BDA'ers at work
Boardsters Linda Rhodes and Bernie Howe (r)
Between dirty
diapers, trash, sunken boats, building debris, and tires
galore, Lord knows, the Elk River needs a good clean up.
Bernie Howe has taken the lead front and center on the clean up effort from Sutton Dam down to nearly Kanawha County, 30 miles of river. Howe's plan is to find and organize with teams of 8 to work 3 or 4 mile sections of the Elk. Headquarters for the Herculean effort will be the Clay High parking lot. The 3rd weekend in July is the target date with upwards of 100 volunteers needed to make it happen. He's also looking for volunteers with canoes, kayaks, and flat boat boats to haul the junk to bank side.
Because there are seven endangered species of wildlife in the Elk, things have to be done just right. A stick of dynamite to remove the creatures... that won't work. Well, it would work but can't be done!
If you can lend a hand , call the BDA office and leave your contact info. 304 587-4166 or email bdaclayco@yahoo.com
The first group to actually use the BC&G RR tracks will be the North American Rail Car Association (NARCOA) in June. That club of "jitney" enthusiasts will bring in 25 to 30 privately owned jitneys carrying upwards of 60+ riders on the BC&G RR tracks. The hope is, they will come back annually for the adventure.
For our regular readers, you know about the Nov 2nd giveaway of the Dundon Campground to the Elk River Foundation and then the take back by the CAEZ Chair, Mickey Boggs in Dec. All that was followed by their March meeting where new leadership was elected and a motion to once again offer their campground to the Foundation was passed unanimously. Check out the COMMUNICATOR ONLINE Nov 2nd and Feb 2023 articles.
Most know how important it is to have a working, organized, thriving RV park, primitive campsites, and clean lodge rooms available for BC&G RR tourists.
Linda Rhodes is the new CAEZ President (Chair) and also serves on the BDA. Ms Rhodes provided insight during the March CAEZ meeting. Comments included: In Nov the CAEZ Bd voted to gift the campground to the Elk Foundation... one month later, the CAEZ Chair Mickey Boggs alone retracted that decision and took back the 9 acre campground.... in March, Boggs tried to cancel the meeting of the CAEZ but that didn't happen.... the CAEZ Board met and once again voted to giveaway the campground... My goal is to run things peacefully, dissolve the CAEZ assets, and close the agency down as soon as possible.
Wow!
And now the new stuff. In response to Ms Rhodes statements on gifting the campground, things have changed. According to the Mitchster, those rebuild, update, funds ($1M) for the campground, have already been spent elsewhere. Other grants may become available, but that original $1m , the CAEZ's peeing contest, you waited too long, that opportunity is gone. %%$$!!!! That boat has left the dock.
DeBoard advanced an interesting idea. DeBoard thinks: The Foundation should take the campground, fix it up and then make it available (for a fee) to whichever company gets the rail rides contract. That would provide the newbee contractor with working rest rooms, an office space, a waiting area, and overnight camping for those waiting for rail riders.
And finally for the March 6th BDA meeting, how about an update on the planned resort and conference center in Clayberry. This venture is being pushed by locals, BJ Evans and Johnny Randolph Osborne. Called the Living Water resort and conference center, it's to be located across from Pierson Sawmill on the old Johnny Woofter property. In the way of an update: the place will now have 38 guest rooms, will be two stories tall with the conference area on the ground floor and be "L" shaped. The owners continue to think, they will break ground this Summer.
That does it for the 79 minute long BDA meeting for March.
To put it in a nutshell: the railroad tracks are now in good shape; the railroad rides are almost on track; the CMI training center funding is firm; the campground is poised to be operated in a meaningful way; ERTS is ready for warm weather hikers, bikers, and equestrian traffic; by mid Summer, the Elk River should look a bunch cleaner; and, Clayberry's future is looking up.
How could we possibly screw this up? Stay tuned readers.
AW
Bernie Howe has taken the lead front and center on the clean up effort from Sutton Dam down to nearly Kanawha County, 30 miles of river. Howe's plan is to find and organize with teams of 8 to work 3 or 4 mile sections of the Elk. Headquarters for the Herculean effort will be the Clay High parking lot. The 3rd weekend in July is the target date with upwards of 100 volunteers needed to make it happen. He's also looking for volunteers with canoes, kayaks, and flat boat boats to haul the junk to bank side.
Because there are seven endangered species of wildlife in the Elk, things have to be done just right. A stick of dynamite to remove the creatures... that won't work. Well, it would work but can't be done!
If you can lend a hand , call the BDA office and leave your contact info. 304 587-4166 or email bdaclayco@yahoo.com
The first group to actually use the BC&G RR tracks will be the North American Rail Car Association (NARCOA) in June. That club of "jitney" enthusiasts will bring in 25 to 30 privately owned jitneys carrying upwards of 60+ riders on the BC&G RR tracks. The hope is, they will come back annually for the adventure.
For our regular readers, you know about the Nov 2nd giveaway of the Dundon Campground to the Elk River Foundation and then the take back by the CAEZ Chair, Mickey Boggs in Dec. All that was followed by their March meeting where new leadership was elected and a motion to once again offer their campground to the Foundation was passed unanimously. Check out the COMMUNICATOR ONLINE Nov 2nd and Feb 2023 articles.
Most know how important it is to have a working, organized, thriving RV park, primitive campsites, and clean lodge rooms available for BC&G RR tourists.
Linda Rhodes is the new CAEZ President (Chair) and also serves on the BDA. Ms Rhodes provided insight during the March CAEZ meeting. Comments included: In Nov the CAEZ Bd voted to gift the campground to the Elk Foundation... one month later, the CAEZ Chair Mickey Boggs alone retracted that decision and took back the 9 acre campground.... in March, Boggs tried to cancel the meeting of the CAEZ but that didn't happen.... the CAEZ Board met and once again voted to giveaway the campground... My goal is to run things peacefully, dissolve the CAEZ assets, and close the agency down as soon as possible.
Wow!
And now the new stuff. In response to Ms Rhodes statements on gifting the campground, things have changed. According to the Mitchster, those rebuild, update, funds ($1M) for the campground, have already been spent elsewhere. Other grants may become available, but that original $1m , the CAEZ's peeing contest, you waited too long, that opportunity is gone. %%$$!!!! That boat has left the dock.
DeBoard advanced an interesting idea. DeBoard thinks: The Foundation should take the campground, fix it up and then make it available (for a fee) to whichever company gets the rail rides contract. That would provide the newbee contractor with working rest rooms, an office space, a waiting area, and overnight camping for those waiting for rail riders.
And finally for the March 6th BDA meeting, how about an update on the planned resort and conference center in Clayberry. This venture is being pushed by locals, BJ Evans and Johnny Randolph Osborne. Called the Living Water resort and conference center, it's to be located across from Pierson Sawmill on the old Johnny Woofter property. In the way of an update: the place will now have 38 guest rooms, will be two stories tall with the conference area on the ground floor and be "L" shaped. The owners continue to think, they will break ground this Summer.
That does it for the 79 minute long BDA meeting for March.
To put it in a nutshell: the railroad tracks are now in good shape; the railroad rides are almost on track; the CMI training center funding is firm; the campground is poised to be operated in a meaningful way; ERTS is ready for warm weather hikers, bikers, and equestrian traffic; by mid Summer, the Elk River should look a bunch cleaner; and, Clayberry's future is looking up.
How could we possibly screw this up? Stay tuned readers.
AW