Bob's a pretty lucky man. It was just last month when he published my club report in the SWFWDA Drive Lines with my name as "Bobbie Tyler" and here I am making him the spotlight member of the month! All kidding aside, Bob Norton has a tough job as the editor of the Drive Lines and has been at it since March of 1997. Soon after that, NM4W elected him as our club delegate for SWFWDA. In plain English, this means that Bob goes to the quarterly events as a representative from our club to vote on important issues and communicate any changes that may occur.

Bob's been a member of NM4W since 1995 and started out with his 86' Ford F-150 pickup. He has since started wheelin' an 89' Cherokee that has logged many tens-of-thousands of miles on the trails and looks it! Bob has always held a strong desire to go to the backcountry every since the days when he was a kid and his father would load their family of 10 into the station wagon and drive on western Michigan forest roads as far as he dared. His dad also owned two Willy's in the 1950's, but cold winters and a growing family forced other vehicle choices. Bob remembers his fondness for the backcountry was so strong that he got his 72' Chevy Vega stuck on a dead-end forest trail in southern Indiana and had to hike out to call a wrecker! Bob says, "If only I had known that letting air out of the tires would likely have allowed me to climb that pesky hill!" Although Bob owned several 4-wheel drive vehicles it wasn't until September of 1994 that he actually believes he was on a "real" 4-wheel drive trip. He was a member in a local Ham radio club where a fellow club member kept missing meetings because he was going to Utah to Jeep. Curious, he was invited to tag along this time in his truck. The leader? Bob Telepak, of course. And Bob Norton's passenger? Arne Gjerning, another Ham radio operator. The first trip by the group that would one day be dubbed the "Tres Amigos" by Mark Werkmeister. Several trips later and many modifications made and dollars spent, both the F-150 and Cherokee are great trail rigs.

Bob, who works for Kwal Paints and has been in the paint business for over 23 years, can't choose a favorite trail. He loves them all! He's been all around NM, UT, CO, OK, KS and even Ontario! He mentions his favorite memory with NM4W as sitting around the campfires at the summer Quarterly meetings and the annual Mt. Blanca trips. He gives this advice to any newcomers to the sport….."Get out and enjoy our public lands and be willing to do you small part to help save access to them. An occasional personal letter commenting on a particular management plan will help."

Thanks Bob for the hard work you do for our organization and our sport. Thanks also for giving me another name, after 30 years it's a nice change.