BLUE RIDGE SKI COUNCIL

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Minutes of Spring BRSC 2006 Meeting BLUE RIDGE SKI COUNCIL Minutes of Spring 2006 Meeting East Shore Restaurant, Elkridge, MD Saturday, May 20, 2006 Attendees BRSC: Wayne Homens, President & CSC; Peter Porton, Vice President & PSC; Steve Peirce, Treasurer & PSC; Nancy Cruise, Secretary & Fagowees; Pentagon Ski Club (PSC): Dave Olsen; Columbia Ski Club (CSC): Kitty Imdahl, Catherine Homens, Gary Prestianni, Steve Panzer, Ted Dietz, Grant Wagner, John Matsuzaki, Tom Delaney; Fredericksburg Ski Club (FSC): Michael Redding, W. Wallace Morton; Ski Club of Washington DC (SCWDC): Judy Burlbaugh, Livingston Johnson, Marc Schanfarber, Sue Miller; Baltimore Ski Club (BSC): Charles Saunders, Steven Cawunder, Michael Jones; Capital Golden Skiers: Inge Lesjak; Potomac Valley Skiers (PVS): Glade Flake, Sara Huggins, Charles Huggins, Robert Marx; Crabtowne Skiers: Molly Hochman; Fagowees: Donna Campel, Ray Stoll, Sam Mantis; Four Seasons Travelers: Jack Klein; Goddard Ski Club: Harvey Walden; Mogul Ski Club: David Sheppard; Little Hieskel: Betsy Klein; SSS Ski Club: Ronald Fedorczak; Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC): Steve Bergstrom; Vendors: Judy Miller, GTU; Dan Ellis, Winter Ski and Sport; Effie Rubenstein, Sportours , NJ. President Wayne Homens called the meeting to order at 8:02 a.m. and welcomed everyone. The BRSC Executive Committee members and club delegates introduced themselves. Date and Host of Fall Meeting Peter P., PSC, volunteered Pentagon Ski Club as host for the fall meeting. Date agreed upon is Saturday, September 16 with September 17 as an alternate depending upon space availability. Executive Committee Reports Minutes Dave O., PSC, offered one correction to the minutes: add “Capital” to Golden Skiers. Dave asked what the BRSC policy was on using last names in the minutes. Wayne explained that because the minutes are published on the website, last names are removed for privacy reasons. The secretary asked the Council whether anyone objected to their last names being published in the minutes. There were no objections from the floor. For future minutes, the secretary will include last names in the attendee list. Another correction noted for the fall minutes was to add Dave Comerford, PVS, to the attendee list. Bob M., PVS, moved and Judy B., SCWDC, seconded the motion to approve the minutes as corrected. All were in favor. The motion was approved. Treasurer’s Report Wayne asked if anyone had any questions regarding the treasurer’s report which he had distributed to the Council by e-mail. A question from the floor was why the Council lost money on both meetings last year. Wayne explained that for both meetings, BRSC did not meet the minimum number of attendees required to get the meeting room comp, so BRSC had to pay for the room. Steve Peirce, Treasurer, passed out copies of the treasurer’s report and 06-7 proposed budget. There was a question from the floor on policy and procedures of BRSC about who makes decisions on trips to use BRSC funds for events. Wayne and Peter said that BRSC does not have a policy manual. The decisions are made by the available elected BRSC officer in conjunction with the trip coordinator. All expenditures of BRSC funds on trips will be explained to the Council after the trip. Charlie S., BSC, moved and Molly H., Crabtowne, seconded the motion to approve the Treasurer’s report. All were in favor. The motion was approved. Standing Committee Reports BRSC Racing Dave Olsen, 2006 Western Carnival Race Coordinator, reported on the Sun Valley Western Carnival race. Dave had a written report available for the Council. There were 226 racers for 70 percent participation. Mogul won the club participation award and Columbia won the club team competition award. Wayne said that he and Peter had discussed discontinuing the practice of trip coordinators soliciting prizes and give-aways and asked the Council for its thoughts on the issue. The response from the Council was divided. There was no decision on the question. Wayne polled the Council whether to accept Dan Ellis’ offer to increase the money Dan’s company owes BRSC for the 2006 Western Carnival from $1625 to $1800. Steve noted that he had received a check from Dan in the amount of $1800. After some discussion, the majority of the Council voted to accept the increase. Trip Sanctions Wayne said that for the past season he had approximately 43-44 trip sanctions. Wayne explained the trip sanctioning process. He has two current sanctions: Baltimore’s Nov 06 Wine & Bike Tour in Italy and Columbia’s Apr 07 CMH Heliskiing. Website Wayne requested help with the BRSC website. Trips Committee Issue – is Morzine/Porte du Soleil, France the right site for BRSC Eurofest? Peter explained that the reason the trips committee included Morzine in the location with Porte du Soleil was that people might not know where Port du Soleil is. When the requests for bids go out they will ask for bids for the Porte du Soleil region. BRSC Presidential Election Peter Porton, election committee chairman, reported that there were two candidates for the office of BRSC President: Judy Burlbaugh, SCWDC, and Wayne Homens, CSC and BSC. Peter asked if there were any nominations from the floor. There were no nominations from the floor. Each candidate was allowed 5 minutes to address the Council. The vote was taken by secret ballot. Judy Burlbaugh was elected BRSC President. At Wayne’s request, Judy took chair of the meeting. Old Business: Trips 2006 Eurofest, Val D’Gardena, Italy, March 3-11, 2006 Peter Porton, trip coordinator, reported that 6 clubs participated with approximately 155-160 people. Peter said it was a good trip with good weather, parties and skiing. Only major problem was that because of a major snow storm in Germany, many people on the trip didn’t get their luggage and it was necessary to spend BRSC funds to retrieve the luggage from Munich. Judy Miller of Group Trips Unlimited gave the Council a more detailed report on the trip. 2006 Western Carnival, Sun Valley, Idaho, January 21-28, 2006 On behalf of Donna Brothers, trip coordinator, Dan Ellis of Winter Ski and Sports reported that 10 clubs participated with over 345 participants. Dan gave the Council a report on the trip and activities. 