TTA 2026 Annual Meeting

 

Over 130 TTA members joined together in Crossville at the Crossville Shooting Sports Park. We hiked, danced, ate, played games, bid on auction items and got down to business.

Bob Obohoski - Bill Stutz Award

Patti Deen - Bill Stutz Award

Bob Richards - Mack Pritchard Environmental Award

Libby Francis - Bob Brown Lifetime Achievement Award

We camped at the Spring Lake campground just up the road. 

On Friday we hiked the Seven Bridges Trail in Fairfield Glade. We had 12 hikers in the group. Friday night we had a BBQ dinner followed by some live music.

Saturday Lora and I got up and hiked the Canyon Trail in Fairfield Glade. After lunch we joined the group hiking the Cascade Trail in Fairfield Glade. Six of us on this hike. After the hike we had a Turkey dinner followed by an Edible Plant presentation and more live music.

Sunday Lora had the board meeting and I hiked the Pioneer Short Loop Trail in Cumberland Mountain SP with seven others. After lunch Lora and I went over and hiked the Overlook Trail in Fairfield Glade. We stayed on Sunday night and then headed home Monday.

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TTA Normandy Lake Paddle

We had 9 paddlers to spend the day on Normandy Lake in Manchester led by Joan. Cynthia caught up with us after we had already paddled at least a mile. She caught up by having a guy pull her from the back of his Seadoo. We were surprised since we didn't know she was coming! We started at the Ward's Chapel boat ramp (AKA Firelake) and paddled to the left toward lake marker #7. We enjoyed lunch in a picnic area, saw osprey and river otters. We paddled almost 9 miles and it was a beautiful day to be on the lake. Paddlers were Wendy Fish, Joan Hartvigsen, Lacee Lanier, Cynthia Meinerding, Lora and Craig McBride, Sara Pollard, Brian Wofford and Ruth Wofford.

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Fall Creek Falls Lake Bike Trail

Lora and I hike the Lake Bike trail from the dam to the lodge and back. Had us a picnic lunch and then headed to the Gorge Hole for some swimming.

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Fall Creek Falls Gilbert Gaul Trail

Today's hike was at Fall Creek Falls on the Gilber Gaul Trail. We started at the Fisherman's Cabins and went to the end of the lake and back. We got to see lots of flowers, a couple of owls, five cormorants, toads, and squirrels. 

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West Memphis 2026

We headed over to see our daughter and Grandchildren. We got to go out with Samantha, Kaylin, and Kaiden Sunday night. We went to the pyramid for dinner and then we rode the electric bikes around Mud Island River Park.

Monday we had a wonderful breakfast prepared by Gary. We went to Mud Island River Park and Mississippi River Museum. We visited Baron Von Opperbean River of Time. We went through the hidden rooms looking for the mystery boxes. We went back to Melissa's and enjoyed the pool and evening dinner prepaired by Gary. Good eating!

Tuesday we went out for breakfast at the Sunrise Memphis before we had to head back home. Great times with the family. 

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Barrens Fork and Collins River Kayak

We had 13 paddlers to kayak 6 miles from the Pepper Branch Park in McMinnville to the take out on Highway 70 in the old VFW parking lot. Due to all the rain lately we had a nice flow on the Barren Fork with some fun ripples to paddle through. We stopped for lunch before meeting the Collins River to continue our journey to the takeout. It was a hot day with temperatures in the 90's but the water felt great. Paddlers were Jim Barritt, Ron Dunn, Wendy Fish, Nancy Franz, Joan Hartvigsen, Nancy Juodenas, Craig McBride, Lora McBride, Cynthia Meinerding, Sara Pollard, Kathy Stutts, Brian and Ruth Wolford. 

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Elk River Float

This was a joint event with the Highland Rim chapter. We put in downstream from the Tims Ford Dam in Winchester and paddled 8 miles to the Farris Creek Bridge. After setting up the shuttle, we launched our kayaks and a canoe in the cold water of the Elk River. It was a cloudy morning and a heavy fog stayed on the river the entire trip. We also had light rain most of the way and Georganne was able to construct a "rain vest" out of a white garbage bag.  The only folks we saw on the river were fishermen at the beginning so we had the river to ourselves due to the dreary weather. We stopped for lunch at 5 miles and were able to get out and stretch.  We still enjoyed paddling the beautiful Elk River. Paddlers were Jim Barritt, Cathy Conley, Joan Hartvigsen, Pete Jacobs, Renee Jacobs, Nancy Juodenas, Craig McBride, Lora McBride, Sara Pollard, and Georganne Ross. 

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Rainbow Lake TTA

 

Scenic City hike led by Will, alternate plan from Dog Cove Trail in Sparta where lots of rain was forcast. 8 hikers, Will, Tom, Tammy, Tim, Craig D., John, Betsy, me. The trail was pretty, Bee Branch was too, but the downed trees made it very challenging. We made it thru, over, under and around some. After so many we decided to not hike further, not knowing how many more trees were down. On the way out, a family was clearing the trail with a chainsaw. 

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Virginia Family Visit

Lora and I headed to Virginia for a few days with my parents and sister / brother in law. We drove up Friday which takes about 10 hours. We went out for dinner at Cracker Barrel which my mom likes. The next morning we took my parents to Three Lakes Park and Nature Center for a morning walk. We worked around rain throughout our visit. We visited throughout the day and my sister and her husband visited for dinner. 

Saturday was a shopping day for the ladies and I took my dad to Kroger to walk in the ac. Dinner at mom's house. 

Sunday we went back to St. Elizabeth's which is a Swahili Catholic Church. Very entertaining and spiritual filled church. After church was a shopping day for the ladies and I took my dad to Kroger to walk in the ac. Dinner was at my sister's house. 

Monday was cooking day. Made some sugar cookie's for my dad and some bannana bread. Sister and husband came over for dinner. We headed back home Tuesday.

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Sale Creek

Lora and I went for the first canoe trip of this season to Sale Creek. We paddled towards the main river doing a loop around the first small lake. We saw deer, eagles, herons, turtles, and fish.

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