We worked on our event list and project plans. We have planned three camping events at RRR: our Derby Party weekend May 5-7, our Chili cook off in August, and Oaktoberfest September 29-October 1. We will have a weenie roast on National Trails Day, June 3, at the Rider Center at Oak Openings. Jack had so much fun doing it last year at our showcase ride that he wants to do it again. And our year end party, previously known as our Christmas Party, will be January 6, 2024 at Otsego Park.
Jack's project to create a connector trail between two sections of the Maumee State Forest has been well received by MSF and the proposal development will get underway soon.
Our annual plant sale, organized by Connie and facilitated by Sadowski's Greenhouse, opened with order forms due at our next meeting. And Dalton and Claire are working on an online store through Three Cord for custom ordered club apparel. We'll be able to choose designs and colors for specific chosen items.
A drawing was held from all members that turned in trail miles for t-shirts. Winners were Deb B., Cheryl Z., Barb G., Kate R., Ken S., Matt B., Barb S., Michelle M. Swanton, Laura S., Polly A.
Speaking of trail miles, our top chapter achievers for 2022 are Ron Cowell (1795), Pam Sinkey (741), Barb Schute (730), Kenny Vaughan (717) and Marge Jabri (628). Ron also made the state top ten list. Top saddle hours kudos go to Carolyn Korek (428), Tammy Royer (400), Audrey Bennett (360), Beth Arnold (300) and Flo Hannum (117). Our top four made the state list.
We also had a guest speaker at our meeting. Jamie Paxton told us about her organization, Little Blessings Veteran and Community Outreach in Ottawa Lake, Mich. It is one of two equine organizations in the United States to provide an individualized multi-week program for Veterans. They serve NW Ohio and SE Michigan and their equine-assisted programs are provided free of charge to Veterans and their families.
Chapter meetings will be May 6 during our Derby Party camping weekend, June 5, July 10, and August 7. They will be at RRR for the spring and summer.

Thirty-one members and two guests attended our April chapter meeting at Bunkers.
 
 

Date change: Our July chapter meeting will be July 10.
Date change: Our May chapter meeting will be May 6 at the Derby Party.
The Corral has reminded reporters that articles are to be about club members and events, no creative writing, no personal experiences or opinions, no writing about a topic that the writer is not an expert on. Please submit pics and news to Kathy Brown for the articles.
Our 2023 year end party will be Jan 6, 2024 at Otsego Park.
There were 10-12 riders at the WB indoor riding event on Feb. 19.
Volunteers are needed for the OHC booth at Equine Affair. Shifts are 9-12, 12-3, 3-6.
Connie is working on member packets.
HHYEC celebrates their 50th anniversary this year. Al, Tammy and Dalton are on the board.
Jack is working on working on the Maumee State Forest joiner trail. We need to prepare a proposal.
May 5-7 will be our camping weekend at RRR with the Derby party, chapter meeting, and potluck.
We will have our chili cookoff and a corn roast in August at RRR.
We will have our Oaktoberfest and dessert auction Sept 29-Oct 1 at RRR.
A drawing was held from all members that turned in trail miles for t-shirts. Winners were Deb B., Cheryl Z., Barb G., Kate R., Ken S., Matt B., Barb S., Michelle M. Swanton, Laura S., Polly A.
Our next meeting will be at Bunkers.
Dalton and Claire are working on an online store through Three Cord for club apparel. We'll be able to choose designs and colors for specific chosen items.
We will have our plant sale in April through Sadowskis.
We had birthday cake from Wixey Bakery to celebrate all 2023 birthdays.

34 members attended at Bunkers.

