Friends of Schoodic Meeting –
August 13, 2003

The meeting was chaired by Tom Mayer and attended by Bill Weidner (NPS), Jeanie Wilson, Deedee West, Frank Cassidy, Katherine Cassidy, Bill Zoellick, Sally McKinnon, Rosemary Levin, Garry Levin, Allen Workman, Robert Babcock, Peter Drinkwater, Mike Greenwood, Bill Stone, Dirk Faegre, and Jim Wagner.

Gatehouse and Other Visitor Support Services

Consensus is that FOS participation in the gatehouse has been very successful.  Tom feels that it has been as important to the organization as to the NPS, since it has been a good way for people to be involved.

Mike Greenwood has been working as a volunteer on the ferry—riding it over and answering questions from visitors.  Sundays and Wednesdays—riding over and back in the morning.

Tom suggests that perhaps, next year, FOS volunteers to staff the ferry, as well as the gatehouse.  There was general agreement that this is an interesting idea.

Mike offered to organize, train, and manage the ferry volunteers.

Tom suggested that, with regard to the gatehouse, there be a training session to prepare volunteers.

There will be a meeting on August 25 to get feedback on volunteer experiences from the gatehouse.

There was a brief discussion of the possibility of covering weekend time at the gatehouse through September.  No decision was made as to whether to do this.

Deb Wade, the chief interpreter over in ANP has said that the Chamber of Commerce Map is not to be distributed.  There was much discussion of this, since the map is useful.  FOS suggested that the Peter Drinkwater, as a representative of the Chamber,  contact the NPS to see if there might be a reconsideration of this decision.

Trail Activity

Jay Horschak will organize trail work on the Anvil trail.

There is also work to be done on the Alder trail, including some heavy physical work.

There is also need for shore cleanup – perhaps in October.  There should also be a cleanup on Little Moose.  Tom decided that the shore cleanup should be handled through two different cleanup days.

The Bus

There will be a meeting on Sept 11 and 12 – sponsored by ANP and by the Maine DOT – to review the regional public transportation system.

Tom has been invited to attend, as a representative of FOS, or to send a member of his staff.  The meeting is primarily informational. 

There was much general discussion about area transportation.  The group also had an informal discussion of the Schoodic Explorer bus – what it does, how it is used.

The Ferry is also part of the issue.  There are reportedly local concerns  that it is privately owned and somewhat expensive.

Schoodic Futures, not Friends of Schoodic, supported the bus earlier this year.  There is still question as to whether FOS would have a united position on this matter.  People expressed different viewpoints that do not converge at this time.

The group also expressed a desire for better information and statistics about bus and ferry usage, with the goals of understanding who is using these services and understanding how this compares to overall Schoodic Section usage.

Bill Weidener agreed to find out what information that the park has and can share.

Bob Babcock moved that the group:

o       send representatives to the meeting

o       create a subcommittee that works to develop a position on transportation

The motion passed. Tom Mayer will get in touch with the meeting sponsors and seek to have himself and Bill Zoellick attend the meeting.

The subcommittee consists of Bob Babcock, Peter Drinkwater, and Bill Zoellick.

Website

Tom Mayer asked how the website might be made more useful. 

Bill Zoellick reported that it is seeing some use.  He suggested that it could be updated to contain:

o       minutes of meetings

o       information on issues

o       links to other sites

o       answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) that turned up at the gatehouse

Tom instructed Bill to add “cultural resources” to the mission statement.  There was agreement that we should add the FAQ.  There was no agreement on any other action.

Organization – Bylaws

This was suggested as a goal to accomplish over this winter.  Also need 501(c)3 organization.  No action was taken toward either of these goals at this meeting, beyond noting that this is work that needs to be done if the organization is to become independent of Schoodic Futures.

SERC and FOS Direction

The discussion of bylaws lead to a brief discussion of the role and future of FOS, and as to whether independence from Schoodic Futures is important in the short run.

Peter Drinkwater asked when FOS will become more engaged in getting the SERC idea moving.  The question was raised as to when we last heard from John Kelly.  There has been little communication with ANP on this issue.

Katherine Cassidy mentioned Down East RC&D as an organization that appears to be active in regional issues, and that FOS might cooperate with.  Katherine also asked how the organization might take action to raise money and raise its profile, noting that Schoodic Arts for All was also once part of Schoodic Futures, but has since become successful on its own and has recently attracted significant financial support.

Some people expressed the view that the organization does not need additional money – that it is fine as is.   Other suggested that funds could be used to pay for part-time staff, which would make the organization more effective over the long run.

There was no clear consensus on these issues.  No action was taken at this meeting regarding questions of purpose and direction.

Next Meeting

September 17.