President's Letter

Greetings from the David Canny Rountree Branch Trail,

PCA's mission is about connections, specifically to connect the community to the Rountree Branch corridor through recreation, conservation and environmental education.

Recently we have had some events that have really emphasized these connections:

On 9/17 PCA supported National Service day by partnering with the City of Platteville, Platteville Optimists, Rotary, and Kiwanis to plant 80 shrubs along the trail. On a rainy morning about 20 volunteers and family members from these organizations did trail counts, passed out water to trail users and planted the shrubs. Despite being a little wet we all had a great time and really felt the comradery of this group effort. I want to thank those organizations from that morning and also community support from the UWP Baseball team and the Tranel family who helped set this event up.

On October 8th we had a great recreational event with our 3rd annual Monster Dash. On a gorgeous warm morning we had 57 runners/walkers who enjoyed the fun run. We had lots of participants in great costumes, including scarecrows, squirrels, super heroes and of course, princesses. I would like to thank the PCA-run Activities Committee and many volunteers for putting on this excellent event. Runners and walkers that morning left with prizes of fresh apple cider and pumpkins from Vesperman Farms. I would also like to thank our many sponsors who made this event a nice fundraiser for PCA as well as a great recreational connection.

October 15th was the first Driftless Walking Tour. This hour historical walking tour was created in partnership between the Rollo Jamison Museum and PCA. The walking tour connects nature, history and culture as walkers explore the landscape of the Driftless Area and the Upper Mississippi Valley mining district, learning how geographical features developed into a way of life from prehistory to the establishment of Wisconsin as the Badger State.

Lastly PCA, through our raffle, raised $3,400 for the Platteville Fire Department. The PFD has been a wonderful partner for PCA annually helping/advising us on our controlled burns and the burning of our brush piles. Our Ecological Committee has coordinated these events with the PFD.

These are just a few of the community connections and partnerships that are flowing through PCA and our wonderful trail. As always I would like to thank our weekly/monthly volunteers who keep the trail one of the most beautiful, well maintained trails in the state. Winter is coming and I hope our volunteers enjoy some much needed rest and also some great winter recreation.

Happy Trails,

Bob