Annual Membership Meeting

September 20th, 3:00pm

Riverstone Church - Caledonia Pavilion/Tent
4277 Caledonia Avon Rd
Caledonia, NY 14423

You are invited to join us for a celebration of the past year's successes, hear updates with ongoing projects and plans for the coming year!

Open to ALL - bring your families and friends!

3:00pm - Meet fellow Friends at the Riverstone Church Tent (meet at corner of River Rd and Rte. 5 in Caledonia).

3:30pm - 4:30pm - Join us for a short hike on the Greenway and Erie-Attica Trail! Hear from Regional Railroad Historian, Tyler Heiman, about the interesting history of railroads in the area.

5:00pm - Presentation on bicycle and pedestrian safety programs by Barbara Sturm, Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructor with the Cornell Cooperative Extension.

5:30pm - Picnic dinner and Annual Membership Meeting.

6:00pm - Presentation on the Economic Impact of the Empire State Trail by Michael Cocquyt, Senior Program Manager with LaBella Associates.

About the Presentation: You may have heard about the recently released study by Parks and Trails NY (PTNY) that discovered that the Empire State Trail attracts 9.75 million annual visits with an economic impact of $1.87 Billion, shared by communities along the Trail.  Mike was instrumental in meeting face-to-face with trail users, local businesses and leaders and analyzed the data to complete this study.  Hear more about how the GVG can leverage this work to bring about benefits to our Trail Towns and trail users.

https://www.ptny.org/new-study-finds-empire-state-trail-drives-1-87-billion/

Picnic dinner will be provided by FOGVG, but guests are invited to bring a dessert or a dish they would like to share.

All members are requested to attend our Annual Meeting to consider a few updates to our policies and elect the next class of Directors.

Agenda for the Annual Membership Meeting:

• President's Update
• New Business - bylaws and strategic plan update
• FOGVG Director Elections

By-law change proposal:

• Amend Article V, Section 1 of the by-laws to allow for up to 21 members (presently the by-laws limit the Board to no more than 15).  Also amend Article IX, Section 2

  • This action would allow the Board to be expanded to increase representation from all communities along the trail.  The GVG passed through 5 counties and 16 towns, plus the City of Rochester and local trail towns bringing this total to greater than 15.  Plus, the Board will benefit from subject matter experts and talent beyond simply representation from local jurisdictions

Strategic Plan change proposal:

• Adopt an amendment to the Five-Year Plan (as originally adopted by the membership in 2023) to reflect updated branding for our signature event and updated budget/staffing goals for Years Four and Five (2027, 2028)

Elect Directors for 3-year terms, expiring 2029