Schedule of Events. Membership Meetings to be Held Once a Month

Transcription

1 1/1/2016 ALL THE NEWS THAT FITs SWC, PO 228,Schenectady, NY Clubhouse Phone (802) Clubhouse Reservations (518) A SCHENECTADY WINTERSPORTS CLUB PUBLICATION Phone numbers are in the 518 area code unless otherwise noted. WEB Site: Membership Meetings to be Held Once a Month Membership meetings will be held once on month this season, September through April, not including December, at the AOH on the third Thursday of the month: Jan 21, Feb 18, March 10 (2 nd Thursday) and lastly April 21. If anyone would like to organize a presentation for a meeting Bob Miller at bobinscotia@juno.com and we will add it to the calendar and advertise it in the newsletter. The meetings feature an early start at 6:00 for an informal get together with members and new folks. There will be pizza ($3.00 contribution) delivered at 6:30 for those who don't have time for dinner at home before the start of the formal meeting at 7:00. We are in need of a volunteer to do pizza for the January and February meetings as George will be in Florida for those Months. Call George at for information and to volunteer. Ancient Order of Hibernians, 1748 State St. is just east of Rt 7 (the Cross town) in uptown Schenectady. Take State Street toward Albany. It is on the right side about 4 1 2blocks past the Rt 7 overpass. If coming from the Thruway take I-890 to Rt 7 East and exit at State Street (Rt 5). Turn right at the top of the ramp and go East 41 2 blocks. From the Troy direction, take Rt. 7 all the way to State Street (Rt 5) and turn left at the top of the ramp and go blocks to 1748 State St. Schedule of Events Jan 6-8 Stowe Ski Club Appreciation Days cheap skiing Jan 21 Meeting: Chili Cookoff Feb 4-6 Cheap Ski Days at Stowe Feb 18 Meeting: Biking in the Pyrenees with the Kornrumpfs Mar 10 Meeting: Hike around England with Sue Knapik Mar Cheap Ski Days at Stowe Weekend April 21 Meeting: Election of Officers and Ice Cream Social Snail Mailing Newsletters to all Members Throughout the year members have suggested that we snail mail the newsletter to all current members as well as sending out the blast, the reason being that the printed newsletter would be reminder for the list of upcoming cheap ski days and events. Our mailboxes fill up fast and s can easily get lost. We can still stay green by recycling the old newsletters. Meeting Schedule Changes Since the AOH will be filled with their members on March 17, St. Patrick s Day, we will have the March meeting a week earlier on March 10. Please change the March date on you membership card. Great Annual SWC Chili Cookoff Jan 21st Meeting Back again for the 5th year! Does your homemade chili deserve its place among the finest in SWC history? Prove it! Grab your best crock pot and come spotlight your hard culinary work at the SWC great chili cook-off; Thursday Jan 21st at our membership meeting! We'll have 4 categories to be voted on and an overall winner decided by our SWC board! Spiciest: Flame throwing heat, but remember; with with great heat comes great flavor Veggie-tacular: For all those herbivores out there. Unique: Get those creative juices flowing. Traditional: The classic American chili. Best overall - SWC chili:the chili that reigns supreme Entries will be critiqued on flavor, freshness, texture, spice & overall warm your soul goodness by SWC members. Winners of each category will receive a free night at our Clubhouse in Waterbury Vt. The overall winner will receive 2 free anytime tickets to Okemo Mt! We need voters, so if you would just like to taste; come, have a drink and vote for your favorite chili. 6:00-6:30 Set up for the cooks 6:30-7:30 Eating/ socializing/ voting 7:30 - prizes awarded There will be no Pizza at this meeting, who needs it?

