Forest Park Hike - 5 Miles -A Members Appreciation Event

PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT EXTRA CAREFULLY ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE NEVER ATTENDED AN EVENT BEFORE WITH THIS GROUP.

IF YOU RSVP AND YOU HAVE NEVER ATTENDED AN EVENT BEFORE WITH THIS GROUP, WHETHER YOU ARE ON THE GOING LIST OR WAIT LIST, YOU MUST SEND ME YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS TO bsb2@att.net

City Island via Pelham Bay Park and Orchard Beach coming up on May 3.

There are alot of woods in this Park! And it's easy to get to by public transportation or by car.

I consider this a Members appreciation event. I want to initially reward those members who have supported this group especially in the last year or so with few cancellations. I won't accept any money on this event.

WHEN YOU RSVP THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE TO GO-IT MEANS YOU ACT RESPONSIBLY AND WITH CONSIDERATION REGARDING THE RSVP PROCESS.

The wait list for this group does NOT operate in a conventional way. Those on the wait list will not be moved to the going list automatically.

IF APPLICABLE, ALWAYS JOIN THE WAIT LIST WITH LOW PRIORITY WHICH IS FREE. IF THERE IS A WAITLIST, IT APPEARS MEETUP WILL ASK YOU IF YOU WANT TO JOIN MEETUP + BUT IN SMALLER LETTERS AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE YOU CAN CLICK CONTINUE WITH THE FREE PLAN. There is NEVER a need to pay extra to use Meetup's High Priority wait list classification for this group.

WE WILL LIMIT THIS EVENT TO AROUND 20-25 MEMBERS OR SO.
SOME PRIORITY IS GIVEN TO THOSE WHO HAVE ATTENDED EVENTS IN THE PAST 15 MONTHS AND HAVE FEW CANCELLATIONS.

WE CAN ALSO ADD SOME FIRST TIMERS TO THIS EVENT WHO ARE ACTUALLY SERIOUS ABOUT JOINING US.

IF YOU HAVE NEVER ATTENDED AN EVENT BEFORE WITH THE GROUP, I AM ASKING FOR YOUR HELP AND COOPERATION AS I PLAN THE EVENT. I AM REQUIRING THAT YOU SEND ME AN E-MAIL TO bsb2@att.net AS SOON AS YOU RSVP, EVEN IF YOU ARE ON THE WAIT LIST, AND PUT YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS IN THE BODY OF YOUR MESSAGE TO ME. THIS WILL HELP ME COMMUNICATE MORE EFFECTIVELY WITH THOSE WHO RSVP. SOMETIMES MEETUP MESSAGES DO NOT GET DELIVERED FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS. IF YOU CAN'T ABIDE BY THIS SIMPLE REQUEST, YOU ARE GOING TO END UP ON THE NOT GOING LIST. (NO GUESTS UNLESS YOU HAVE ATTENDED AN EVENT BEFORE WITH THIS GROUP. )

This event will be easy to get to and back via the E or F train and the Long Island Rail Road. If you drive, you should be able to find free parking as well.

Forest Park is a beautiful park in Queens that I suspect many of you have never visited. There will be an option to walk back thru Forest Hills Gardens. (I have led two tours of Forest Hills Gardens for the Guides Association of New York City).

Since I consider this a Members Appreciation Event, I will NOT accept any monetary contributions on this hike no matter how strong your desire might be to contribute.

Again, No guests unless I know you and they are registered.

This will be a fun, relatively fast paced approximately 5 mile hike. There will be little commentary from me except that a few times I will say something that I think is extremely funny although you might not think so. After we finish the hike, there will be an option to walk back thru Forest Hills Gardens heading in the direction of Continental Avenue and Austin Street where there are many restaurants and shops.

THIS IS A HEAVILY WOODED PARK. IN A NUMBER OF SPOTS YOU WILL FEEL LIKE YOU ARE IN UPSTATE NEW YORK. It is easy to get lost in there. I say this based on much personal experience. There are some climbs but they are not that steep.

WE WILL MEET A BIT BEFORE 10:15 A.M IF YOU TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AND 10:35 A.M. IF YOU MEET US IN THE PARK.

WEAR COMFORTABLE WALKING/RUNNING SHOES WITH GOOD TREAD.

WE WILL FINISH THE HIKE NEAR WHERE WE STARTED AROUND 1:30 P.M. I will then walk back thru Forest Hills Gardens for those who want to do that.

NO FOOD STOPS. PLEASE BRING SNACKS AND WATER.

MEETING DETAILS WILL BE SENT BY E-MAIL TO THOSE WHO RSVP NO LATER THAN THE SATURDAY BEFORE THE HIKE.

IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO, ON YOUR DESKTOP, PLEASE CLICK ON YOUR PROFILE WHICH IS ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE SITE, THEN CLICK "SETTINGS", THEN CLICK E-MAIL UPDATES" ON THE LEFT. MAKE SURE YOUR E-MAIL UPDATES ARE ON AND WHERE IT SAYS "UPDATES ABOUT YOU”, CHECK MESSAGES BOX. THIS WILL HELP TO INSURE YOU GET MESSAGES FROM ME. I LIKE TO THINK THOSE MESSAGES ARE IMPORTANT. IT LOOKS LIKE YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE YOUR SETTINGS FOR A SPECIFIC GROUP WHICH MAY BE HELPFUL IF YOU BELONG TO MANY MEETUP GROUPS.

There will be a bathroom break at the beginning for those arriving by subway, a bathroom break in the middle and one at the end.

AS ALWAYS, PLEASE READ THIS CLOSELY: I am also going to ask that people NOT post any comments or questions prior to the event. You have more than enough information to do this once you get the meeting details. No offense, but I don’t need to know-and probably neither does anyone else- what you are doing that day if you can’t make it or what you think the weather will be. AFTER the event, post as many comments and photos as you like.

If the weather forecast is bad, I will post a notice on the day of the event by 7:00 A.M. If there is no notice, we go.