Tour of the Wichitas.....Friends of the Trail

Friends of The Trail Meeting 9-2-2010

pauldurry — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:41:37 +0000

Bike Paths

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:45:31 +0000

Please come to the Council meeting tonight (3-9-10) at 6 pm located at City Hall to get the bike plan excepted. This will help to create a system of bicycle paths across Lawton. Please come, we need your support!

Friends of the Trail meeting 3-4-10

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:09:34 +0000

HELLO EVERYONE!

We will have a meeting March 4th, 2010 at 7:00 pm in our usual meeting place, 1609 NW Euclid. Kevin Jackson our friend, formerly from the City of Lawton Planning Commission, and now in charge of Bike and Jogging Paths at Ft Sill, will give us an idea of what Ft Sill is looking at for Bike and Pedestrian Trails. Richard Rogaliski, Lawton City Planner will also be present to talk about City Progress on Trails and how our Trails will connect with Ft Sill.

We also discuss and make final plans for the Tour of the Wichitas which will take place on June 12th, 2010.

Hope to see you then,

Lon Parks

Friends of Trail meeting 1-14-10

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:09:26 +0000

1-5-10

HELLO EVERYONE!

We decided to put our meeting off until the 2^nd Thursday of the New Year (1-14-10). We thought that would give us a little more time to do some work on the tour that we could discuss.

Richard Rogalski from City Planning will be there to discuss the progress by the City towards implementing the first section of the City Bike Trails. I talked to Kevin Jackson at Ft Sill and he will be at our meeting in February to talk about Biking and Hiking Trails at Ft Sill. You may have seen Scenic Highway designation that the Highways running trough the Refuge have received. Jeff Rupert says that this may open funding for Hiking and Biking Trails that would run along side the Highways. Jeff will be at our meeting to discuss this and the refuge trails in progress.

We will also discuss the coming Tour of the Wichitas, which will be June 12^th of this year. We have a little bit of a head start this year & Cameron Art Department is helping us with the art work.

See you January 14, 2010 at 7:00 pm at the Board Building, 1609 NW Euclid.

Thanks,

Lon

Friends of the Trail Meeting 11-5-09

admin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:43:46 +0000

10-30-09

HELLO EVERYONE!

There seems to be a lot going on with the trails, so we’ll have a meeting Thursday, November 5th, 7:00 PM at 1609 NW Euclid.

You may have seen the article in the Constitution on the 23rd concerning the Bicycle and Walking Path, from Cache to the Wildlife Refuge. The report from Paul Fisher and others involved was that the project should be ready for bidding early in 2010.

Jeff Rupert, Manager of the Wildlife Refuge will be at our meeting to talk about the connecting path that will run through the Refuge. I will contact the officials at Medicine Park to see if they have done any more work on their plan to connect to the Refuge.

Also Shane Dunlevy from Ft Sill’s MWR will be ar our meeting to talk about Ft Sill Trails and events.

The City of Lawton is also nearing the contract letting on our City bike path and will have a representative from the Planning Department to talk about this.

Dr Ben Cooper recently received good news about a grant to the Fit Kids Organization which could effect many of our local programs. He will be present to explain the amount and scope of the grant.

We hope to have speakers on the Safe Routes to School program.

It is also time to start to work on the Tour of the Wichitas..so come and give us your input. The Trails belong to everyone!

Thanks,

Lon Parks

Meeting 9-3-09

admin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:55:19 +0000

GOOD NEWS ON THE HOME FRONT! You may have seen the article in the Tuesday Constitution stating that the contract for the 1st section of the trail from Cache to the Wildlife refug was being bid. The article said that construction could begin as early as spring of 2010.

Jeff Rupert is also working on the Refuge Trail and will be able to give us a progress report at our meeting Thursday. Medicine Park is hoping to connect to this trail and we have asked Dwight Cope, Medicine Park Mayor to come and talk about their plans for trails and walkways.

Brenda Spencer Ragland gave me an updated report on progress at Ft Sill. We will have handouts for you on this Thursday and we hope to have a representative from MWR at our meeting.

Thursday we would also like to begin our marketing plan for the 2010 Tour. Last year we had some great ideas that came up at the last moment, that we hope to use this year. Jean Williams has agreed to chair this committee, so we’ll have a short meeting at the end of our regular meeting about this.

