WALK CAPE BRETON

The Agenda for our Annual Meeting?

If you have anything that you would like discussed at the meeting on 27 November, please email me with your suggestions.

Our agenda so far:
CVF annual general meeting
Celtic Colours 2005 (brochure)
Briefing on our 2005 walk schedule
The Causeway,50th Anniversary
Membership/annual club dues/cards

10th Anniversary schedule (2006)
& Bus Tour 2006

New Ways & Means and Walk Committee, Public Relations/resources


Election of Officers: President, Time for a change folks!!

Vice President, requires a new candidate, a must!
Secretary
Treasurer
Trails Coordinator, requires a new candidate, again a must!



The End of Our Walking Season

What a great way to finish our 2004 season with a great walk through the
Baille Ard Walking Trail this is a hidden jewel within the urban area (Sydney) of Cape Breton's Regional Municipality.
The volunteers who have worked on this trail should be very proud of themselves as they have developed a wonderful and serene natural trail system that all ages can appreciate.
A terrific walking trail for persons of all abilities.
A slight change to the Start Point was quite appropriate as we got to walk a portion of the Atlantic Street field and the short trail leading to Sherwood School.
Our walk leader for this event was to be Carmel Coffin however Carmel gave up the leadership to Dave Gabriel.
Dave gave us a very informative tour of the trail, it's history and the various species of trees and animals within the area.
All the club members would like to thank Carmel Coffin and Judy Lorway for the work that was done to bring this walk event to a successful conclusion and a special thanks for inviting Dave Gabriel as a guest walk leader, it was a wonderful touch.
Hopefully we can do something similiar with other walk events.
The light luncheon and hot drinks at Judy's was another delightful gesture, a nice way to finish this years walking.

Sorry I missed the Walk/the wine at Mira Gut with Shirley Pettigrew!

From all indications the walk was very successful with 30 persons attending the event and we have a possible four new members from this walk.
Shirley invited the participants to her home for a buffet of chowder, wine and cheese.
This was very appreciated by those attending, Thank You Shirley for hosting the Cape Breton Hoppers for the second time.

Celtic Colours Messages between Rollie and the producer of Celtic Colours, Max MacDonald.

The first Annual Celtic Colours Walks 2004 prorgram during the international Celtic Colours Music Festival was a successful effort for a first time event.
Our first walk took place at "Rear Big Pond" with 25 participants and there after we averaged about 15 walkers per day.

We had visitors from Vermont, NC, NH,Ont, NB and many others from around the maritimes. Our visitors were impressed with the beauty of the island and expressed their thanks to our members and myself for putting on our walk program.

Quote: "as we would not have been able to see this part of the island on our own."

Quote: "It was nice to meet the people and see another side of Cape Breton."

The heavy rains that we encountered on Monday did not deter 8 walkers from completing the 10K walk at Georges River where we followed the beautiful Trans Canada Trail to Scotch Lake. Many of our visitors were very impressed with the trail at Gabarus where we travelled to the former community of Gull Cove, combining the fall foilage with a hike along the east coast of Cape Breton proved to be very popular.
The Island Hoppers Celtic Colours Walk program came to a wonderful end with a fantastic display of fall colours at Uisge Ban Falls, the trail was littered with a carpet of thick fallen leaves and the waterfall was at its peak of performance due to the rains of the previous days.
2004 Celtic Colours has ended but the Island Hoppers regular schedule of walks will not come to an end until Sunday November 07, we will have our last walk in Sydney, using the Baillard Walking Trail at the rear of Sherwood School (500 Terrace Street). The walk event begins at 2:00pm, registration begins at 1:30pm and for further details contact Carmel Coffin, 564-5348 or myself 849-0747.
Plans for Celtic Colours Walks 2005 are now being finalized, highlighted with walks in Grand Narrows and Iona including a luncheon and a supper/dinner at the NS Highland Village in Iona, "the heart of Cape Breton". There will be a repeat of Uisge Ban Falls our most popular hike and a new walk for our club to the Bornish Hills featuring a small waterfall, a cave and St Margaret's of Scotland Church.

A brochure of our Celtic Colours Walks 2005 will be made available during our clubs 8th Annual General Meeting to be held on Sarurday, 27 November, 1:00 PM, 36 Lewis Drive, Sydney River Fire Hall.

If you would like a copy of our 2005 Celtic Colours Walks (after Nov.27th, please) and our regular schedule of events please send a self addressed envelope to:
Cape Breton Island Hoppers Vs. 364 York Street Glace Bay, NS B1A 2N1

Come ! Put Your Heel and Toe On Our Island during Celtic Colours 2005

From Max MacDonald

Congrats and a big THANK YOU, Rollie! You and your team did a great job in less than ideal weather conditions. The Celtic Colours walks that you lead allowed visitors to stop and experience the natural beauty and hospitality that Cape Breton has to offer.
We are particularly pleased that you were encouraged enough by the turn out to be working on 2005 already.
Please pass along my regards to your group.
Max