Busy, busy, busy. - by Jon

Folks it's been hectic here at Holler Crawler central.

My good friend Preston told me a few months ago..."You're about to be a busy man..."

He wasn't lyin'.

In all honesty I can say that I am not really a fan of being busy most of the time. I am a much bigger fan of quiet evenings on the lake in the sacred absense of the hustle and bustle. But this club has changed me in a very positive way. It's given me more than a hobby...it's given me a new goal. To try to use adventure tourism to breathe new life in Bell County and southeast Kentucky.

My buddy Preston also told me...one thing I was gonna need is people with the same fire I have. And the people that I found...man...I cannot explain how good of a core group we have. From all ages, backgrounds...we have all kinds and we all get along so well and all want to see this club reach the pinnacle. People with different knowledge and different skill sets that are all vital to the success of this club. I have to say I lucked out. To have people dedicated...who not only talk the talk but walk the walk. They're great, I can't say thanks enough to them. Together we're making it happen.

Great news today folks...SB 196 has passed!
This is a GIANT step forward in the right direction for Bell County and the rest of Kentucky. This law pretty much allows land owners the right to enter into contracts with state government concerning the use of their land in connection to adventure tourism...whether it be trail sports like we are focused on...boating, rock climbing, etc. We had been working on different forms of this bill for several years and this year thanks to the hard work of Senator Brandon Smith and others, it made it through. Both Republicans and Democrats...coming together...because both believed a good idea was more important than partisan politics. That's a beatiful thing, ya'll. For more info on that bill check this out:



In other news our event schedule has added a new one to it's list...the 2008 Pineville Spring Fling...which is being put together by our friend Tim Cornett, director of Main Street Pineville. The event will feature a city wide yard sale, an auction I believe...different vendor booths including Hart's Cyle and MGD, and a Holler Crawler Booth. Our booth will contain info about the club, the park, safety information about riding, and some super sweet Holler Crawler Merch. Also during this event there will be an ATV show...so you can spiff your toy up, spit shine it, and there will be a parking area and we will have a route to get to the show area. So by all means come show off your ride and your mods!


And of course, coming up on Saturday, May 31st, we are doing our first large scale organized ride...simply called the Ride For Sean. This ride will be a donation ride for the children of the fallen Deputy Sheriff Sean Pursifull that so tragically lost his life a few months back. We are asking everyone to please help spread the word on this ride, as we are going to raise as much money as we can for this great cause.
For info on the ride go here: http://hollercrawlers.googlepages.com/rideforsean

Also folks, stay tuned for exciting news concerning some new legal land to ride in Bell County...We're hoping to add another 33,000 acres of some of the BEST riding you'll find anywhere to our ranks. As soon as we hear word, so will you!

Another announcement, thanks to our secretary Rob we have picked up Subway of Middlesboro as an official sponsor! Show your Holler Crawler membership card and you will get 50 cents off a 6 inch, and $1 off a footleg! Good going Rob! Nothing beats a footlong Subway roast beef/turkey samich after a hard days ride. So after playing in the mountains and mud all day, remember to eat fresh at the Middlesboro Subway!

About merch - we are hoping to have it in reaaaaal soon. On this initial next order we're only gonna have about 25 shirts or so left...so if you want a shirt, now is the time to let us know about it! We will also have some camo caps and two sizes of stickers. So make sure to get yourself some Holler Crawler merch and rep Bell County, as the kids say.

Another thing before I forget...This club is not just open to ATVs. We are making a conscious effort to change the name from 'Holler Crawlers ATV Club' to 'Holler Crawlers Off-Road Club'. We also have memebrs with dirt bikes and side x sides...and are also open to Jeeps/Trucks, rock crawlers...about anything you ride the trails with. Even looking at possibly opening the club up to mountain bikers and horseback riders...Right now we are looking for a person to help get people interested in the Jeep/Truck/Rock Crawler aspect of the club, as we don't have many current members who have such toys. So please if you are local and would like to help us get this division up and running, please give us a holler!

Anyway I think that's it for now. Stay tuned, Holler Crawler Nation! And help spread the word! Don't forget our next meeting is Tuesday, April 8th, 6:00PM, 3rd Floor Meeting Room of Old Pineville Courthouse. We'd love to have ya'll over!

Jon (BCO)

A Day I'll Never Forget - By Dianne - 03/05/08

You know, you see things like this on TV and read about them in the newspapers, but you don't expect to be an eye witness to an airplane crash! I'm still shaking. And it has been several hours now since it happened.
Jim, Pam, Terry, Grizz & myself were doing mostly trail riding and some clean up work down at WTOP (for those that don't know what that stands for it means, Wilderness Trail Off-Road Park).
Terry & Pam had just split off with us because they had to go home to get ready to attend a meeting of another ATV club, Mountain Trails. Grizz, Jim & myself were going to go by the water tower and make our way over to the other side to the Mud Bowl.
We saw this small airplane that was going really slow and low.... and I do mean LOW! It looked as if it was trying to land. I won't go in to details here but the next moment we saw it go down. We all knew it had crashed.
Jim and Grizz took off toward where they thought it had landed. I stopped for a second to call 911. I would say that the call came in no more than 30 seconds after the plane went down. Maybe that was what helped to save his life. I hope so.
There was one man in the plane. He was alive when I got there. I'm here to tell you I was scared to death. I couldn't bring myself to actually look to see him. I was afraid to look for what I might have seen.
In an attempt to make a long story short, I went down to the intersection of the road on 1344 to wait on the rescue people to get there and lead them to the crash site. I know one thing... Miss Kitty can run off and leave a fire truck sitting in my dust! I had to almost stop a time or two waiting on them to catch up. BUT then I guess driving what they were and hauling what they were that they can't keep up with something like an ATV.
By the time I got back up to the crash site, they had the gentleman out of the airplane. He was hurt, not sure how bad but at least he was alive. The fire truck/ems people called for an air rescue to come to the site. It took about 20 minutes for it to get there. The rescue squad had gotten there shortly after the fire trucks and attended to the mans injuries. They loaded him into the back of the ambulance and waited with him there till the air rescue arrived on site.
From what I was reading at the WYMT news site they took him to UT Knoxville Hospital. I wish that I had a way of knowing that he will be OK.
Before I go any further I have to mention that not only was it the three of us at the crash site, but Brandon & David were on the other side, near the Mud Bowl and came over too. All 4 of them pulled the man out of the plane. They arrived there while I was down waiting on the rescue squad. I'm still so shaky that I'm having a hard time remembering it all. Or should I say put everything in the order of events? Yeah that's it.
I'm going to try to call Knoxville tomorrow to see if I can get in touch with any of the mans family to make sure that he is OK. I pray that he will heal from his injuries and will be alright. It is so remote up there that if someone had not seen him go down I'm not sure how long it would have been before someone found him. And with him being in the shape that he was, I'm afraid to think of how he would have been if it had been a long time. I'm sure that he wouldn't be alive.
Well, that is what has happened in my part of the world on Thursday, March 13, 2008! Sure hope it does not happen again anytime soon!