Welcome to the ESOA blog!

Here you can check out the latest happenings of the ESOA, share pictures and stories from your own trips and see what's next for the ESOA. Members can post messages about upcoming trips and service projects and hopefully find new people and activities to engage in.

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

ESOA Feb. 12 Meeting

At the Feb 12 ESOA meeting, we planned a couple of events for March. Nick will be out of town, so if you need more info, call me, Heather, 479-244-5431. Hope to see you at one of the events or our next meeting!

Service Project
Sunday, March 2, 1:00pm, Lake Leatherwood
Meet at the shower house. We will be hiking the trails used in the Freakin' Eurekan trail run a couple of weeks ago, picking up trash and removing orange spray paint used to mark the trail run. Orange arrows were sprayed on the ground, in debris and on rocks. Please bring a trash bag and wire brush or scrub brush of some type. Hopefully all of the rain has helped diminish the bright orange paint along the trails. We can get some hiking in and clean-up at the same time!


Social Activity
Sunday, March 9, 1:00pm, Harmon Park
In-town, off-road hike. We will visit springs, greenspaces, and lots of hidden nooks and crannies in in the downtown area. This is a great opportunity to discover what really makes Eureka the gem it is! As we hike, we will take note of possible future projects for the ESOA. Allow a couple of hours if you want to complete the entire hike. Otherwise, feel free to peel off the trail at any time.

Next meeting: Tuesday, March 18, 6:30pm (need a location, Sparky's will be closed)


Other items from our meeting:

-A logo committee was formed: Lori, Chris, and Christie will work on creating a logo for the ESOA. Chris Fischer's draft logo is attached for feedback. We all agree the logo should be simple and easily distinguishable from a green group logo (like the Sierra Club); should focus more on activity

-In an effort cover costs of small administrative fees like copying, we will collect $1.00 from each person at our monthly meetings. Heather and Nick will open a bank account at Community First with the money collected. Please bring $1.00 to future meetings.

-Creek, Al and Nick will be in charge of the Lake Leatherwood Kiosk project. Community First will deposit the $1000 for the kiosk directly into our account and we can begin ordering materials from Hill Country. Some of the project can be completed off-site, but the initial steps will take place out at Lake Leatherwood. We need carpenters to help with this project. If you have a few free hours during your week, please think about helping us.
It was recommended that etched metal be used for the kiosk signs when possible, as it is durable and will not be affected by weather. Good idea. Creek will get the project rolling and let us know what he and Al need from the rest of us.

-Nick mentioned Ecotourism month: mid-March through April. The planning committee needs help with Bikes, Trikes & Hikes, specifically, a team of people to produce the event including one to oversee and maybe a couple more to help.
We had some ideas on how to improve the event from last year:
Make events separate
Give away a bike
More races with trophies

Ruth says the event is targeted at locals more than tourists--it is an effort to give kids and families exposure to Lake Leatherwood. If you are interested in helping with this event, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the appropriate person.
ESOA MESSAGES