A message from the President |
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A Message from the President
Southern Four Wheel Drive Association
March 5, 2014 |
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In the first few days of my new role, it is clear we have many
challenges as an association. First, we as a group of volunteers have
spent many years building relationships, friends and growing our
families around the many SFWDA activities. As I shared at our 1st
Quarter Meeting in Tracy City, TN, we must respect our past but prepare
to move forward with a positive commitment to nurture all 4x4
enthusiasts and stay true to our core mission values of “Conservation, Education, and Recreation.” As an association, we fought a very hard battle with our friends at the Blue Ribbon Coalition (http://www.sharetrails.org/) to save Upper Tellico OHV area. However, we lost this war to the USFS and the Federal Courts.
Now is our time to re-purpose this association, our message and refocus
our energies. Your association is in the process of shifting our
thought processes and communications to reflect the following:
We are the Southern Four Drive Association, a
non-profit organization of 4 wheel drive clubs and individual members in
the southeastern United States. Our association is dedicated to
promoting four wheel drive recreation on both public and private lands,
off-road education, responsible land usage and OHV trail conservation.
SFWDA proudly supports Tread Lightly, Blue Ribbon Coalition and the
United Four Wheel Drive Association.
The primary strategy to create a “New” SFWDA is to reach all 4x4
enthusiasts and support both public and private lands. We need tools to
achieve these goals and the first step is the creation and introduction
of a new SFWDA logo. Your association is in the final steps of this
project and will be introducing this to all of you soon. Second, we
have beat to death the web page ineffectiveness and now we are in the
final beta testing steps of a new www.sfwda.org. These will allow our member clubs and individual members to communicate more effectively and achieve our common goal…RIDE.
We exist for one purpose and that is to share family moments with both
our old friends and also our new friends. Each of us can be an
ambassador of these values and breathe new life into SFWDA.
Another point of our forward looking strategy is to engage the many
Facebook and virtual 4x4 enthusiasts and share our passion.
Additionally we will look to create viable long term partnerships with
private lands that many of use. We will continue our engagement in key
public land use arenas such as the work being done by Carolina Trail
Blazers at the Uwharrie National Forest OHV (TN), Georgia Bounty Runners
at Beasley Knob (GA) and the Red River Gorge (KY). We need to share
and link all groups to support such events 4 Wheeling for a Cure benefiting St. Jude’s Children Hospital,
hosted by Rattlerock Club on April 12, 2014 at Windrock Park (TN). We
need to look beyond our immediate worlds and reach for all 4x4
enthusiasts. Everyone is welcome in our “New” SFWDA.
As we move forward, our actions must reflect a change of attitudes. I
ask each of you to share your passion for this 4 wheeling thing we love
and touch every 4x4 enthusiasts we can in 2014. We can be true to our
core values as we spread the wings of the “New” SFWDA and start down
this path of open communications and re-purposing of your association.
Upcoming Events
Uwharrie OHV Jamboree, April 5, 2014 UORTC, Troy, NC
https://www.facebook.com/UwharrieOhvJamboree
4 Wheeling for the Cure, April 12, 2014, Windrock Park, Oliver Springs, TN
http://overlysoffroad.com/
Mud 4 Blood, April 12, 2014, Georgia Bounty Runners, Smyrna, GA
http://www.gbr4wd.com/
SFWDA TrailFest, May 2-4, 2014 Adventure Offroad Park & Nature Park
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adventure-Offroad-Park-Nature-Center/153095141499864
Registration: http://sfwda.org/events/
15th Memorial Day Bash, May 24-27, 2014, Damn Locals, Tracy City, TN
https://damnlocals4x4.com/
SFWDA Summer Meet and Ride, June 14, 2014, Hosted by Georgia Bounty Runners,
Beasley Knob, Blairsville, GA
http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/conf/recarea/?recid=10533
Also look for upcoming news on our events at Trails Training Center,
Sequatchie, TN and SFWDA Dixie Run, Golden Mountain Park, Sparta, TN.
Please join me on this journey. I welcome all your critical thoughts
and ideas. Let’s build something that our children and grandchildren
can enjoy in their lives.
Thank you,
Ray Stanley
President
Southern Four Wheel Drive Association
ray.stanley@sfwda.org
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Edited by cj8lvr - 06 March 2014 at 4:53am
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