A great thank you to Cortney Worral, the Executive Director of ADK, who visited us last Tuesday at our Chapter meeting. A few highlights from her presentation:

  • Cascade Center: financially not viable because of not being able to provide food services; large renovation and maintenance requirements beyond the means of the club. Consequently, put up for sale, but no buyer yet. 
  • The club will move to mostly digital communication, such as by email, Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/adkmtnclub) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/adkmtnclub/) and a new website.  This will allow for more timely and frequent communication with members.  At the same time the glossy, expensive print magazine will be reduced to only one edition per year. 
  • The club needs to attract younger members who will become the next generation of leaders. If you know a young person who loves the outdoors, encourage them to become a member if they are not already. They can join by going to https://members.adk.org/members/get-involved/membership.aspx. 
  • There is a great need for Outings Leaders at all levels. If you are an avid hiker/paddler we encourage you to consider becoming a leader by getting certified. For more information go to the certification page at adk.org or contact our Outings chair, Debbie Van Ryn at dmvanryn@gmail.com. 
  • Short term goals: Financial stability; reduce high staff turnover; reestablish food service at the Adirondack Loj at Heart Lake.
  • Long term goals: get young people excited about ADK; advocacy for the Adirondacks and the environment; grow education programs; address deferred maintenance at club properties and make them resilient to extreme weather.

The second part of the meeting consisted of a presentation by Dan Yacobellis, a certified animal tracker. He focused on the role tracking has and still plays in the life of humans from their early days as hunter and gatherers to today. Identifying animal tracks requires observation and understanding of nature, whether as a hunter, wildlife photographer or as someone who simply enjoys the outdoors. He encouraged us to observe and draw conclusions from our observations. Dan runs the Tamakoce Wilderness Programs.

The next chapter meeting is on March 10 with a program to be determined. As usual, an email will go out with more information.

Upcoming chapter led outings (https://albany.adk.org/outings-activities/) 

Feb 14 Bozen Kill Preserve 

March 7 Panther, Couchsachraga, Santanoni

March 21 Haystack, Basin, Saddleback

Feb 19, 26, March 5, 12,19, 26 Winter Paddling Pool Practice and Training

Additional outings are offered by staff of ADK, information for those and other offerings can be found here: https://adk.org/guided-trips/#calendar 

Lastly, if you or someone you know think they don’t receive emails from the main club you need to go to your member account at https://members.adk.org/members/Sign_In.aspx and verify that your email is in your member profile. Alternatively, you can send an email to contact@adk-albany.org and we will forward your request to the person responsible for maintaining the membership list.