It's Been A Great Year!

It's early June and I am reflecting on the accomplishments that the ESOA has made in the short time that it has been together. The group formed in September of last year (2007) and did not waste anytime getting involved in the community.
Accomplishments include:
- Two Lake Leatherwood work-days and clean-ups
- Cold Spring work-day
- Kiosk project at Lake Leatherwood Ball Fields
- Two Kansas St. Trail workdays
- Day-hike to Kettle Falls
- In-town trails day-hike
- Land Trust day-hike
- Design of a logo
- Formation of a mission statement
... and we built some real outdoor community in our area!
This is an amazing amount of activity for a new group to have in it's first 9-months. Let's hope we can keep the momentum rolling.
The ESOA has suspended it's regular monthly meetings until the end of the summer, resuming in September.
I would like to see more structure added to the organization via designated positions and a board. I would also like to see the group obtain non-profit status, so that we can be eligible for grants and other funding possibilities.
Have a great summer everyone and I'll see you in September!
-Nick Cross

In-Town Trails Work-Day

The ESOA has scheduled a work-day for Sunday, April 27 at 1:00pm. Participants will meet at Kansas St. (off the upper-historic loop) and will be working on the section of trail above the old limestone steps near the Little Red Schoolhouse site. The focus of the work-day is to remove gravel from a filled in drainage ditch and re-distributing it on the trail. This work-day is part of an E.S. Parks and Rec. project which includes improving the trail all the way down to Harding Spring. Please bring any tools that you have ie: shovels, picks, rakes, loppers, etc.

Ozarks at Large - KUAF

Hey, I wanted to let folks know about this week's Ozarks at Large program on KUAF featuring interviews of Don E and Chris Fischer. The program focuses on the work being done on the springs and reservations in town. Chris references the ESOA and our work project at Cold Spring. The program aired Friday 4/18 at 6pm, but the program will air again tomorrow, Sunday April 20th at 9am. The program will be archived for access on line soon and we'll try to get a link on the blog.