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DAIRYLAND WALKERS BIMONTHLY MEETING MIDDLETON COMMUNITY BANK FEBRUARY 9, 2006  Officers Present:  Ron Moore (Vice President); Russ Crane (Treasurer); Karen Reger (Secretary); Barb Borde (Director at Large)  In Attendance:  32  Meeting  Ron Moore called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.   Secretary's Report (Karen Reger)  Karen had brought paper copies of the minutes of the last membership meeting of December 4.  There was no discussion, and the minutes were accepted.  Treasurer's Report (Russ Crane) The balance on January 12 (the date of the last Board meeting) was $2,288.31.  Since then, income has totaled $6,812.00, the vast majority of which is for the Niagara Falls bus trip.  Expenses have totaled $717.73, mostly being either related directly to the bus trip or returns of deposits for people who can't go.  The current balance is $8,382.58, $5,450.00 of which is committed to the bus trip.  The uncommitted balance is $2,932.58.  The report was accepted with no discussion.   Russ also passed around a sign-up sheet for volunteers for the Canoecopia event, at which the Dairyland Walkers will have a table.    Donation (Barb Borde) A motion was made that the club give a donation of $50.00 to the Immanuel Lutheran Church, where the club had its holiday party last December.  The motion was passed.    The meeting ended at 6:35 p.m.    Program Jo and Bob Sparks gave an illustrated program on the Circle Tour which they took with their boat, the African Queen 2, from August 18, 2004, to July 10, 2005  The trip was over 5,000 miles in distance.  They did 22 AVA walks but didn't take pictures on every walk.    Their previous experience with traveling on water consisted of canoeing on Indiana's rivers and lakes.  The planning for the trip took two years, getting information from books and the Internet, and attending the Milwaukee Boat Show.  They also took classes in cruise planning, piloting, and engine maintenance.    Jo did most of the "driving," including approaching and leaving the docks, while Bob read charts and navigated.    They began their journey at Racine, going down to the Chicago River.  During their trip, they went through 106 locks (of varying styles), with commercial traffic having precedence.  They took bike rides 5-6 times.  They also played in bridge tournaments, which they learned about from the Internet.  They did not travel at night, stopping around 2:00 p.m.  The longest distance traveled in a day was 113 miles, but 40-50 miles was the usual distance.  They usually had breakfast on board, ate lunch somewhere along the way, and had a sandwich for supper.  Some marinas had a variety of courtesy cars so boaters could go to a grocery store.  Going along Florida's panhandle, hurricane damage was visible.  At Sarasota they went through the Ringling estate.  Their children came down to visit over Christmas in Fort Myers Beach.  They then cut across Florida via the Okeechobee Waterway to the Atlantic Ocean, turning north.  They stayed several days in St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States, visiting the Castillo de San Marcos fort.  They biked on Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia, which is a state park, sighting an alligator for the first time.   They then entered the Intracoastal Waterway.  Along the East Coast, they stopped frequently to walk in old cities such as Beaufort and Charleston, South Carolina; and Southport and Beaufort, North Carolina.  They were boarded by the Coast Guard by Camp Lejeune Marine Base, North Carolina, where the boat and their papers were inspected.  They rented a car so they could do a walk in New Bern, the second oldest city in North Carolina, where Pepsi was developed.    The cherry trees at Cape May were in bloom, a sign that spring was on the way.  At Manasquan Inlet, New Jersey, the Waterway ended and they entered the Atlantic once again.  Further along, they entered the Hudson River, going by Manhattan, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty.  They stopped along the way at West Point, Hyde Park, the Vanderbilt estate, and Albany.    Going from Troy, New York, by various canals, they went to Sackets Harbor, where they did a walk.  Going by the Thousand Islands area in the St. Lawrence River, they entered Canada at Kingston, where they did a walk.  Leaving Lake Ontario, they headed to Georgian Bay, where they did a walk at Parry Sound.  On July 1, Canada Day, they were at Spanish.  At Drummond Island, they re-entered the United States, going by Mackinac Island and entering Lake Michigan.  They took a tour of Washington Island.    Their boat is now in dry dock in Grafton, and is for sale.  Jo and Bob are now entitled to be known as "Loopers."    The program ended at 7:45 p.m.    Submitted by Karen Reger, Secretary