Early this year we asked the membership to weigh in on their preferences for upcoming events.  The survey results are in and will be quite helpful in helping us prioritize our ideas for upcoming events.  The top vote-getters are shown in the chart above:

Wildflowers topped the survey and are the focus of our early walks this year.  Which is convenient, since the continuing pandemic has necessitated smaller group sizes and social distancing, and this is one area where we are blessed with a number of qualified walk leaders within our own membership.  Many of the other themes work best with expert leaders, and while we have some local experts who have generously offered to help us out before the pandemic hit, it isn’t fair to ask them to repeat a walk 2-3 times for a series of small groups.  As the pandemic eases and we are once again able to plan events for larger groups, the themes best conducted by expert leaders will be rolled out.  In the meantime, wildflowers will continue as our focus in April and May.
Most survey respondents also indicated a preference for weekday events so we will schedule accordingly, particularly since the pandemic has led to some crowding at popular outdoor hiking locations on weekends.  A number of respondents have also suggested interesting new hike locations and we will be considering these in our planning, although those requiring a longer drive will be held until carpooling is more appropriate.
A big thanks to all who responded to the survey – your voices have been heard!