A suggestion was made to have our Christmas Party in January since December is a busy month and we typically have 3 events occur within 4 days. Jo will check on availability of venue.
We had 76 vendors sign up for our Tack sale.
We have 3 camping/event weekends [planned at Reed Rd.: May 5-7 Derby party, Aug. ? our Chili cookoff, Sept 29-Oct 1 Oaktoberfest.
Robin Hawkins made a donation to FCOHC to be used at OO. His memorial name plaque has been placed on the mounting stand (thank Connie).
We had 14,597 trail miles turned in for 2022; 2344 saddle hours (driving, schooling, competition). We will have a t-shirt drawing where all those who turned in miles are eligible.
We had ~30 diners at the Das Essenhaus Winter Blues Brunch in January.
We will have an indoor riding event at WB Feb.19. Arranged by Jack and Lisa Line.
Suggestion were made for the February WBB [but none were able to accommodate us].
Per Cheryl (NW region Mentor) Al is back as NW rep, the NW region state ride is being planned.
Jack suggested we have a birthday party for everyone in March.
A sponsor donation was approved for the NW Driving Circuit. Deb V. suggested Little Treasures, a veteran focused group.
Volunteers are needed for the OHC booth at Equine Affair.
Kate is making personalized nosebands.
Connie is working on resurrecting the membership packets.
HHYEC is resurrecting their schedule/ad book.
26 POP Tribute labels were donated to HHYEC.
Members are asked to facilitate member inclusion in our Facebook group by inviting member friends to join.
It has been noticed that some member information on the state website is incorrect and members are encouraged to verify their information.

41 members and guests attended at Bunkers.

The Christmas party was discussed. It was well attended, the food was good and everyone had a great time. It was suggested to have it the same place (Otsego Park) next year. It was also suggested to change the date to January to avoid having so much on the first weekend of December, and to a saturday to make it easier for those who work. This will be discussed next month.
We will have our Cowboy  Christmas tack swap same time, same place next year. We will get new signs.
The ranger boxes were well received. Thank you to those who donated and Connie and Jo for putting them together and delivering them.
The club would like to make club apparel this year as it has been a long time since anything was done. An online store was suggested that would allow choice of item, colors etc. We are looking into it. If you have design ideas, please get them to us.
Our first Winter Blues Brunch will be Saturday, Jan 28 at Das Essenhas in Wauseon, 9 am. Breakfast buffet is ~$9. A second WBB in Feb on a Sunday will be planned at the next meeting. Location suggestions are welcome; Charlie's was suggested.
Our 2023 calendar was started: camping for the Derby Party in May, chili cookoff in Aug., and Oaktoberfest end of Sept./beginning of October at Reed Rd. LeRoy is trying to connect with Farmlane for Memorial day weekend.
Kate showed us a personalized halter she made, suggested name badges/stickers. She will be working on a design personalized for our club.
Lisa L. talked to Lisa W. about club arena days at WB. We could rent the arena for exclusive riding with a minimum no. of participants. If you are interested, let us know. More discussion to come.
We donated money from our dessert auction to 5 foodbanks last month, $100 each;
60 Tribute pop's to HHYEC.

30 members attended at Bunkers.

Several club members (9) won prizes in the OHC 50th Anniversary Bingo venture. Members of our club won the 2nd grand prize and the 3rd grand prize and several other very nice prizes. Larry won the 50/50.
Christmas party - meats will be provided, chicken and ham. Please email RSVP and tell us what you are bringing.
OHC is now nonprofit making donations thru the foundation tax deductible. OHC Foundation is also in the Amazon Smiles program where a percentage of your purchases are donated to them at no cost to you. If someone makes a donation to our club, it will be run through the OHC Foundationj then sent back to us. The foundation will take care of the tax concerns.
Cowboy Christmas setup will be Saturday night at the conclusion of the horse show. It will be open by 7 am for vendors on Sunday.
Trail miles, saddle hours, volunteer hours and trail maintenance hours need to be turned in at the Jan 2 meeting.
Tammy and Doug are hosting our Fat Saturday Ride and New Years Day ride.
Bring donations for the ranger boxes to any activity or an officer.
Should we make new shirts next year?
Do we want to do the Winter Blues Brunches?
LeRoy suggested camping at Farmlane the Memorial Day weekend.
Edison Woods was suggested as a good place to camp.
Save your pop tabs for Debbie V., Tribute Feeds pop's for Harry Hughes.

33 membe attended at Bunkers.

