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Please Note:  Club trips are designed for licensed vehicles and often enter and exit at different locations. Trailered unlicensed off road vehicles could therefore violate motor vehicle laws when returning to the start. Be sure to consider this if you intend to drive an unlicensed off road vehicle. Official Club Radios are GRMS channel 19 for travel to-from an event and 5 for during an event. NOTE, subject to change by event leader.

News / Articles

2021 November newsletter

Adam Mehlberg | Published on 11/3/2021
Trailridge Runners 4WD Club Newsletter
Trailridge Runners 4WD Club
P.O. Box 1716 * Longmont, CO 80502

  November 2021 Newsletter

Club forum, email to forum@trr4wd.com, which will go to all TRR members
Club Business
Club Meeting
Wednesday November 10th, 7:00pm to 9:00pm - Meeting, Moose Lodge #1548, 2200 Pratt Street, Longmont, CO 80501. Open to all members and guests.

The lodge is one street west of main, between 21st and 23rd on Pratt Street. We'll be at the north pavilion, which is north of the main lodge building. Look for the jeeps. The meeting will be held outside unless the weather does not cooperate. If so we will open the large doors and meet inside the pavilion.


Next Meeting:
7:00pm to 9:00pm - Meeting
  • Introduce guests.
  • Treasurers report.
  • Nomination of club officers for 2022.
    President, Vice Pres, Treasurer, Secretary
  • Nomination for 2021 Four Wheeler of the Year.
  • Club Express update.
  • New TRR Communication Guideline vote.
  • Longmont Parade of Lights (Dec 11) planning.
  • Middle St. Vrain, new bog spot.
  • FR372.1E (Gold Lake spur) terminus.
  • Planning for December meeting.
  • New/Other business.
  • Planning for Middle St. Vrain seasonal closure.
  • Planning for the club Christmas party. (Two dates on club calendar?)
  • Review of the Moab trip.
  • Close meeting.
  • Open discussion.
Past Meeting Minutes
  • No guests attended.
  • Welcome to new member Jim Bish.
  • Treasurers report was read by Matt S.
  • Club Express update on our club web site. Currently we have 95 total members with 61 primary members.
  • Vic W proposed making a geo-cache in memory of TRR members that have passed away. Need to work with someone in the club that is familiar with creating geo-caches. Gordon has done some research on placing a geo-cache on Forest Service lands and is waiting for a reply from Boulder Ranger District. Jim C proposed it be placed at Coney Flats. Still working details. Will be tabled until further information is gathered.
  • Forest Service chainsaw class was canceled by the Forest Service.
  • Greg B proposed participating in the Longmont Parade of Lights this winter. Club has supported doing the event. No info yet. May possibly be canceled, need to find out.
  • Gordon H. proposed that the new 18’x12’ bog spot repair on the Middle St. Vrain trail should be part of a major repair to the entire bog corridor and that he would address this proposal with the Forest Service.
  • Gordon H announced that the board had discussed the issue of club meetings during the colder winter months with no bathroom facilities open, and had decided to keep the meetings inside the north pavilion of the Moose Lodge with one roll-up door open. This would allow also all to participate in the meeting and comply with current COVID guidelines. In order to keep the meeting as brief as possible the meeting will start at 7:00PM without a social time.
    The north pavilion will soon be winterized, at which time the bathrooms will be closed. After the November club meeting, we’ll have to review the meeting venue. Will it be inside the Moose Lodge, the pavilion or return to zoom? The idea behind having no real “social time,” is a compromise between zoom meetings which were poorly attended, and meeting in a completely interior location. With no “social time” and meeting in the pavilion, the meetings would take place more specifically to get business accomplished. It’s still difficult to decide on the meeting venue in regards to COVID.
  • Gordon H announced that the board had discussed and had decided to postpone the planning meeting from November until February/March to accommodate the winter club meetings protocol. The November meeting is generally planning for the next year’s trails. Since few to no trail runs occur during the winter months, we quickly decided to postpone the planning activity until at least February, if not March.
  • The December meeting is of course important since we’ll be holding elections. Where to hold the December meeting to get the best participation is the question. This is probably the most important and pressing decision we have open.
  • There is interest in having the club Christmas Party this year. Debbie T said that a room at the Moose Lodge is reserved for December 4, 2021 and will check with Moose Lodge to see what the possible meal options and cost would be available, but will need to know approximate number that would attend. It was decided that the Christmas Party would be added as a club trip on the TRR website, so that members could register, and we could get an accurate number of attendees.
  • Planning for the Middle St. Vrain seasonal road closure. Working with the Forest Service to have the closure done on a weekend. Presently Nov 20 or Nov 27 are our dates. Weather will dictate which one.
  • Matt H, Kathy H, Mike C, and Richard H. presented reviews of the Buena Vista trip.
  • Planning for Moab trip was accomplished with a meeting prior to the club meeting.
  • Don L. presented a review of the Jeep Jamborees he attended.
  • Ray C. presented a review of the CB tuning event.
  • James H. presented a review of the T-33 crash site trip.
  • Gordon H. announced the nominations for club officers will be taken starting the November meeting. He said that he would also send an email to all members as a reminder.
  • Motion to close meeting by Vic W, second by Wanda C.
Club News

