NEECA NEWS - Fall 2018
On November 3rd NEECA capped off another successful year of events with our annual Fall Social, which was held at the Ellinwood Country Club in Athol. Well over 100 members and friends showed up to participate in NEECA's final "official" event of the season. We actually hit max capacity for the venue and, regretfully, had to turn some last minute ticket seekers away as there was just no more room. Always a "good" problem to have. ;)
Once again we were overwhelmed with the generosity of NEECA supporters who donated some fantastic items for our very important auction, and for the folks who bid generously on those items. The Fall Social auction has proven to be one of NEECA's most important, and successful, fundraising events of the year. All profit from the auction is used towards the continued development of the park.
We were pleased to recognize Debbie Martin as our "Volunteer
of the Year". Debbie has been an avid supporter of NEECA for a
number of years now. She brings her always cheerful demeanor
and strong work ethic to a number of events throughout the year.
We are lucky to have her as a member and very grateful for all she
does. She also gifted us with a heartfelt and lovely
acceptance speech upon receiving her "NEECA Volunteer of the
Year Jacket" at the Fall Social.
As usual, 2018 proved to be a busy year for us. We hosted over 24 events, including shows, gymkhanas, demos, clinics, treasure hunts and trail rides. Our goal for this year was to bring electricity into NEECA at last, and by gosh, that's exactly what we did! Between funds we had set aside, and generous "pole sponsorships" by a variety of individuals and businesses, we were able to have over 20 poles set, and electrical wire installed, from the street right into NEECA. This is a HUGE goal to have attained and we are very excited about it.
But, as always, our focus has already turned to 2019 with respect to what events we can offer our members, along with what next big project we can get done at the Park itself. So stay tuned, check the website periodically and follow us on FaceBook so you can keep up to speed on what is happening at, and with, NEECA!
Spring Spruce Up a BIG Success!
We had a great turnout of volunteers for our April 14th Work Day at NEECA and the Park is now ready for the season. For pix, please go to 2018 Work Day page. You'll see a lot of hard work, but a lot of smiling faces as well!
New NEECA Entrance Sign Installed
In mid-December, Althea Bramhall (NEELMCC 2016/2017 President) and Peter Whitmore (NEELMCC President for 2018) stopped by the Athol Town Hall to make another installment payment on the loan the Town gave us a number of years ago to finance the new main entrance and driveway we put up at NEECA. They are shown in picture above presenting a check for $5000 to Athol Town Manager Shaun Suhoski. The new driveway was an important addition to NEECA and and we were very appreciative of the Town's support of that project. The NEELMCC Board has prioritized making the annual $5000 payment to the Town in an effort to get the loan repaid as quickly as possible.