Unlocking Marquette's Hidden Trails With NTN Trails
Episode 166 • 28th June 2024 • Total Michigan • Cliff Duvernois
00:00:00 00:28:06

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Ready to explore Marquette's trails? Lori Hauswirth and Jeni Kilpela from NTN Trails located in Marquette, Michigan discuss the organization's history, volunteer efforts, and extensive trail system.

In this episode, we cover:

  • The importance of community support for trail maintenance
  • The diverse year-round activities available on the trails
  • The various events that draw people to the area.

Links:

NTN Trails Website: https://noquetrails.org/

Subscribe to our Email Newsletter: https://totalmichigan.com/join/

Find us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/totalmichigan

Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@totalmichigan

Show Notes:

00:00 Introduction to NTN Trails

00:29 Welcome to Total Michigan

01:08 Meet Lori and Jeni

01:40 What is NTN Trails?

02:34 Lori's Journey with NTN Trails

03:58 Jeni's Involvement with NTN Trails

05:05 The Origins of NTN Trails

06:07 Funding and Membership

07:45 Trail Maintenance Challenges

08:18 Land Ownership and Partnerships

10:27 Year-Round Trail Use

16:26 Volunteer Contributions

19:14 Key Events and Festivals

23:36 Membership Benefits

25:19 Visitor Information and Support

26:53 Conclusion and Contact Information

Transcripts

Lori Hauswirth:

the tricky part is we can't charge for trails.

2

:

So they're available for everybody.

3

:

We don't like using the word free.

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:

Because there's a cost to doing all this.

5

:

You know, and, making the connection

between having a good experience

6

:

and supporting that experience.

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:

We want people to be contributors, not

just users, This happens because somebody

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:

is giving of dollar or time or both.

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:

And significant to make sure these

facilities are available to the public.

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:

Cliff Duvernois: Hello, everyone.

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Welcome back to Total Michigan, where

we interview ordinary Michiganders

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doing some pretty extraordinary things.

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I'm your host, Cliff Duvernois.

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So it's summertime.

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And one of the things that we like to do

in Michigan, of course, is get out and

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explore nature and be one with nature.

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And so I'm out and about collecting

all these stories of great

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organizations and people that make

our exploration of the great Michigan

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outdoors an actual possibility.

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And one of the places that I came

across in my research was NTN Trails.

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which is located in Marquette Michigan.

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And they're actually

doing quite a lot up here.

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So to walk us through exactly what's

going on, how this great organization came

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together, is Lori Hauswirth the Executive

Director, as well as Jeni Kilpela,

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who is the Community Outreach Manager.

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Lori, how are you?

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Lori Hauswirth: Great, great.

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It's summer.

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It's Marquette.

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We're rolling into another busy season.

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Jeni, how are you?

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NTN-Jenny: Great.

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I love summer here.

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I love all the seasons here.

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Cliff Duvernois: Yes, and we're

definitely going to talk about that.

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Because your organization

is definitely year round.

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So to begin with, if you would, for

our audience, what is NTN Trails?

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Lori Hauswirth: Yeah, so NTN Trails, we're

a non profit, primarily volunteer based.

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but we do have a small staff, a

growing staff of folks that are here

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to make sure people can get outside

and do non motorized activities across

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the trails in the Marquette area.

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We maintain, um, over 150 miles of trail

for biking, skiing, hiking snowshoeing

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whatever you want to do compatible for

getting outside and enjoying nature.

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And that's across eight trail

systems between Big Bay and Munising.

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We're one of one of a number of

trail organizations in this great

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state, making sure people can get

outside And enjoy the outdoors.

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Cliff Duvernois: And so we're definitely

going to explore that a lot more.

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But Lori, if you would,

why don't you talk with us?

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How did you get involved with NTN Trails?

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Lori Hauswirth: Ooh, how did I

get involved with NTN Trails?

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So, yeah, that's a little bit of a story.

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So I grew up here in Marquette.

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Okay.

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So I've really been playing on

the area that is now the NTN

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Trails since I was young.

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Yeah, I think I got my first

mountain bike when It's 11 or 12,

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but, played on the trails out there

for many years graduated from NMU

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with a land use planning background,

ended up moving to the Keweenaw.

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Cliff Duvernois: there.

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As

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Lori Hauswirth: in the Keweenaw,

I got tied into a mountain

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bike group on Monday nights.