2 Stowe Cheap Days February 4th to 6th Come and spend a few days at the house. Enjoy the low prices at Stowe for club appreciation on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Be prepared to have Mardi Gras celebrations during your stay. There will be king cake and good ole creole food to enjoy. Your hosts Sandy Culver and John Bidell hope to see you at the house. The Door Combination Has Changed The Clubhouse push-button lock combination has been changed for the ski season. The new combination is on the back of your Orange membership card. Do not go up without the card because there is no way in without the combination. For Sale: 1 pair Volant Vortex Silver 155 cm. skis with Atomic bindings. Asking price, $150. Contact Millie at gittinger@verizon.net Stowe Ski Club Appreciation Days Stowe has announced the dates for what SWCers call the Cheap Ski Stowe days. They are all three day events with uniform pricing per day. Now is the time to reserve your favorite room at the Clubhouse for these popular events. The dates are: Jan 6-8, Feb 4-6, Mar 18-20, & April We are looking for hosts so please contact Terry Tamer on to help out and get free lodging those nights you host. The sliding price of prior years was discontinued and they have a fixed daily price of: Adults = $45/day & Juniors = $33/day with no extra discount for seniors. You will need your own Stowe Evolution Card and your SWC membership card to obtain the ticket at these prices. Bombers Ski Clinic group photo 140 people strong! President s Message So I m talking to Dougie who s about my age, maybe a bit older. I like calling him Dougie. Everyone calls him Dougie, except for himself for If you get his voice mail, you will hear, this is Doug, leave a message, and when I first heard this I thought I got a wrong number so I hung up and redialed but the message was the same, this is Doug, like who's Doug, I wondered, and never did leave a message, and so anyway I m talking to Dougie and he s telling me this story about how he and Smitty (whose real name is Ray) went down to Delaware a few years back and attended a Punkin Chunkin contest, as observers. Maybe Joey went with them. Joey probably went as well. You ve never heard of Punkin Chunkin?! He exclaimed and explained how thousands of people used to attend, the participants rolling homemade catapults onto a field which could fling a pumpkin through the air for over a mile before landing SPLAT! All over the ground, and this then led to the need for a group of horticulturalists to grow pumpkin gourds with a skin so hard that when the pumpkin hit the ground, it remained whole, maybe just rolled a bit, and they did this! They accomplished this! They grew pumpkins that would not splatter after being flung from a catapult through the air for over a mile. I went online and found a video of one of the contests and the winner was wearing a gladiator outfit, brandishing a sword, and whooping it up, for he had won, he was Number 1! I loved this story, the absolute absurdity of the event. I can t think of anything more meaningless than Punkin Chunkin. Ahhh, but I digress here. Now what was I talking about? Oh yes. Sometimes we call George, Georgie, and you can try calling Margaret, Maggie, and if you do, let me know how it went. Everyone called Donnie, Donnie, and Donnie had nicknames for just about everyone, although not all of his nicknames ended in y or ie, and I m not sure what that means, if it means anything at all, having a nickname that doesn t end in y or ie. So what is all this telling us? What is my point? I can t remember just now, but it will come to me, just give me some time and I'll let you know.

