Hello, 

           After packing up my tent at the Austin Farm I returned to Riverside Park and Devils Staircase to walk and enjoy the efforts you and so many others put forth to make this possible.  To my surprise, I encountered at least a dozen other folks happily afoot, marveling at the soaring bedrock, the polka dot sunshine, and the play of light skimming like a stone across the waters below.  At a gas station and again while motoring down the road, MSC Tool Trailer in tow, half-a-dozen folks came up or called out “thanks for your work on the trails!”  They meant that compliment for you and everyone who lends a hand. 

            The mission of the Ice Age Park and Trail Foundation is to create, support, and protect a thousand mile footpath tracing glacial formations across Wisconsin.  The mission of the Ice Age Park and Trail Foundation Mobile Skills Crew is to educate and empower volunteers to build a premier footpath known as the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.  Sugar Ray and Muhammad Ali; Lennon and McCartney; seems classics come in pairs and partnerships don’t just double, they quadruple the capacity of a small organization to affect wide-reaching change.  

            A partial list of people and organizations to thank includes: Howard and Beth Austin for providing us with a place to laugh and rest-up; Tom Presny and everyone with the City of Janesville Parks Department - a great crew stewarding a great resource; The Friends of Riverside Park and the Rock Trails Coalition; the St. Charles Focus Group; the Rock County RECAP program; the Rock Co. Parks Department; the many businesses and individuals who donated goods and services; Bjion Limestone Quarry; David Hobbs Honda of Glendale; The DNR Wisconsin State Parks Crew; the National Park Service; The IAPTF Rock County Chapter (join today!); Riverside Park Golf Course and lastly, all MSC Crew Leaders and everyone who helped, large or small, for one or for 200 hours, for placing rock, washing dishes and everything between.  Top to bottom, day in and day out, you guys make the Ice Age National Scenic Trail possible. 

           Next up on the MSC calendar is the Scuppernong Springs Project, August 16-19.  Fun!  Kevin Thusius is the Team Leader and will email the project announcement and details shortly.   

            We came away from Janesville with fingers and toes attached, laugh lines intact, and a community legacy not only rebuilt but rocketing forward. This fire still needs fuel and will need to be maintained.  You might want to keep an ear to the ground regarding late October/early November because the phrase “unfinished business’ is… not part of MSC’s vocabulary.   

            Happy Trails!

            The MSC Devils Staircase Project Team

            #######################

Tim Malzhan

Ice Age Park and Trail Foundation

Mobile Skills Crew Program Manager

SC Field Coordinator

608.592.1433 (tel)

Join on-line at www.iceagetrail.org