Summary

The EOTB AGM was held, once again, at Biagio’s Italian Kitchen, and despite competing with the Senators game, we had excellent attendance. I would like to thank those that took the time to join us at the AGM to help us launch the upcoming season. For those of you that weren’t able to attend, the following is a summary of what took place at the AGM

EOTB Board of Directors

As there was only one nomination per position, each position was filled by acclamation, and no election was necessary. The following members will represent you for the upcoming year:

Ottawa Chapter Director – Eric Mingelinckx
Kingston Chapter Director – Vacant
Environmental Officer – Brian Wachko
Secretary – Nick Clement
Treasurer – Craig Badgley
Vice-President – Chris Palko
President – Paul Dufresne

Thank you to all those who participated in the process by nominating or accepting nominations to serve the club. I would also like to thank outgoing officers Burns MacDonald, Peter Strecko, Ken Buck and Rodney Etienne for their service to the club.

Awards

Every year, the EOTB recognizes some of our members by handing out awards at the AGM. This year, the following awards were handed out:

Trail Blazer Award – Recognizes the group who participated in an adventure that exemplifies the spirit of the club.
Ken Buck and Eric Mingelinckx – For being the first to brave the recently cleared waterfall on the Bear Skulls.

Rookie Award – For excellence in providing the club with limitless energy and enthusiasm.
Nick Dufresne – In his first season as a solo driver, Nick not only performed well on the trails, but on two occasions, unexpectedly acted as trail leader.

Jackstand Award – The EOTB Jackstand award is presented to the member with the vehicle that spends the most time in the shop undergoing significant repairs or restoration.
Mike Bendick – Mike spent the better part of last winter and lost most of the wheeling season making repairs and upgrading his Jeep.

Bling Bling Award – For excellence in attention to the aesthetic attributes of one’s rig.
Craig Badgley – When he arrives for a trail run, Craig’s Jeep is always clean and shiny, but ready to go!

Best Stuck Award – Given for excellence in generously providing the club with practice in extraction technique
Paul Dufresne – During his first attempt at the waterfall on the Bear Skulls, Paul got stuck in the muddy quagmire at the bottom, eventually damaging his winch during extraction, eventually being rescued by his son Nick.

Maher President’s Award – Awarded to the club member displaying good attitude in adversity.
Normand Matte – Norm had an unfortunate lower control arm mount failure when running the Bear Skulls last season, but maintained a positive attitude as he limped his Jeep off the trail held together with a couple of ratchet straps.

Kohn Award – given to the club MVP – most valuable player – the person in the club who makes an exceptional contribution in a given year.
Paul Dufresne

New Website

A new website is under development for the EOTB, and we gave the members a sneak preview of what’s to come. While there is still a little work to be done, we’re on our way to having a new web home to provide improved services to our members. Stay tuned!

Trail Schedule

The trail schedule has tentatively been set. We will look to publish it to the new website as soon as possible.

For the month of May, however, the following are planned:

May 3 – Season Opener at the Gorge
May 16 – Lavant Lookout (Overnight)
May 24 – Crag Lake Back Door (Trail Maintenance and Trail Run)
May 30 – National 4×4 Open House (National 4×4, Smiths Falls)

Look for the rest of the schedule to be published in the coming weeks.