TRRTALK / TRR Forums

The TRR Forum is on our Club Express page. Go to TRR Main page and login. Click your member section in the upper right and then click on your profile. Select the Froum link at the bottom to set your preferences and forums you want to join.
You can also send an email to forum@trr4wd.com, which will go to all TRR members.

GMRS Radio Raffle

Don L has donated a Midland MXT115 mobile 15 watt GMRS radio that will be raffled off at the December club meeting. Must be a Trailridge Runner 4WD Club active member to enter. Do not need to be present to win.
Midland GMRS
This radio boasts triple the range of traditional handheld two-way radios. It easily mounts in most vehicles and communicates with all Midland FRS/GMRS walkie talkies. Featuring all 8 repeater GMRS channels for immense transmission and reception ranges, a multi-colored LCD backlit display, and NOAA weather alert channels. The MXT115 also features a powerful USB-C charging port, allowing the quickest charge time for all your devices, including cell phones and hand-held radios.
To enter the drawing, get your name to Adam M, or one of the club officers, by December 1, 2021. The drawing will be held December 8, 2021 at the club meeting.

GMRS Radio Guideline Proposal

Presently, Trailridge Runners 4WD Club does not have an official requirement for radio communications. CB radios have been used as the standard for trail communications by all members since the inception of the club. Occasionally 2 meter amateur radios and more recently GMRS radios have been used by a few members.
Much consideration has been given to this subject by the club officers as well as many members. It’s important to consider that changes will always occur. The challenges associated with change are for the most part experienced during the transition period. We as a club could choose to reduce the transition period by setting a date for the adoption of GMRS radios as the standard and move forward. In other articles we will outline the assistance that can be offered to aid club members in making this transition.
Compared to Citizens Band (CB), it has been demonstrated that GMRS radios have greater capability, including range and quality of communications. Therefore, a transition to GMRS communications as the club standard is recommended. In order to ensure a synchronized transition, trail communications will utilize GMRS radios beginning April 1, 2022.
The club officers have agreed that this should be documented as an operational guideline rather than an amendment to the bylaws. This proclamation of a club radio standard will be added as a document on the club’s website at, Documents\Operational Guidelines.
Information about the use and licensing of GMRS may be found at the FCC website. https://www.fcc.gov/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs.
It is the following paragraph that will be called to a vote during the November 2021 club meeting. The specific wording of the document is as follows.

Trailridge Runners 4WD Club standard for radio communications.

“The club will use General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS), radios as the standard, default, form of communication beginning April 1, 2022.”

Recent Trip Articles

  Look for pictures of the T-33 trip on the website photo album.


  
  
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