The Oregon Timber Trail Alliance is proud to partner with Blazin Saddles bike shop in Sisters and Horse Creek Lodge of McKenzie Bridge to offer four full-ride scholarships to our Sawyer Trainings. Meet our scholarship recipients below.
Olivia Smoody
Meet Olivia—her enthusiasm for trails, community, and riding impressed us all at the OTTA. That, paired with a persistent desire to get the gear and training to be a more valuable trail steward aligns with goals and mission of the Oregon Timber Trail Alliance. Thanks for all that you already do for trail riding in the OTT corridor, and we look forward to working with you out there this summer Olivia.
Michelle Smith
This last summer I left my job to commit myself to working to protect our wild places. I had always felt the pull to volunteer on public lands, so my partner and I spent four months volunteering across the West in support of public lands. We completed 20 volunteer trips with 19 different nonprofits and public agencies. A number of our trips involved trail improvements, including a few which required sawyers from the Forest Service. One sawyer we worked with was a young woman who inspired me to get a sawyer certification."
What a great idea for a road trip, thanks for all your hours already helping maintain and conserve public lands Michelle. We look forward to working with you here in Oregon and showing you some of the best parts of the Oregon Timber Trail.
Nick Alviani
Nick Alviani of Eugene OR says he's interested in becoming a certified Sawyer because ...this training can help me towards my goal of opening up opportunities for underprivileged youth to enjoy the outdoors on bicycles - with mountain biking, bikepacking, and other touring - I want to encourage children in our community to see the world around them and help them by providing the tools and access by a certified/trained coordinator/instructor.
What an inspiring and commendable goal, we should all be so lucky to have someone like Nick in our community! His aspirations to provide opportunities for underprivileged youth aligns perfectly with one of our core mission tenets—Community. The OTTA looks for ways we can engage and empower communities all across the state—whether it's through economic development toolkits, building a pumptrack in a playground, advising a course at the University of Oregon, or finding ways to support underprivileged or marginalized segments of our society in outdoor recreation.
Elaine Bothe
I love riding brilliantly, but I love coaching brilliantly even more… when I ride well it’s one smile, when I coach, it’s a lot more smiles, and mine is even bigger!!! I know trails don't take care of themselves and I am currently involved with the Northwest Trail Alliance in Oregon and Evergreen in the Seattle area, and want to help more with trail building. Anyone can handle a shovel or rake, it would be fun to help out more than that with a more specialized skill.
Elaine is a MTB coach and semi-pro mountain bike racer. A huge thanks to Elaine for her commitment to helping maintain public trails, but even more for her commitment to sharing her skills and knowledge with future generations!