Our next meeting will be the 9-3-09 at 7 pm 1609 NW Euclid. See you there!

Lon Parks

Friends of the Trail meeting 7-2-09

Petra Jackson — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:34:15 +0000

Hello everyone!

We will have our next meeting on July 2nd, at the regular place, 1609 NW Euclid at 7 pm. I have asked Paul Fisher, who is working with the County Commisssioners on the Trail from Cache to the Wildlife Refuge to come and give us a status report.

I was just on the phone with Rick Johnson who is with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, and he let me know that our Grant for the bike trail in the amount of $400,000 has been awarded. We have asked Doug Tenent with Jacobs Consulting to also give a report on their review of the Bike Trail which has been ordered by our City Planner, Rich Roglaski. Now that the money is in place we would hope that this can be done quickly and we could get started on the trail. We will invite Andy Howard who was one of the original designers of the trail to be present also.

Also, we want to get started on our next Tour of the Wichitas. This time we’d like to use a different approach. That is to organize the tour around several committees, each to be responsible for a certain segment of the ride. For example, a committee for the actural ride, rest stops, etc. One for Marketing and another for sponsors. It seems that if we get started this far ahead of time that we could leverage our efforts and make a super ride next year. To try to get out of the rain we have decided to have the ride on June 12th of 2010.

Hope to see you then!

Lon Parks, Secretary

News

Petra Jackson — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:56:06 +0000

3-2-09

HELLO EVERYONE!

We had an excellent meeting in February and have decided to skip March and have our next meeting April 2^nd. This will be a wrap up meeting for our Tour of the Wichitas, which will be on May 2^nd.

I did have a few odds and ends to let you know. It seems that the Bikeways that will be from Cache to the Refuge gate have been help up because of a paperwork mix up with DOT. I spoke to Paul Fisher and also Rich Andrews with DOT and they have assured me that the missing report has been received and they can move forward on this.

Rich Andrews also said the DOT should make a decision on funding for the first section of the Lawton Bikeway sometime in June or July of this year. He was optimistic that we would receive the $400,000 grant that will help fund the bike trail which will start around Cameron University.

The weather is finally getting decent, so I’ll see you on your bike!

Have a great month!

Lon Parks

Meeting on April 2nd

lonparks — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:45:37 +0000

Hello Everyone!

PLEASE COME TO OUR MEETING APRIL 2nd AT THE LAWTON BOARD OF REALTORS BUILDING AT 1609 Euclid..7:00 PM.. WE NEED YOUR HELP. THIS IS OUR LAST MEETING BEFORE THE TOUR OF THE WICHITAS.

We need to verify the water stops. Where they will be and all of the details. Need your input on where else we can advertise this event. Also on our final fund raising. Also we need volunteers to work in the Tour and the Bike Festival. This is our big deal for the year and we’d like for it to put Lawton on the Map.

See you there and thanks in advance for your help!

Lon Parks, Secretary
Friends of the Trail
www.friendsofthetrail.com
www.tourofthewichitas.com

TOUR OF THE WICHITAS AND BIKE FESTIVAL

Petra Jackson — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:10:58 +0000

It’s coming soon! THE BEST BIKE RIDE IN OKLAHOMA and a real cycling treat for your kids, ages 5 through 12.

This event will take place at the Museum of the Great Planins May 2, 2009. The Bikers will pick up packets from 7 to 8 AM, with the ride starting at 8:00 AM Sharp. This is a beautiful ride through Ft Sill and Wichitas with lots of options. You can take a short scenic ride through the Historical Section of Ft Sill, or a longer ride of 30 to 60 miles through Ft Sill and the Wildlife Refuge. There will be rest stops with fruit, water and cookies. A chance to visit the Visitors Center at the Refuge and a lovely scenic return through Medicine Park, around the edge of Lake Lawtonka and back in Apache Gate at Ft Sill.

The Bike Festival will commence shortly after the start of the bike ride. There will be events of every kind for all ages. If your child has “A need for Speed” there will be a time trial, with a medal for every rider! Also, we will have prizes for the best decorated bike, Barrel Racing, Bike Rodeos, A bike repair shop, free helmets as long as they last and much, much more!

Also we will have antique bike displays, A Bike swap Meet and a Huffy throw. Come and enjoy. These are two events that are unique to Southwest Oklahoma. Please, come & Have fun with family!!