2007 Eurofest, Schladming, Austria, March 3-10, 2007 Cathy Homens, trip coordinator, reported that there are 8 clubs participating with a projection of 274 participants. Cathy and Judy Miller, GTU, gave the Council an update on the trip and planned activities. 2007 Western Carnival, Big Sky, Montana, February 3-10, 2007 Kitty Imdahl, trip coordinator, reported that there are 8 clubs participating with a projection of 292 participants. Kitty and Judy Miller, GTU, gave the Council an update on the trip and planned activities. Selection of 2008 BRSC Trip Coordinators Judy asked that resumes for the 2008 BRSC trip coordinator positions be sent to her. Dave O., PSC, noted that according to the fall 05 meeting minutes, Wayne had received one resume for the 2008 Western Carnival coordinator position. Judy tabled the discussion until after lunch. New Business Open Discussions/Club Issues The Council discussed trips that were successful for the various clubs. The Council broke for lunch at 11:40 a.m. and reconvened at 12:30 p.m. Selection of 2008 BRSC Trip Coordinators - Revisited Judy said that the person who had previously submitted a resume for the 2008 Western Carnival coordinator position would resubmit it. Judy asked that resumes for both 2008 coordinator positions be submitted to her by Sunday night, three weeks hence. Judy said that if she received more than one application for either position, she would poll the clubs for a vote. Judy asked about the timelines for trip, and trip coordinator selection. Peter said he would get with Bill Schroedel, CSC, and obtain the trip timelines that the trips committee had worked up and send it to Judy. 2008 Eurofest, Les Portes du Soleil The Council selected the following vendors to send bid request letters to: GTU, Sportours, and Adventures on Skis. Summer Trips The Council discussed the next open discussion topic about who is running summer trips. Several clubs talked about their summer schedules. Judy asked the Council whether it would be feasible for BRSC to run a summer trip (Sunfest) perhaps to Europe. Judy asked the Council if there were any volunteers to put together a BRSC summer trip. There were no volunteers. She suggested that the Council think about it and that it would be discussed again in the fall. Extended Trips; Volunteers The next topic was extended trips, Europe only or U.S. as well. Some clubs said that they add on to some of their Western trips. Peter, VP, talked about the next topic which is lack of volunteers. He asked why more people aren’t involved with Council operations. Clubs' Summer Activities Judy asked the Council its thoughts about whether summer club activities need to be sanctioned with the $10.00 fee or can be posted on the BRSC website gratis. Charlie S., BSC, moved that BRSC open up sanctioning for the summer period at no cost. Bob M., PVS, seconded the motion; discussion followed. Charlie amended his motion to reflect non-ski activities during the period April-November. All were in favor, the motion was approved. Commendation for Wayne Bob M., PVS, moved to commend Wayne Homens for 12 years of service and leadership to the Blue Ridge Ski Council, and to offer him the commendation of all member clubs for that service and wish him well. The motion was seconded and approved by all. The Council gave Wayne a round of applause. Other Trips Issues – Tour Operators Selections – Site Selections Judy Miller, GTU; Effie Rubinstein, Sportours; and Dan Ellis, Winter Ski & Sports, fielded questions from the Council on club trip issues such as how to keep costs down. The Council continued its discussion on BRSC issues. The next issue discussed was tour operator selection – when all aspects of the offer are equal – how do we choose fairly? The Council then discussed the idea of a BRSC members-only page on the web site where member clubs can post their projected ski trip schedules in order to afford clubs the opportunity to merge trips. Another suggestion was for clubs to e-mail their proposed schedules to other clubs. Peter, VP, suggested that, in order to foster competition among ski areas, when BRSC selects an area for a future trip, that the following year’s selected area also be included as the second choice in the requests for bids from the vendors. The Council discussed the concept. Judy asked that the trips committee come up with suggested areas for Western Carnival for 2009 and beyond and present the areas at the fall meeting. Volunteers to serve on the trips committee were: Molly H., Crabtowne; Glade F., PVS; Ted D., CSC; Inge L., Golden Capital Skiers; Kitty I., CSC; and Livingston Johnson, SCWDC. Ted will head the committee which will cover both Western Carnival and Eurofest proposed locations as well as timelines. The meeting was adjourned at 3:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Nancy E. Cruise Secretary Blue Ridge Ski Council Date: August 9, 2006