Friends of the Hennepin Canal

Sheffield, IL 61361

Annual Meeting - Oct 9

The annual meeting for the Friends of the Hennepin Canal is scheduled for Thursday, October 9.  The meeting will begin at 7:00pm at the Visitor’s Center near Sheffield. 
   There will be a social half hour from 6:30-7:00pm, prior to the start of the meeting.
    On the agenda will be the reading of the minutes from last year’s annual meeting and treasurers report.
    President Wagle will give a report on the happenings with “Friends” through the past year.
    Ed Herrmann will report on our monthly sponsored hikes.
    Steve Moser, site superintendent will update us on the canal, what’s been accomplished, what’s scheduled for the future, and what’s happening with the state.
    Under new business will be the election to the Board of Directors.  Two of the Board members are up for election this fall.  One is Gary Wagle, current President, and Duke Mueller, current Vice-Pres.  Nominations from the floor can be made.  If you know of a member who would like to be on the board, please encourage them to speak up.
   A program has also been put together by Canal Interpreter, Judy Jacksohn.  Knowing Judy it will be both informative and entertaining 

From the Superintendent by Steve Moser

    Finally some rain and the temperatures are cooling.  Nothing compares to the blue of the sky in the fall.  This summer we attempted to keep abreast of the maintenance, but because of budget constraints we were short staffed so we did not get to some of the things we used to or would have liked to do.  We recently began to "roll" (compact) the oil and chip surface of the mainline trail.  We have not swept it yet,hoping to go through next summer's heat to let the oil embed as much of
the rock as possible.  I realize there are some loose spots, but please bear with us.  We do not want to prematurely push the rock off the trail only to have to come back and resurface.  The lower feeder trail is nearing completion; we are addressing some settling problems  near a wing wall at Aqueduct #9, but everything should be ready for a late fall bike ride, and should there be snow, a long snowmobile ride.  In closing, make sure to take time to enjoy Nature's beauty this fall; the
opportunities are numerous.

Steve 

Member Profile — Pat Stier

Where does one begin to start to tell about ones self.  I don’t know but here I go.  I grew up and have lived most of my life in Sheffield.  I went off to college and when I graduated took a job with a government agency in Kansas City (no it was not the IRS), but it was just down the road from them.  I transfer to Washington DC and lived there for about 3 years before returning to the small town life and working in the family business. 
    I have always known that the canal was out there, you know, north of town somewhere.  I can remember wondering as we pulled anhydrous tanks across the old canal bridges if we were going to make it, as you could see the water through the gaps in the planks. 
    I’m not a fisherman (woman - whatever!).  I just remember the time my older brothers took me fishing, down on Coal Creek.  I was so excited to catch my first fish only to be disappointed that they threw it back.  Being so young I just didn’t know there was a size restriction on fish.  I’ve only been fishing once since then and that was not with my brothers and yes they were big enough to keep.
    I don’t quite know how I got hooked into the Friends, except that a so-called friend of mine invited me along to the first meeting.  I kept going, but my friend hasn’t been seen at any other meetings.
    Like I said earlier, I work in the family business.  We’re open seven days a week, which means for the most part, I’m there seven days a week.  Once in a while they let me take a day off for good behavior and if it falls on the day of the hike, I usually join in.  We started selling bait and tackle three years ago, when the bait shop in Sheffield quit.  So I do get to hear the fishermen talk (and complain) about what is biting (they never say exactly where).  For some it is not a matter of whether they catch anything, just that they have a good time doing it and that they are not at work.
    I do have one extremely bad fault - I can not seem to say NO when asked.  I am a member of the Bureau County Tourism Council, a trustee of the Village of Sheffield, a trustee of the church I attend, a volunteer on the Sheffield/Mineral Rescue Unit, and of course Secretary/Treasurer of the Friends of the Hennepin Canal.  Needless to say many evenings of the month are taken up with meetings, but it does keep me out of trouble I think, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

A new “Friend”

    Congratulations to our Friends - Yona and Dina Lunken.  They are the parents of a second daughter, born Sept 3.  We look forward to seeing the whole family on the Hike the Canal walks.   

Note of Concern

    Our prayers and thoughts go out to our “Friend” Dave Berg’s wife Jill.  Jill was in a very serious car accident and has been in the hospital for several weeks.  It will be a long road ahead of her, but she is making good strides.  We all wish her well.  Just received the good news that Jill should be getting home on Oct 4.  She still has lots of physical therapy ahead of her.
    Dave was the editor of the “Wanderings” for a few years. 

Hiking the Hennepin Canal by Ed Herrmann

July Hike

    The July 20th hike on the Hennepin Canal Feeder north of Sheffield drew 10 hikers.  I arrived a little late having problems finding the correct county roads to get to Bridge 64.  Waiting when I arrived were: Paula & Dean Henkel - West Brooklyn; Mike & Sue Pratt - Dixon; Wayne Leader - Moline; Pat Stier - Sheffield; Sandra Steele & Peg Sandberg - Princeton.  Ann Pomatto from Spring Valley and myself completed the group.  Everyone walked at there own pace.  Leading the group were the ladies from Princeton.  Ann who likes to lead the pack could not catch up with them but was not too far behind.  The Henkels and Pratts went at a slower gait, Pat, Wayne, and Ed bringing up the rear. 
Work on the bike path was still in progress in this area.  Oil had just been applied in one section of the hike.  We also observed that work crews were also busy removing trees and branches, a result of a recent storm.  We reported to Steve Moser that people from the campgrounds that adjoined the canal were riding on the bike path with golf carts.   There has been a ban on the use of motor vehicles on the canal but I noticed that in the past a lot of locals would sneak on the paths with their motorcycles, ATVs, and cars.