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And somehow ended up as the director

for a mountain bike race over there.

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as a volunteer at Keweenaw Chain Drive

Festival, and got super involved with

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the trail systems and helping out as a

volunteer, building trails, maintaining

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trails, volunteering at events,

you know, all these, these things.

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Things happen because of

volunteer organizations,

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That kind of led to an opportunity to

actually work for the International

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Mountain Bicycling Association in a split

role as the director of the Copper Harbor

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Trails, which is a whole nother great

trail system on the west end of the UP.

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And then opportunity came about

to move back to Marquette.

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And I started showing some interest

in it and they hired me back about

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six years ago, just over six years.

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So

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Cliff Duvernois: So when you say they

hired me back, you're talking about NTN

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Lori Hauswirth: The NTN Trails,

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Yep.

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Okay.

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The, the nonprofit, right?

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Yep.

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Yep.

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So I, came on as their executive

director and, the time is

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going really, really quick.

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Cliff Duvernois: It always does.

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Jeni, if you would, why don't you tell us,

how did you get involved with NTN Trails?

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NTN-Jenny: I like to volunteer.

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And I volunteered with the Superior Land

Ski Club, which is a local Nordic ski club

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that teaches kids ages 5 to 18 how to ski.

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We used to have adult relays.

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And so I've been helping out

with events volunteering.

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I'm the director of the Lake Superior

Shore Run, which fundraises for kids.

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So we can give scholarships for

any kid who wants to try skiing

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that they can do that and offer

rentals, a scholarship also.

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And so I've been helping out

at different events for years.

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I use the trails quite often.

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I'm a big Nordic skier

trail runner mountain biker.

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And Lori came in and said, I'm

looking to expand what we do here.

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And just we grew to, we're

still very grassroots.

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But we have 1, 400 members.

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Um, and, and it's community partnerships.

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And so she just needed somebody

who could come here, who knew the

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trails who knew what the community,

the outdoor community to come and

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help manage those relationships.

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So I said, yes.

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And here I am doing a thing I

volunteered to do for years and

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now I get to do it as a job.

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Cliff Duvernois: Talk to me about

the beginning of NTN Trails.

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How did it come about?

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Lori Hauswirth: NTN itself,

it's really been on the backs

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of just passionate volunteers.

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The, They wanted more

opportunities to ski and bike.

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And, there was a time when they

came together to groom the DNR

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ski trails, Blueberry Ridge out

at the crossroads because the

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DNR was not going to groom 'em.

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You know, that was the foundation

of things getting started.

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Some events spiraled outta that.

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But really at the core, it's

been, passionate folks that they

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want trails, they want to share

their trails with the community.

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And, it's been really a volunteer based

effort to build up this organization.

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And, as time has gone on, it, it's

become a very big organization and

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having staff to do the day to day.

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And, do the fundraising to be

able to do the building and the

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maintaining and the things, that,

you know, That's what comes after,

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an organization gets a little bigger.

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And they're doing really, really

important things for the community.

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Cliff Duvernois: NTN

Trails is a non profit.

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So where do you get the funding to keep

your doors open to maintain these trails?

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Where does that come from?

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NTN-Jenny: Well, memberships so

because most of our land that

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the trails are on, we don't own.

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We can't charge for a pass.

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Like if you were downhill skiing, okay?

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And so what we ask is that people

consider an annual membership.

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So it's helping us fund the

maintenance, the trail building

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insurance, things like that.

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And then also our business

community sponsors, trails, events.

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They're really great.

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They understand, how many people we

bring into the community who want

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to live here because of the trails.

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And then just people visiting

who want to come see us.

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And then occasionally we get some grants.

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But that takes our time

away to write them too.

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So that's pretty much it.

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And the events themselves.

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So the big events that we put

on also help fund the trails.

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Cliff Duvernois: So you're

talking about:

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Now is most are most of those local

people that have bought memberships.

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Do you find it's global across the U.

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S?

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How does that?

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NTN-Jenny: Yeah, we do, we do have some

folks who come here for the summer.

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I met a guy who, some people come,

a lot of people work remotely now.

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And so he comes here for two weeks.

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He lives here, he bikes here,

and he buys his membership.

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We're still the best deal on

trails, as Lori likes to say.

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I mean, really, it's very inexpensive

compared to other things you might pay

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for, like an annual membership to a

ski hill, for example, or other sports

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you want to We do find that there's,

I haven't done the rough breakdown.

