-40 Woodlawn Loop Friends of the Trails For more trail maps go to a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization 298 Genesis Drive Little Obed River 11/30/17 Crossville Greenway Little Section Scale 0.5 miles Northside Drive Charleston Plantation Shanks Old Jamestown Highway Procter Creek Woodlawn Road Interstate Drive West Avenue 70N Little Obed River Bohannon Oakley Wyatt Court Main Street Main Street West Avenue County Fairgrounds Potter 70N Obrien Drive Industrial Boulevard Centennial

7 Maryetta Street 11/01/17 Crossville Greenway Sparta Highway Sector KEY Existing Roads New Roads Existing Trails Possible Trails Bridge Locations Being Considered The Gardens: New Development Scale 0.25 miles Northwest Connector Mitchell Property The Gardens Northwest Connector Swallows Property Kingsgate Development City Property West Avenue Dillon Street Sparta Highway Sparta Highway P City Property St Raphael Church Wastewater Treatment Sparta Highway Friends of the Trails For more trail maps go to a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization

8 Friends of the Trails 12/04/17 Balance Sheet Prev Year Comparison As of November 30, 2017 Nov 30, '17 Nov 30, '16 $ Change % Change ASSETS Current Assets Checking/Savings Progressive Savings... 13, , , % Total Checking/Savings 13, , , % Total Current Assets 13, , , % TOTAL ASSETS 13, , , % LIABILITIES & EQUITY Equity 3900 Retained Earnings 8, , ,767.0% Net Income 4, , , % Total Equity 13, , , % TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY 13, , , % Page 1

9 Friends of the Trails 12/04/17 Profit and Loss Prev Year Comparison January through November 2017 Jan - Nov '17 Jan - Nov '16 $ Change % Change Income Income Donations 4, , , % Sponsorship 7, , , % Grants 12, , , % Membership Fees 1, , % Sales T-shirt sales % Patch sales % Miscellaneous sales % Total Sales % Other Income 2, , ,682.7% Total Income 28, , , % Total Income 28, , , % Expense Trails Subcontactor Expenses 12, , % Materials, Bridges, Signs... 2, , , % Refreshments % Equipment Rental % Total Trails 15, , , % Activities & Events Grants % Other Expenses 2, , ,950.0% Signs % Awards 4, , % Activities & Events - Other % Total Activities & Events 7, , , % Administation PayPal Fees % Miscellaneous Expense % Office Supplies % Administation - Other % Total Administation % Total Expense 23, , , % Net Income 4, , , % Page 1