3 December Stowe Club Days While I write this, with the 55 deg rainy weather, it is hard to believe that we had snow at Stowe for skiing on December 4th. Yes real snow, 5 worth and they were making snow! 13 intrepid SWCers braved the chance of needing rocks skis and found some winter bliss. They had the enjoyment of some of Stowe s best intermediate ski trails for 3 days of top to bottom skiing off the Fourrunner Quad. For Saturday and Sunday Stowe expanded their offerings by opening up the gondola, providing access to an excellently covered Perry Merrill. There was enough skiing to be had that the next morning moans and groans could be heard all over the Club House wherever I went oh wait a minute was that just me? Well, I enjoyed it thoroughly! And then there is always the food and socializing. Does it get much better than this? I m not sure it does, not for early December. Now remember, there are cheap ski days to be had everywhere, but the Stowe Club Days are some of the best. Hopefully you are signed up for January. See you there, think snow and take care. Jon Skalwold Cheap Skiing To get the council days offered by the CSC, you need a sticker to go on the back of your membership card. If you got this year s card already and there isn t one on the back of your card, you can receive your sticker by mailing a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Dan Kirkpatrick 166 Goode St Burnt Hills, NY Tell me your name and how many stickers you need. 1 per card NYCDSC and CSC council days are up on the Facebook page and SWC website. In addition to council days, this year at Mount Snow, if you present your card with CSC sticker at the clock tower, you get a discounted group rate ticket-any DAY of the season. 1 ticket per card. We have lots of trips being offered by both councils this year. For more information, you can go to their websites. NYCDSC.ORG (on homepage) and SKICLUB.COM (in the newsletter) NYCDSC Park City 2/7 2/14 $1549 pp Okemo 12/11-12/13 $313pp Eastern Township, Canada 12/30-1/2 $600pp Smugglers Notch 1/16-1/18 $235-$335pp Big Sky 1/18-1/25 $1560pp Cortina, Italy 2/13-2/21 $1990pp Whistler 3/4-3/11 $1770pp Stowe 3/10-3/13 $475pp Sunday River 3/20-3/25 $515pp Breckenridge/ Vail 2/27-3/5 $1595pp Steamboat, CO 2/13-2/20 $1359pp Snowbasin & Powder Mtn 3/6-3/12 $1468 CSC Whistler, BC 2/6-2/13 $1659pp Sugarloaf, ME 1/10-1/15 $390-$434pp Sugarloaf, ME 3/13-3/18 $499pp Breckenridge, CO 1/31-2/4 $1189pp Val D Isere, France 1/22-1/30 $2250-$2730pp Bormio, Italy 1/15-1/23 $1695pp Cortina, Italy 2/3-2/14 $2655pp Steamboat, CO 2/13-2/20 $1359 Reservations Everyone staying at the Clubhouse this year should use the online reservation Stowe Club days in December - Left to right: system. It will simplify the hosts work load. Larry Woods, Shelly Nevard, Steve Campbell, Larry Grygas, Walt Thanks go out to all who have already made Kangas, Rick Dearstyne, Bobby Wright, Ken Carleson, Craig Lindsay their reservations and paid using the online and Jon Skalwold on the camera credit card payment system. For those without internet service, you can call Clubhouse director Bill Kornrumpf ( ) he will enter your reservation for you. Finally, the Clubhouse is for all 900 members of the Club. It only functions well if everybody signs up every time they plan on going. We have had conflicts arise when members have just gone up without reservations and set up in a room that is already reserved.

4 SWC Alpine Ski Race Team is Back! The SWC Alpine Ski Race Team is back! Racers also wanted - no experience necessary and no old age limitation. Just the desire to have fun, ski around some poles going very fast, fast, not-so-fast, kinda fast, slowly, very slowly or any which way you want. Race Dates: OC Invitational at BELLEAYRE: Jan 9 NYCDSC Invitational at PICO: Jan 30 ASC Invitational at WEST: Feb 6 SWC Invitational at WILLARD: Feb 21 It s time we show the OCs and the ASCs some real competition. Contact Dorie Valenti to sign up at doriev@verizon.net or We gonna clean up this year! Clubhouse Rates the Same as Last Year The Clubhouse rates are the same this year as last season. Given our summer usage and careful budgeting, we did not raise the base lodging rates this ski season. In fact, we have eliminated the PayPal fees for online payments this year. We want to encourage you to make online payments before your stay. The rates are: Rates: Ski Season Off Season No Host Year Round With Host Lodging Lodging Dinner Members $28.00 $23.00 $10.00 Non-member $33.00 $33.00 $15.00 Juniors (7 to 17 & 18 if in school) $15.00 $10.00 $5.00 Child (less than 7) $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 Notice that SWC does not increase the rates for holiday and special weekends at the Clubhouse. Members cost of a weekend at the Clubhouse is $66 for two nights lodging, two breakfasts and a great Saturday night dinner and $81 for non-members. That's a bargain when compared with the cost of lodging and meals in a resort village like Stowe. Coupled with our no blackout Stowe tickets, it is a bargain. A Word from your Clubhouse Director by Bill Kornrumpf As I started working on my Word I was sitting in a Chicago hotel while praying for snow making weather in Vermont. The weather in Chicago was in the 50's and it was just getting to be snow making temperatures in Vermont. Now I am back in Schenectady and the promise is for record breaking temps tomorrow. Stowe has a large headline on their website, Snow Making at any Opportunity and that reminds me that we have to take our outdoor activities as they occur. Most think that this December has been great for hiking, biking and even some golf for those with open courses. But, the skiing was great during the Bomber's Ski Clinic weekend but with limited trail selection. There were ideal March ski conditions and were able to ski soft, kind moguls that grew as the weekend progressed. I have been preaching that skiers have to make the most of what Mother Nature (and the snow cannons) give us and early December had some good snow conditions. Now we are waiting to see if the predictions of snow after Christmas come true. I have faith and I hope there is plenty of new snow by the Ski Club Appreciation days Jan 6-8. Mother Nature has been good to us in the past and I have faith. Terry Tamer has been busy organizing the Weekend Hosts for the Clubhouse and there are still opportunities for members to volunteer to host a weekend or two. See his article and list of available days. The Club has always relied on our member volunteers to help out when we have the need and we need you now. Please call Terry and arrange a date to host. Keep the faith, snow will arrive. CSC on the snow carnival Mark your calendar! This year we re looking for a big turnout for the CSC on the snow carnival at Sugarbush Mountain, March 4-6. There are council days on those dates, so cheap skiing, loads of activities, events and races. That weekend will be busy, so if you re staying at the lodge, book early! On line Payment System Our on line payment system is working well. It is best if you plan on using the Clubhouse to make your payment before you go up. That way, you don't need to log in at the Clubhouse and spend valuable recreation time making payments to the host or mailing it in when there is no host.