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But there's a lot of people

from Chicago, Illinois, Midwest,

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who also buy memberships.

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Because they've been

here for a week or two.

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But the majority are Marquette County.

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Lori Hauswirth: I mean, that,

that's the, the tricky part

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is we can't charge for trails.

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So they're available for everybody.

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We don't like using the word free.

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Because there's a cost to doing all this.

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You know, and, making the connection

between having a good experience

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:

and supporting that experience.

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we want people to be contributors, not

just users, you know, make that connection

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between this happens because somebody

is giving of dollar or time or both.

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And significant to make sure these

facilities are available to the public.

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Cliff Duvernois: You made a comment

before about how you don't own most

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of the land that the trails is on.

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So who is, I mean, is it government land?

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Who else owns the land

that the trails are on?

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Lori Hauswirth: Yeah.

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So it's a real mix.

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Some of our trails are on city land,

township land board of light and power,

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which is our local utility provider here.

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There's portions that are on

neighborhood associations.

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There's portions that are on

conservancy organizations.

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The golf course, which

is a private non profit.

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They allow us around, around the golf

course, the market, country club.

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There's a lot of connectivity, you know,

that's what makes our system really great

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is you can jump on a bike path here.

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And then duck into the trails within,

quarter mile, half mile of downtown.

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You're on trails and really can disappear

into the woods, uh, very easily.

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But in order for that to happen, we

need a lot of partners, and there's no

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exchange of, of funds for this access.

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These people are, giving of their

land and that access because they see

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how important it is to the community.

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And it, it makes connections.

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The better that trail system is connected,

I think the better experience you can

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have, the more access we have to it.

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I, I think most people within the city

of Marquette, I think, are within, Um, a

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mile, probably a half mile of being able

to jump on a natural surface trail system.

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Cliff Duvernois: That's really cool.

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One thing I would like to explore

is, because you talk about all

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these different trail systems.

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So how many miles of trails

are we talking about?

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Lori Hauswirth: Across

our eight, it's over 150.

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I really needed to dial in that number.

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Because in ski terms we like to

talk kilometers and in summer

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terms we like to talk miles.

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And we keep adding, we really

need to reassess our, our mileage.

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You know, and, And some of the adding has

been because we wanted more trail and had

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an opportunity to create more trail and

some of that mileage is, hey that land

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is now going to be housing development.

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We now need to work around it.

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So we've had a lot of that

over the last few years.

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So we, we kind of need to look at that.

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But yeah it's a lot of miles of trail.

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Cliff Duvernois: And on top

of that, it's not just summer.

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It is year round that

these trails are open.

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Lori Hauswirth: It is, it is.

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You want to talk about the year

round use, all the, all the things we

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NTN-Jenny: Yeah, so we have Nordic

ski trails with at least kilometers.

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I'm trying to think.

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I mean, the No Cayman on Ski

Marathon corridor is, is a 50k race.

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But that's not all maintained

for the entire year.

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They groom that and get that

ready for their January ski event.

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So we're probably talking more like 30k

that we can maintain if the snow is good.

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This year was, you know, and right

at just there and then we have

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other locations like Soxhead.

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Right here in the city, we have the most

amazing park called the Fitz trip where

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there's lights at night There's two miles

of groomed trail so you can you know,

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it gets dark in the winter at 630 530.

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You can go ski under lights that we also

maintain that with a volunteer groomer.

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And then we have all the snow biking

routes that we groom which we developed.

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I mean, nobody knew how

to groom for a snow bike.

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And so they tried a bunch

of different things.

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And now, I there was somebody on a

dirt bike grooming, um, when they first

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started, like, how could we do this?

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Now we use a snowmobile and a

tire, but or a Scandic you know,

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so It's all been, it's just fun.

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People love

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Lori Hauswirth: outside,

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NTN-Jenny: to, yeah,

and to just be outside.

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And so they're going to find a way.

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The work ethic here is incredible.

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And people like to work

hard and play hard.

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The winters here can be long.

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People tell me I love winter.

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But I would say, you know, one way

to, to, get that vitamin D that

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we're all missing is to get outside

and to find a sport that you love.

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So whether that's snowshoeing, walking

with your dog, snow biking, Nordic

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skiing, anybody can Nordic ski because

it's so low impact on the body.