August Hike

    Lock 25 west of Geneseo was the meeting site for our ten August 17th hikers.  A first! 3 hikers were from Iowa, Becky & Bill Brookhart from Princeton and Gary Frost from Camanche.  Completing the group: Mark Bauer, Brad Chandler, Larry Gay - Geneseo; Wayne Leader - Moline; Lucy Kannenberg - East Moline; Harold French - Port Byron; Ed Herrmann - Spring Valley.   Lucy was present at one of our winter hikes but left when the van driver was late (it was very cold and she thought the hike was called off).  From one of the coldest days and now one of the hottest.  We welcomed the trees as a windbreak on that winter hike but they blocked the breeze on this one.  Our expert clean-up crew of Mark and Brad headed the first group of hikers.  We (Wayne & Ed) were the backup crew in the second group.  I got some good use of my $3.00 easy grabber tool I found at a local Dollar Store.  It did the job to get into the poison ivy to retrieve cans and bottles but I wish it were 3 or 4 feet longer.  Mark reported that their group had not found much garbage (they followed the bike path the whole way).  Our group stayed on the North side of the canal as we had spotted a messy area at the boat ramp.  Because of that area and the road running alongside of the canal, we filled up a garbage bag plus a few smaller bags with trash.
    This area of the canal, starting at the Geneseo campgrounds, is very scenic this time of the year.  The lotus lilies were in full bloom.  Although they look nice, they are very thick in areas and clog up the waterway.  Wayne remembered the private nature spot adjacent to the canal where you can spot deer and other animals.  We spotted the herd in the distance but none of us had binoculars to get a close look.  We also saw a few heron and a groundhog that scooted across the path.

 September Hike

September 21st - the wonderful weather has brought a lot of visitors to the Hennepin Canal of which 10 participated in the monthly hike. We had two first time canal hikers with us, Ed Kuczek from Mendota and Jean Lawton from Santa Fe, N.M.  Jean is originally from Princeton and came to check out the new bike path.  All of the other hikers have done at least one other hike.    They were: Mike and Sue Pratt, Dixon; Mick Kunkel, Wyanet; Larry Gay, Geneseo; Melvin Monson, Rockford; Tom Schuhler, Mendota; Wayne Leader, Moline; Ed Herrmann, Spring Valley.  If you had wanted to see a lot of canal locks, 7 in number, this was the hike to take!  Tom Schuhler was rather surprised at the number of locks, as on his prior hike on the feeder canal he did not see one lock the whole hike.  Tom also commented that he wished a path like this would exist closer to Mendota as it would be great for jogging.  I have noticed some of the local runners using the Hennepin Canal but most in my area are still using the I-M Canal.  I am sure it will get more use as the word gets out.  This is the first hike that we met so many bicyclists using the path.  The anglers were also out.  I saw crappie being caught near lock 15 and nice catches of bluegill in the lock 11 pool.  We met a couple from Chillicothe at lock 14 checking out the canal for the first time.  I fish that area regularly and gave them a few pointers as the best spots to fish.  The first part of the hike we were on the all-purpose section of the path the equestrians can use (we spotted a few road apples).  At lock 12 the horse path crosses over to the north side and trail becomes oil and chip.  Mick Kunkel who lives in the area stated that the horse riders use the path more during the week and most of them use the trail more west of where we were.  A section of Bureau Creek runs just south of the canal as we approached lock 12 area and it was there that we had spotted a recently constructed beaver dam.  Low water levels have prompted the beavers to become very active on area waterways.  Mick told us that the water was at a low level in his farm pond.  As we crossed over Bureau Creek at lock 12 you could see a lot of the underwater pilings in the creek bed.  It is the site of where an aqueduct once existed to carry the canal water over the creek.  The water is now directed in an inverted siphon under Bureau Creek and enters the canal again in lock 12.  For anyone who missed this hike, it is well worth to bike or hike the area this fall as the colors will be great and is the most scenic area of the canal (I may be a little prejudiced being from the area). Note, that was also the opinion of our van driver.    

Board Notes

The Board met a regular board meeting on Sept 9 at the Visitor’s Center.
    Steve Moser updated the Board on the canal.  He reported that the canal had received the offset mower and it was really working out great.  The employees could now mow the banks and shoulders of the towpath.  There  are some pesky beavers trying to plug the culverts.  As the Canal is also responsible for Mautino State Park, Steve reported that Dove hunting had begun on Sept 1st. 
    There was motion made and accepted to purchase 6 pick stick for $5 or less.  Barb Mueller will look for them.  These will be used on our hikes to help pick up the trash along the path.
    The time and date for the annual meeting was set for Thursday. Oct 9 at the Visitor’s Center at 7:00 with a social half hour starting at 6:30pm.
    There were no bills presented, although it was reported that the Wells Fargo Bank in Geneseo will pay for the printing of the Hikemabika brochures.
    Hikemabika plans are falling in place.  Several door prizes have been collected.  Bags will be stuffed Sat, Oct 4 at 1pm at the campground. 
    It was reported that the National Trails Meeting will be held in the Quad-Cities in the near future.
    Next meeting will be the annual meeting.