5 Bandanas are in! This year we ll be offering 2 types of bandanas for purchase. These are stretchy microfiber bandanas that you can pull over your head to make either a scarf, cover your face, or your whole head. They re thin and still warm. We ll have some at the meetings, the lodge and other activities. Or kirkpatrick80@gmail.com They are $12 apiece. MHVC Thanksgiving Breakfast MVHC Thanksgiving Breakfast Thanks to all who helped hauled in the supplies: Ray Smith, Ed Otis, George Astle, Margaret Parks, Prince and Joe Nicolella, Carolyn Rynasko, and the 4 strangers who decided to help us, hope they show up next year for carrying supplies in, to Carolyn Rynasko and Joe Nicolella for cooking, to all the eaters (35) who helped lug things out, and last but not least, to John Rack and his dear wife, Karen, for being our general contractors. It was a great day. A special thanks to Judy Brandow and my daughter Kristi Casey for helping getting the supplies in the truck as I was at our latest grandson birth in Connecticut. I found a nice pair of gloves in the back of my truck call Joe Nicolella if u like them back, I know I would. And another quick hike report John Rack Saturday 12/12 Pine Bush Albany County we looped around the trails behind the Discover Center. Had some good directions from other families, and people using the trails. Some went out to eat at a local place. All good hikes end in food.