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So that's always my thing is

let's, let's get out and try it.

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So yeah, in the winter it's a

playground and it's beautiful.

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Cliff Duvernois: For our audience,

we're going to take a quick

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break and thank our sponsors.

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When we come back, we're going to talk

a lot more about the events that are

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happening around here year round, as

well as what you can expect when you

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come up here and visit the trails.

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We'll see you after the break.

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Cliff DuVernois (2): Are

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Cliff Duvernois: Hello everyone and

welcome back to Total Michigan, where

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we interview ordinary Michiganders

doing some pretty extraordinary things.

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I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois.

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Today, we're talking with

Lori and Jeni from NTN trails.

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And we're talking about over

150 miles of trails that you

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can explore when you come here.

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And I'm trying to wrap my head

around 150 miles of trails.

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Because you made a comment

before about grooming.

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And I know you said, at least I know

there's one volunteer that you have.

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But you probably need an army of

volunteers to maintain this many trails.

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So I guess my first question is how

do you maintain 150 miles of trails?

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Lori Hauswirth: That's a great question

Each of our systems is a little different

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so we do in the winter our main ski

trail system, which is Forestville.

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We do have a full time groomer.

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He likes to drive the big

groomer, which is a piston bully.

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You know, that's a $250, 000 piece

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Cliff Duvernois: I wait a minute.

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Wait a minute.

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So it's $250 000 for a piece of

machinery to groom trails Sweet Moses.

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I'm in the wrong

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Lori Hauswirth: Yes.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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Yeah, that, that's our, that, that

leaves like just world class surface

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For people to ski Putting tracks for

skating as well as classic skiing.

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So the piston bully but we have

to have so much snow to do that.

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And like last year was very

low snow season for us.

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So we don't just have the piston bully.

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We have snowmobiles with

an assortment of drags.

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It could be a roller that we use to pack.

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We have other groomers that

are called Ginzu groomers that

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kind of tear up the surface.

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And then pack it back down.

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Ginzu yeah, it has little

knives on it actually Every

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system is a little different.

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The Forestville one, we groom really

wide because it's skating and striding.

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So they have tracks on a couple sides.

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And a skate lane in the middle.

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At some of the other systems,

we do a, a narrower path.

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So, they might just be a

Ginzu groomer and a roller.

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We can't afford to run piston

bullies at the systems.

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And maybe not be built the

width that this machine.

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It's a big tracked machine.

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And, and up in Big Bay we

have some four wheelers that

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have tracks on them So it, it

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Cliff Duvernois: So when you say we have

this is something that this organization

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Lori Hauswirth: Yes.

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or these are the volunteers

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we, the, this, so, I mean, we, we have

across the system well over half a

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million in, equipment that's necessary.

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Yeah, yeah, I mean you don't and it's

not just the purchase that equipment.

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You know, once we purchase that you

have to Maintain it They need repairs.

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They need servicing.

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You know things break when

you hit a buried log that

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you didn't see in the woods.

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And that's the scary part like I'm always

like we only let so many people drive that

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piston bully because Yeah, it's important.

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But what's nice across our system

is, you know, we can do this because

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yes, we have a volunteer, that not

a volunteer, we have an employee

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that does our main grooming at four.

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So we actually have another

employee that's year round

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for us that does facilities.

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So he's actually helping groom,

helping maintain, helping dig.

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He does a lot of things.

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His name's Doug.

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Doug takes care of a lot of things for us.

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And in the winter, Andy comes on.

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Andy does the grooming.

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And he's grooming, when he goes out to

groom that system, he's out there for

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eight hours, driving at, a couple of

miles per hour, to leave that surface.

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But in across the other trail

systems, we've got volunteers.

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And that's a huge thing.

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It's not always fun to go out in,

20 below temperatures in a snowstorm

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to start getting the trail ready.

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People, we've done such

a good job sometimes.

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People have this really high

expectation of, deliverables.

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and, when are you gonna

have the trail ready?

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We're in the middle of a blizzard.

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Let the wind die down.

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Try to be really diligent about,

about our resources and our dollars.

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I mean, we have to, we don't know

how long the winter is going to be.

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We don't know how many snow

storms are going to have.

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We may have a wet snow storm that takes

all the trees like this across the trail.

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And we've got to call out

volunteers to help beat snow off

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of branches to open things back up.

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We do have a part time um,

employee to groom some of

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the single track snow biking.

