Volunteers shed Light on Brown Trail

The first two phases of the four-phase trail lighting project have been completed, thanks to great volunteer efforts. It hasn’t all gone smoothly, but it has been fun, and we plan to have the Brown Trail lighted and ready for this season’s first snow.

Before letting loose the awesome team of volunteers, Jerry Leiterman from the DNR provided strict guidance and review of safety. This way, the skier enthusiasm and drive would not overtake the sound reason and discipline of a safe operation.

POLES

First, the poles needed to be set. The poles were donated by WE Energy and picked up by Oyvind Solvang and Brian Henriksen from the West Bend depot one trip and Oyvind and Simen Solvang from the Milwaukee depot a second day using Hillcrest Builders' truck and trailer. We appreciate all the coordination by Mark McCormak of WE Energy as he time and time again checked the area depots for the right type of used poles.

Jeff Welch used his Jeep to distribute the poles by towing them around the trail. Jeep's are not designed for this level of duty, but Jeff's grooming experience must have provided the necessary skills to maneuver the Jeep up and down hills with poles in tow.

Setting the poles was done using a combination of Hillcrest's Kubota backhoe and Bowe's Pit-Stop's mini-excavator and the Hillcrest drilling machine to dig out the holes and Bowe's rough-terrain forklift with a jib to set them in place. If you think picking up 40' poles in a small space between trees is an easy task, think again. But Bill Bowe operated his machine with great skill and all the poles went in the hole smoothly with the superb guiding hands of Denis and Jim. In addition to Jeff and his Jeep, this day was staffed by Mike and Bowe, Jim Hertel, Denis Hauser, Tom Lawn, and Oyvind Solvang.

CABLE

Second, the electric cable needed to be trenched in. We knew the trenching would be a challenge due to the rocky soil, big tree roots, and hilly terrain, so we had rented the largest trencher we could find, a Ditch Witch HT115 track machine. Still, we couldn't get enough traction, and called in a dozer to tow the trencher for additional force. The dozer was provided by Gary Roeh from Roeh Excavating for a minimal charge - thank you, Gary. The goal was to get all the cable in the ground in two days. Despite very wet conditions on part of the trail, we managed to get it all done in a day-and-a-half.

Garth Stevens was the only one of us who had any trenching experience, so he saved our asses that first day. The rest of the crew, Jerry Leiterman from the DNR, Jeff Welch, Ken Weiss, Denis Hauser, Gene Bauman, Jim Leist, and Oyvind Solvang had to make due without Garth on the second day, and that’s when the real fun began. Jerry took possession of the seat of the trenching machine with a slightly strained look on his face. He had three levers to operate (the knife and boom plus the vibrator handle and throttle coupled with the propulsion joy-stick) and the need to avoid the trees, keep from sliding side-ways and signal the dozer-operator to pull or not to pull. However, Jerry’s face soon resumed its self-assured smile, as the trenching progressed flawlessly.

Jeff Welch had the opposite experience of Jerry. When Oyvind’s back went out, Jeff had to take over the backhoe. Jeff was confident that as a professional pilot his flight-stick dexterity would make this task a breeze. But we all soon discovered that landing airplanes is not a skill that is directly transferable to operating a manually equipped hoe.

Setting the ground-rods and ground conduit was masterfully done by Denis and Gene. Denis has so far not missed an hour of project time, and has spent many hours shuttling components and coordinating details in between. Finally, the manual digging around the shelter was done by DNR-managed prison-inmates, saving the backs of Brian's young skiers!

Oyvind’s back and lacking dozer skills was also a liability when it came to re-grading the disturbed areas, so we needed to call in a pro, and Ken Weiss volunteered his services. With Ken’s expertise, the road and trail-bed touch-up grading resulted in a perfect surface.

FIXTURES

The next major step is to hang the fixtures. Tony Schwaller drove to Manitowoc and brought the fixtures back to the machine shed. The installation is projected to take place later in the month of October. We will use Bowe’s rough terrain forklift with a man-basket. Tony Schwaller will operate the machine with Jim Hertel and Jeff Welch in the basket. Six Flags could not be more fun!

HOOK-UP

The final stage will be to make all the electrical connections and install the control system. Bob Roethel from Roethel Electric will donate his time to this and has already spent numerous hours to date designing the system. We are very fortunate to have Bob make this contribution, especially since we are more likely to see him passing through the area on the snowmobile trail than skiing on the trails.

FINAL PUSH

Thanks to all the volunteers, and all the folks who have donated money for this project. We still need more of the latter, as we’re $2,000 short, so send your donations so you can tell future generations, “I helped put those lights in at Greenbush!”