6 Ski Ticket Sales (Stowe & Sugarbush) We now have Stowe and Sugarbush tickets for sale online. Make your purchases online using the credit card payment portal of our website. The tickets are good for any day (no blackout restrictions). In addition, you didn't need to make preseason purchases for Stowe and Sugarbush. With SWC, you have flexibility in your chasing snow storms. The Sugarbush tickets are non-refundable to the Club so we will be limiting our sales of Sugarbush tickets. Make sure you order them early as we may run out of them. We have a bundle of Bolton Valley Ski Area vouchers at the clubhouse that are good for $35 tickets at Bolton if you need a low cost alternative to the Big mountains close to the clubhouse. No Jay Peak tickets this year. We needed a minimum of 25 ticket sales and we only had 2 as of Dec 15. So, no Jay tickets this year. We are asking everybody to use the website and credit cards to order their discount tickets this year to speed the process and simplify the work of our volunteers. This worked well last year and reduced the ticket turnaround time considerably. The process for obtaining our deep discounted, no blackout, lift tickets is to: 1. Log into the SWC website 2. Click on the Cheap SWC Ski Tickets button 3. Click on How to purchase SWC Cheap Ski Tickets 4. Enter the password from the Membership card 5. Follow the directions to finish payment via credit card The price for the no blackout, discounted tickets are: Stowe: Adult $75, Sr (65+) $65, Jr (6-12) $65 Sugarbush: $65 Jay will be $65 if we get at least 25 preseason sales by Dec 15 Call Anita on for more information on the discount lift ticket program. Remember, Lift Tickets make excellent gifts for family and ski friends. Special arrangements can be made, call Bill Kornrumpf ( ) if you have a special need. Sign Up Now for Weekend Lodge Chair Your Lodge Scheduler hasn t been out beating the bushes actively recruiting Weekend Lodge Chairpersons (WLC). As a result, compared to last month, nobody new has come forward to volunteer for any additional weekends. The following is a list of the schedule so far: January January 21-24, 2016 Marilyn/Joe Pusater January 29-31, 2016 February 4, 2016 Club Day John Bidell February 5-7, 2016 Club Days Sandy Culver February Presidents Week February Presidents Week February 26-28, 2016 March 4-6, 2016 March 11-13, 2016 March 17-20, 2016 Club Days Kim Copenhaver March 25-27, 2016, Easter Weekend April 1-3, 2016 April 8-10, 2016 Thanks goes to Jon Skalwold who already hosted for the first weekend of /club days which took place in early December. I also bring to your attention again about Chef Earl Lahna s Club Days. He is a gourmet chef. If you are there during his tenure as Lodge Chair, you will enjoy coming in for a delicious dinner after spending a day out in the snow and cold. And all this for the prices we charge for dinner! An additional concern is that we are expecting a rather large group during the first weekend of President s Week, the evenings of February 12, 13 and 14. This would be a great opportunity to earn a rather large number of vouchers for staying at the Lodge. The more users you host the more vouchers you can earn. It will be a bit of responsibility taking care of that large a number of skiers but the rewards can be significant. Are YOU planning to spend some time up there in Vermont this ski season? Please, pick a date and give me a call. Remember, if you are Lodge Chair, you don t have to pay for that time. You can also get credit for future stays depending on how many people are there when you are Chair. Give me a call at (518) to volunteer. If I don t answer immediately, please leave a message.

7 Terry Tamer Names and Numbers to Remember Board of Directors: Dorie Valenti, President H Bob Miller, VP Administration H Vacant, VP Nordic H vacant George Astle, VP Activities C Dan Kirkpatrick,VP-Alpine H Ed Greiner, NNYP President C Keith Freeman, Secretary H Margaret Parks, Treasurer C Bill Kornrumpf Clubhouse Director C wkornrum@nycap.rr.com Terry Tamer, Clubhouse Host Coord. H Bill Schaefer, At Large H Vacant, At Large H vacant John Rack, Mohawk Valley Hiking Club H Pete Weykamp, Past Pres H Others John Boscarino, Membership Anita Cartin, Ticket Vouchers H C Will Seyse, Programs Chair H Sue Knapik, Newsletter Editor H sbknapik@yahoo.com Vacant, MVHC Editor H vacant Dorie Valenti, Webmaster doriev@verizon.net Clubhouse at Waterbury Center Change of Address Notices Change of Address notices should be sent to: John Boscarino boscarino126@aol.com, 126 Polsin Dr, Schenectady, NY Do not send to the editor, or the Club PO Box, they will get lost. SWC skiers at the top of Stowe during Bombers Ski Clinic Dec 11 Cheap Ski Saturday - Will Seyse Cheap Ski Saturday - Will Seyse

8 Schenectady Wintersports Club Northern New York Paddlers PO Box 228 Schenectady New York Give a Gift of Membership Now is the time to sign up friends & family Membership is from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016 Please check your Newsletter delivery preference: version of the Newsletter Address (This saves trees & club resources). Receive Newsletter by postal mail: (Slower, higher club cost) Name Age Group (circle 0ne) Address ZIP Phone New Member( ) Renewal( ) $25 individual( ) $35 Family( ) For Family Membership, please indicate: Name of Spouse Age Group (circle 0ne) Names and Ages of Junior Members To qualify for family membership, children must be under 18 or 18 and still in High School. Interested in volunteering? Circle any that you are interested in: Clubhouse, SWC Board, Snow Show, NY Capital District Ski Council, Activities, Warren Miller Movie, hiking, biking and other Club help such as outreach. Make check payable to SWC and mail with the completed application to John Boscarino, 126 Polsin Dr, Schenectady, NY