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We had mentioned the

single track snow biking.

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That's of a thing in Marquette.

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We developed quite a few

of the how to do this.

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So we're using snowmobiles or

what we call a snow dog, which

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is another attract vehicle.

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We use different things

depending on the system.

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But again, it's a combination of some part

time employees and lots of volunteers.

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It's amazing.

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The, the, the volunteers that, that

I call them super volunteers, you

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know, they're the guys you can call

up in any hours or, you know, you get

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a text that, Oh, it's all groomed, it

just stopped snowing like an hour ago.

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Like it's all that's, what's great.

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But it's also the thing that

makes us nervous, right?

366

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Those volunteers are so key.

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And It takes so many

hours to do what we do.

368

:

You know If we don't have

volunteers we need staff and

369

:

to have staff we need dollars.

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:

So, it's all feeding You know this

organization that is doing a lot for the

371

:

community and getting people outside.

372

:

That's what I always go back to you.

373

:

We're getting people

outside to enjoy the trails

374

:

Cliff Duvernois: It's interesting that

you brought up the super volunteer

375

:

thing cause I usually find that with

organizations that are out there you

376

:

get volunteers who work but you got

that one group that is so passionate

377

:

about what it is that you're doing.

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:

And like you said, you

can tex them, call them

379

:

Lori Hauswirth: They're there.

380

:

Yeah.

381

:

Yeah.

382

:

It's chainsaw crews.

383

:

You know, We have a storm go

through and trees trees come down.

384

:

you know, like, That's a big deal.

385

:

And, you know, the other cool thing

that we do have here to Like, just

386

:

the people will be out riding.

387

:

And we've got them, trained, but educated

on the info we need, like now when they

388

:

find a tree, they do a screenshot of

the location, they send us a picture.

389

:

So now we're getting a little more

efficient at, taking care of issues

390

:

because people the community is doing

a better job of telling us when they

391

:

Cliff Duvernois: is great.

392

:

Lori Hauswirth: Yeah, it's amazing

393

:

Cliff Duvernois: That is great.

394

:

Man, I'd love to spend a

lot more time on that topic.

395

:

But I do want to make sure that we talk

about some of the big key events that

396

:

you put on throughout the year that

really draws a lot of people to the area.

397

:

So talk to us about some of those events.

398

:

NTN-Jenny: the year starts out with

the no came in on ski marathon in

399

:

January, which this year had over 1,

200 people, um, in the long race, the

400

:

full marathon, which is from a point to

point race from Michigamme to Marquette.

401

:

And it's just a gorgeous.

402

:

Features, just some of the

beauty of Marquette County.

403

:

I do.

404

:

Yeah, it's great.

405

:

Cliff Duvernois: Yeah.

406

:

NTN-Jenny: and then we

have what we call a winter.

407

:

Which is just a fun time to come

out and enjoy the fat biking and,

408

:

snowshoeing, backcountry skiing.

409

:

And then our biggest event in the summer

is Trails Fest, which will be in June,

410

:

which is cross country racing, downhill

mountain bike racing trail running.

411

:

And some kids races as

well as a criterium.

412

:

That's pretty fun too.

413

:

And then in August we have the Marquette

Trail 50, which is a trail ultramarathon,

414

:

50 kilometers and 50 miles, featuring all

the systems that butt up to our system.

415

:

And it's just phenomenal, and

people flying from all over the U.

416

:

S.

417

:

to run that.

418

:

And then in the fall we have the

Fall Enduro on the same trails on

419

:

the South Trail System which is

downhill and enduro style racing.

420

:

Cliff Duvernois: So for a lot of

these events that you have going on,

421

:

are these something that has been

a part of NTN since the beginning?

422

:

Yes.

423

:

Have these been added along the way, like

somebody who's watched something on TV and

424

:

they say, Oh, there's an ultra marathon,

maybe we should have one of those too.

425

:

I mean, where, where

did the ideas come up?

426

:

Because I know you just mentioned a

few and you got a lot more than that.

427

:

But where did the ideas for

these festivals come from?

428

:

Lori Hauswirth: Yeah, I think it's

been a mix of things over time.

429

:

The ski marathon really started out as

what was called the Red Earth Wapit,

430

:

which was the very early days, the

point to point Nordic ski racing.

431

:

The enduro mountain bike

thing is, relatively new.