Officer elections - current officers ran unopposed.
Pres.- Jack Collins
VP - Kathy Brown
Sec - Tammy Royer
Treas - Jo Neeley

44 members attended at RRR Oaktoberfest

Donations were made to the Fulton Co. Fair saddle horse division for awards.
Christmas party at Otsego Park will be a potluck by popular vote. Tammy will monitor food sign-up to ensure a good variety.
Lisa L. has volunteered to be our volunteer organizer/reporter.
The new restroom at OO was short-lived. It was in a bad spot and has been removed. The park has not responded about our offer to paint.
Report on Edison Woods showcase ride: very good place to camp, need a permit to camp, low and high areas, there were ~40 riders and a dozen campers, tie lines, located 10 miles east of Norwalk, stony, 14 miles of trails.
Kate, Sandy and Kate will sell tickets at the NW Regional showcase ride Saturday night event.
A donation will be made to the Van Buren silent auction (NW Regional ride Sept. 23-25).
A donation was made to Wayne Co. OHC (Mohican) including deposits from our chapter group that camped there during our lottery weekend in August and matching+ funds from FCOHC. The camping was great.
A secondary membership to Holmes Co. OHC will get you access to Mohican (which is hard to get).
Officer nominations - current officers, all accepted.
HHYEC RAT Oct. 2 will have a silent auction and raffle. 156 Tribute pop's donated this month.
OHC bingo card are due Nov. 5. Jack will mail as a group if desired.

26 members and guests attended at Bunkers.

 There will be no County Lines articles in Sept.
The Christmas party will be at Otsego Park, Friday Dec. 2. We'll have the hall from 10 am to 10 pm. We are looking into a caterer.
We discussed our donations to the 4-H groups and it was suggested that we go back to alternating between Fulton and Lucas Co. We will donate to Fulton this year.
Our chili cookoff will be Aug. 20 at RRR during a camping weekend. There will be happy hour, chili at ~6 pm, potluck, the champion chair award and other prizes.
Cowboy Christmas is on track to happen this year.
It was asked if we could work on getting a place to water horses in OO, perhaps by adding stone to a water spot.
There is no news on the proposal for a connecting trail between the MSF bridle trails.
It appears that our trip to Mohican will happen. Cheryl has been in touch with the man in charge.
We have opened it up to other OHC chapters. If you want a spot, contact Cheryl.
Upcoming camping opportunities:
Aug 12-14    Mohican club trip, contact Cheryl
Aug 19-21    Camping at RRR club event, chili cookoff Sat.
Sept 1-6      Big Elk Lick trip, other event, contact Carolyn
Sept 16-18   Mohican State ride
Sept 23-25  Van Buren State ride
Sept 30-Oct 2     RRR  Oaktoberfest

Our next meeting is Aug. 1 at Bunkers, 7 pm.

22 members attended at Bunkers

The cattle are in OO, part of a land management research project.
Trina told us about the possibilities for our Christmas party at Sauder's Village. Sandy distibuted a survey and collected and tallied the results. Ist choice is Otsego Park in December, 2nd is Sauder's in January.
There were 50-60 riders and lunchers at the showcase rider at OO. Art S. and Jack served up lunch.
Sandusky Co. is having a showcase ride June 25-26 at Whitestar/Garlo Metro Preserve.
Leroy is hosting camping at RRR July 1-4.
A link to the state trail miles/saddle hours reports has been posted on the website. They are also available on the state website or from Jack.
The trail out of HHYEC is open.
Prizes were awarded for our 50th celebration and we had cake!

27 members attended at Bunkers

Jack is looking for a Christmas committee to plan our party. Sandy Bernthisel and Trina Hauser will work on ideas.
OHC has completed the change to 501c3. Donations are now tax deductable.
The new Oak Openings manager is Mackenzie Huber.
The 5 mounting stands need work.
New signage is coming in OO.
HHYEC is getting a new sign ~$1600. They got an $800 donation from NWOHC. We will pay the balance.
Trail out of HHYEC is still closed.
Our showcase ride will be June 4, National Trails day. Lunch will be 11-1 at the rider center.
There will be a feed/nutrition seminar at J&B on April 6 at 5:30.

33 members and guests attended at Bunkers.