Hello and some information
Marshall Pontrelli
President
175 Beacon St. Apt 409, Somerville, MA, 02143
(781) 879-0258
Hello All,
Happy New Year and I hope your 2021 was a good one! My name is Marshall Pontrelli (woods name Smathers) and I served on crew in two stints, from 2014-2015 and from 2017-2018, and I was the TM in 2018. I have been on the TCA board since my TM year, serving as secretary from 2019-2021 and elected as president this past November at the annual meeting. I just wanted to give you all a warm greeting to start this new year and to tell you all about some things we are planning for the upcoming year.
Our focus areas this year are to 1) connect with as many alumni as possible, working to grow and strengthen our alumni network 2) put some money into the upkeep of Shelburne cabin – on top of the usual taxes and insurance we have identified several repairs that need to be made and 3) develop relationships with trails people in the Whites to help us understand how TCA fits in to the larger trail work picture. The board is going to try to make some phone calls later in the month for some more personal communication, but if any of you want to reach out to say hi, ask questions or make suggestions feel free to email me at [email protected].
Also of note for TCA’s development is our new website. It contains some archives we’ve collected, a blog, and a portal for dues payments and cabin information. Please pay your dues if you wish – they are always needed to maintain this great network of people through our website and the cabin. Basically, our current operating expenses are around $4,000 a year and dues are $45 per person with an option of a $450 lifetime membership.
Finally, we are organizing a cabin work weekend this spring, tentatively the last week of April, and will be reaching out for interested volunteers. Projects on the agenda include building new benches around the fire, installing new woodstoves, and other smaller tasks.
I hope you have a nice start to the year and I’m looking forward to getting to see those who I already know and to meet those who I don’t.
Foo!
Marshall “Smathers” Pontrelli