432

:

I would say that's been a, format

of racing that, people have

433

:

really gotten excited about.

434

:

Because you ride with your

friends to the top of a, a stage.

435

:

And then you race individually down.

436

:

And then you gather up again

and you ride to the next stage.

437

:

So it's super social and it's

kind of alludes to the, you know,

438

:

there's a bit of individualism

with these trail sports, right?

439

:

So I think that's been

really exciting for people.

440

:

So we were, we added that market Fall

Enduro and that's been a big one for us.

441

:

The trail 50 again, passionate,

passionate volunteers.

442

:

The thing is it's not just we

have our events that are direct

443

:

fundraisers for the trails.

444

:

But we also have other events

that happen on our trails that

445

:

are put on by other organizations.

446

:

The Oar-to-Shore race used

to be housed under us.

447

:

They're now their own separate nonprofit.

448

:

That's over 20 I think it was

:

449

:

that's point to point events also.

450

:

Uh, They used part of our system for that.

451

:

The Margie Gessick race which is

put on by the 906 Adventure Team.

452

:

That's a fundraiser

for their organization.

453

:

That's one of the it's touted

as one of the hardest mountain

454

:

bike races in the area or region.

455

:

Part of it is because they assemble,

some of our trails and maybe not the most

456

:

obvious ways, and to make them a little

more challenging and that finishes up in

457

:

Ishbring, where there's a whole nother

network of trails maintained by a non

458

:

profit up there the Rambo organization.

459

:

So that's the thing.

460

:

These events, they grow out of,

people's passion to, to share.

461

:

Like they, they see something

they're excited about and they,

462

:

for us the calendar is really busy.

463

:

You know, we, we ran

off X amount of events.

464

:

But when you add the events being put

on by other organizations our trails are

465

:

busy, but we also want to make sure the

trails are available for the community.

466

:

Having too many events means

we're displacing the public.

467

:

Cliff Duvernois: Right.

468

:

Lori Hauswirth: We need events

because they're fundraisers.

469

:

We also need events because that's

what's, you know, Showcasing and

470

:

it's bringing people in to support

our sponsors and we're seeing

471

:

more people in more businesses.

472

:

Drawn to the trails, they're using it for

employee retention recruitment When people

473

:

are moving here Yeah, you'll see them

touting the trails and the outdoor access.

474

:

And, we, one of the first things people

are doing when they're moving to the area.

475

:

they're coming in our door and

saying, Hey, I want to support

476

:

the trails with a membership.

477

:

And for us, that's we think

they've probably been exposed

478

:

to it through those events.

479

:

And, they have decided that

this is where they want to be.

480

:

Cliff Duvernois: So talk to me a little

bit about the membership package.

481

:

Like you just said somebody could come in

here and say hey, I want to support it.

482

:

You know, what does that include?

483

:

Is it free coffee in the morning?

484

:

Do they get first dibs to

register for the races?

485

:

I mean, what does that package entail?

486

:

NTN-Jenny: Sure.

487

:

So our membership we have individual,

family, and then some higher levels.

488

:

The individual is that you get

some stickers to show your support

489

:

on your bike, your vehicle.

490

:

And then our all of our community partners

are offered the chance to give discounts.

491

:

So our bike shops, coffee shops anybody on

there who wants to offer a discount can.

492

:

And they get a little card that has all

those discounts for when they're shopping.

493

:

And then We send out all of

our news direct marketing to

494

:

them to all of our members.

495

:

So they can, yeah, so they can

know like what we're up to which

496

:

is important because we do a lot.

497

:

And so keeping up with everything

we have going on is what

498

:

we also do for our members.

499

:

Now we do have, um, if people

want to be a trail builder, um,

500

:

or a legacy member, which is a

higher level of financial support.

501

:

They can choose a portion of

the trail that they can sponsor.

502

:

And so then they can,

have a family name go

503

:

Cliff Duvernois: Oh Okay

504

:

NTN-Jenny: they say this section is

sponsored by, the Johnson family, right?

505

:

Or Cliff.

506

:

Lori Hauswirth: Johnson family.

507

:

NTN-Jenny: And, um, same

way with our businesses.

508

:

When they come on as sponsors,

they can choose a section.

509

:

So we have a dentist on our Smiley Trail.

510

:

Lori Hauswirth: And,

511

:

Cliff Duvernois: or a person

512

:

NTN-Jenny: And, yeah, it's a really great

way to, um, show yourself as a business

513

:

or person saying, yeah, we love it here.

