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PRESIDENT'S UPDATE |
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Alice Taylor, President |
Well, with all of the constant rain, cold, increasing gas prices, and airline news, it has been a pretty miserable month in West Virginia. On the bright side, however, we no longer are suffering from drought conditions, and it is supposed to be hot and sunny through Memorial Day. I hope all of you are going to have great weather for the holiday and enjoy yourselves thoroughly!
As we agreed at the Spring BOD meeting, this update is a combined April / May document. (With the convention the last weekend in April, there wasn't any pressing need to issue an update in April.) Although it's the "off season", numerous things are taking place. Let's take a look at what's happening.
CONVENTIONS
First, as many of you know, Crescent's Spring Convention was excellent. All twenty-two clubs in CSC attended, the weather was great, the theme party was incredible (many thank you's to Faith Campbell of Coastal and her assistants for putting it together), the trade show and meetings were well-attended, and the Beach Olympics were enjoyed by many! As always, Michelle Shuford and Bryan Bobo did a wonderful job organizing the convention. Thank you also to the many members of CSC who volunteered before and during the convention.
The Fall Conference will be October 31st - November 2nd, at Gatlinburg, TN. The Knoxville Ski Club is working with Michelle to organize the weekend. Mark your calendars now and plan to attend; hotel information will be available shortly. The conference is a great opportunity to learn more about the workings of the council and to gain and share knowledge about operating your clubs. Plans are underway to celebrate Crescent's 40th anniversary at the 2009 Spring Convention, and I'm looking for volunteers to serve on the organizing committee. We're considering all sorts of ideas: compiling a list of every trip taken since Crescent's founding, list of all CSC presidents and inviting all living ones to attend, collages of trail maps, resort pins, CSC paraphernalia, displays of ski equipment and clothing from every decade, race trophies and winning scrapbooks, old newsletters, etc. We'd like to compile the history of Crescent's organization - when each club was authorized (joined), the significance, if any, of the Crescent moon, when racing started, etc. Preliminary party theme is to dress in 1969 attire and develop a list of questions in a fashion similar to the one used this year. The answers would be found in the Crescent displays scattered around the ballroom. The hardest part of the planning probably will be finding the information and items that I have mentioned. So, I'm asking two things of you: 1) talk to your members and encourage them to volunteer for the committee and 2) search your club records, attics and basements, "memory lane boxes" ( where you store all of those things you think you will look at again some day, but you never do), photo albums, scrapbooks, videos, etc. We can make this a really great celebration, which will not only be a major walk down memory lane but also will educate our members about Crescent's history. Your help is really needed to make this a success. If we can find the stuff and split the responsibilities for getting it put together, it won't be a burden for any one person. If you have questions, find information or items, or want to volunteer, please contact me.
Next season's trips were rolled out at the Spring Convention. The 25th anniversary of Crescent's Race and Ski Camp will be held at Steamboat from December 6 - 13, 2008. Maximum participation is 400 members due to lodging and event facility capacities. As usual, John Casey is our excellent trip leader. Crescent is conducting two mega trips in 2009: Big Sky, Montana (January 17-24) and Keystone, CO (March 14 -21). Information for all three trips has been provided to all club trip directors and is posted on Crescent's web site. If your trip leaders have questions about the mega trips, have them contact Lisa Beregi, DRLAB88@aol.com. Questions about Steamboat can be addressed to Lisa or John, caseyjohn@earthlink.net. At the Trips Committee meeting held at the Spring Convention, trip leaders discussed the long list of trip sites for 2010 and were asked to vote for their top three destinations. When those votes were tabulated, it was determined that the clubs were really interested in four sites. Lisa has asked the trip directors to rank just those four sites, and those results should narrow the choices to the two sites that will make the "short list" for final presentation at the Fall Conference.
RACING
At the Race Directors meeting held at the Spring Convention, the decision was made to hold all regular season races in
North Carolina. Crescent still plans to travel to West Virginia for the Crescent Cup, which is March 7-8, 2009.
MEMBER SERVICES
Competitions for scrapbook, newsletter, and web site were fierce at the Spring Convention. The winners were web site: Southern Snow Seekers, scrapbook:
Augusta, and newsletter: Charlotte. Although the other clubs that competed didn't get to take home the awards, you still are winners. Your efforts provide information to current and prospective members, and the scrapbooks provide a fantastic "walk down memory lane" and can be great recruitment tools. The competitions also provide an incentive for the clubs to keep improving their products; some great rivalries are developing! As for the daily mundane activities, Bruce McMurray is doing a great job providing information as requested and tracking down undeliverable email addresses. Without his efforts, you wouldn't get these updates. When Bruce sent me the latest list of CSC reps and presidents, I noticed that a lot of terms ended in April or May, and there is little indication that he has been provided with results of your elections. EXCOMM's communications with Crescent's members can be severely hampered if the database is not current. If you are no longer your club's rep or president, please forward this email to the appropriate individuals and make sure that Bruce is sent current information at snowdawgasoc@bellsouth.net.
ADMINISTRATIVE
Crescent officers were elected at the Spring Convention BOD meeting. No one opposed the existing officers so you're stuck with all of us for another year! The BOD also approved the four returning committee chairs. Thank you for believing that we are doing a good job, and we will continue to strive to keep Crescent successful. As I have stated before, however, many of us have been on EXCOMM for a long time (7 - 8 years), and we are getting tired. Please start thinking NOW about next year and either volunteer yourself or help us find members who are willing to step into leadership positions. Any of the current officers and committee chairs will be happy to discuss their positions with you and explain how EXCOMM really functions. You will find that it isn't as difficult or time-consuming as you may think. Robyn Bilfelt (Raleigh) is still tweaking the new Crescent logo, and it should be available shortly. As soon as I have it, I will distribute it to all clubs for their use, and of course, it will go on the web site and Crescent's trip flyers.
As everyone knows, the airlines are continuing to institute fee policies (baggage, aisle seats, etc.) that they hope will offset rising fuel costs. The latest attempt is by
American Airlines, which plans to start charging $15 for the first bag checked. Unfortunately, I don't believe there is much that we can do to stop the increases. With three Crescent trips, plus numerous club trips, being offered in the upcoming ski season, save your tax rebates for the trips! Please distribute these updates to your members, via email or by placing them on your web site. Several members have told me that they have learned about Crescent activities through these updates and that they think they are valuable. Let's keep our members informed! That's it for now. Enjoy the rest of May and have a great June. I'll check in at the end of June.
President
Crescent Ski Council
402 Woodbridge Drive
Charleston, WV 25311
luvs2ski@verizon.net