514

:

This is why we live here.

515

:

This is certainly why I live here.

516

:

We could have, we talked

when I got married and we're

517

:

like, where do we want to be?

518

:

We have four seasons here and we can

ride from our house and be on trails.

519

:

I think a lot of people, they

just want to support that.

520

:

So

521

:

Cliff Duvernois: Certainly.

522

:

Now when somebody does come here, for

the area, let's say they've heard this

523

:

podcast, they're like, man, I want

to check out these groomed trails.

524

:

I want to see what 250, 000 piston

Bully, what did you call that

525

:

Lori Hauswirth: Piston bully.

526

:

Piston bully.

527

:

Yeah.

528

:

Cliff Duvernois: Let's

529

:

Lori Hauswirth: let's see what that

530

:

Cliff Duvernois: What can

people expect when they come

531

:

NTN-Jenny: As you see, our

office isn't at a trailhead.

532

:

So sometimes that can be a bit finding us.

533

:

We try to be out at trailheads in

the summer during the busy months,

534

:

but mostly people will buy their

memberships online on our website.

535

:

Or they can come in and

see us in Lakeview Arena.

536

:

They can just explore, and we would ask

that they, if they're just here visiting.

537

:

They're not going to move here.

538

:

Um, we'd like to ask for 15 a day

because it does cost us, how much

539

:

does it cost per mile to build trail?

540

:

Lori Hauswirth: Oh over $40,000

541

:

NTN-Jenny: There's a

542

:

Cliff Duvernois: I'm sorry, what?

543

:

40 grand to do one mile?

544

:

NTN-Jenny: it's a lot of

cost involved in trails.

545

:

So um,

546

:

Cliff Duvernois: I'm

in the wrong business.

547

:

Lori Hauswirth: there's still time to

548

:

NTN-Jenny: Trail building's hot.

549

:

There's still time to learn.

550

:

Cliff Duvernois: I guess so.

551

:

But anyways, you're talking about

552

:

NTN-Jenny: Yeah, so we do have

QR codes at the Trailheads that

553

:

they can, donate right there.

554

:

Correct.

555

:

And we have it on our website.

556

:

We try to make it as easy as possible.

557

:

We also have a lot of merchandise.

558

:

Lots of Fridays in the summer,

I'll go to a Trailhead.

559

:

And have NTN stuff so that

people can spread the good word

560

:

of our awesome trails around.

561

:

Um, right, exactly.

562

:

And then at our events

they can also donate.

563

:

And we try and always tell

people this is how this works.

564

:

This is who we are.

565

:

You help fund this.

566

:

Cliff Duvernois: And if

somebody is listening to this.

567

:

And they do want to learn more about what

it is you do, maybe learn more about the

568

:

trails, where can they go to do that?

569

:

NTN-Jenny: Our website is

Noque N O Q U E, trails.

570

:

org.

571

:

They can also always call us.

572

:

We're happy to talk to people who

want to know more about trails.

573

:

That's our passion.

574

:

That's what we love.

575

:

Um, We want to get them connected.

576

:

We're having a conversation with

somebody one day and then he

577

:

donated us a rescue snowmobile.

578

:

I asked for an AED.

579

:

I got much more through a simple

conversation by stopping into our office.

580

:

We're always happy to

have those conversations.

581

:

Because we do know that

there's some people who feel

582

:

passionate about something.

583

:

And it might, we might have

a project sitting here that

584

:

they, yeah, I want to do that.

585

:

Like having stuff in case someone

is having a heart attack or a

586

:

coronary event or needs to be

sledded out because of something.

587

:

Cliff Duvernois: That is incredible.

588

:

And if somebody did want to get a

membership, they can do all that

589

:

through your website too, as well.

590

:

Yep.

591

:

Lori, Jeni, it's been great

having you on the show today.

592

:

Thank you for taking time to chat with us.

593

:

Lori Hauswirth: For sure.

594

:

It's been great.

595

:

Thanks for giving us the opportunity.

596

:

Cliff Duvernois: And for our audience, you

can always roll on over to TotalMichigan.

597

:

com and click on the links that

Jeni was talking about before.

598

:

We'll see you next time when we

talk to another Michigander doing

599

:

some pretty extraordinary things.

600

:

We'll see you then.

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