Monday, April 9,2007 – 6:30 p.m.

Monday, May 14, 2007 6:30-9:30pm

Vargo's Restaurant-2401 Fondren, Houston (Just north of

• President - Pat Piech

             • VP of Programs - Sandra Perry

     • VP of Trips - Ted Widmer

                         • VP of Membership - Barbara Della Longa

           • VP of Publication - Ross Baker

  • Treasurer - David Cone

Space City Ski Club is a successful team! We form committees, elect officers, coordinate adventurous trips and plan a variety of activities. Speaking of successful teams, how about those Houston Rockets? They are in 5th place in the Western Conference, and with a better record than ALL the Eastern Conference teams, except Detroit! Teamwork is one reason, and Dikembe Mutombo is another reason. His sporting accomplishments are amazing for a 40-year old basketball player! He is 2nd place on the all-time blocked shot list, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and trailing Hakeem Olajuwon! You can also marvel at Roger Clemens’ accomplishments at age 44.

What makes a team successful? Seasoned members bring experience to the newer members on the team. There are hundreds of our “seasoned members” that have not shared their wisdom and experience for many years with the club; we want you back! As for the new members, ask others to share their experiences, volunteer to be an assistant for trips or an activity, a meeting ambassador, or create an activity and volunteer to be the AC (activity coordinator). I had a short term at the “reigns” as President and now turn them over to Pat Piech as incoming President. She has completed a successful year as Vice President of Trips, assisted by Director of Trips, Bill Bomberger. I give my sincere appreciation to all the present officers and directors, as they are training the new officers to take over their leadership roles to create another successful team. Many thanks to Jessica Halter and Barbara Della Longa for their creative efforts, which increased membership this past year. Barbara is planning her 2nd Sports and Social Clubs Expo on April 9 to promote our club. Be sure to volunteer to assist and attend! Deb Cini and Cindy Moore were a marvelous duo as VP and Director of Programs, Don Macken has done a tremendous job as Treasurer, Carol Cain kept the officers informed as Secretary, and Steven Teoh created a new e-Sitzmarke, in addition to the “traditional” Sitzmarke that was mailed only a few months. There are many others who contributed their time as Directors, Trip Leaders, Activity Coordinators, and all their assistants. This club exists because of you! As the ski year is about to end, I extend an invitation to everyone, come join the team with us, so next year we’ll have a winning season!

The Downhill Krewe (DK) participated in Mardi Gras-Galveston Z Krewe Parade on February 17, 2007. The group of 30 ranged from 1st to 5th year participants, was energetic in tossing over 6000 beads to the begging crowd as they walked 12 blocks in The Strand District on a gorgeous day!

AC Kenny Pape was assisted by Ellen Eastham, co-founder of the Downhill Krewe, as he learned how to organize the group and make numerous parade preparations. Ellen joined Z Krewe as a new member. She represented the “Processional Committee,” confirmed DK was lined up, then joined the Z Krewe group in the parade.

Newly-recruited Green Lord Larry Robinson thought he’d be riding a float because of the small fact that Marilyn never told him about walking the parade route. Afterwards he said, “It was far better to walk and see the grateful smiles of the children and their parents who were ‘beaded’, than be so far away from the action on a float. I’ll do it again.”

After the parade Deb was frantically looking for Julian who was nowhere to be found. After separation then locating his group Julian said “I made friends with more 6 year old little girls than I can count!"

King Slalom V Larry Christie was truly regal, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Saturday morning, which was amazing since he had only arrived a few hours earlier from a business trip to the Middle East. He was jet-lagged after traveling 8300 miles in 27 hours. We give thanks to our King for making his royal appearance!

Deborah Christie was the epitome of purple, befitting her role as Purple Lady, from her purple satin pants to her purple hair. Marilyn was her compliment as the Green Lady, wore green accessories and bright green hair.

Wow! Park City was a fantastic experience for 98 SCSC participants that helped comprise the TSC Traditional Trip with 500 plus skiers. TC Melinda Hughes along with her ATC’s Sandra McCunis and / orchestrated great times and weather. (Go ahead, Believe!) Space City converged January 6-14 on the tri-resort areas of Park City, Deer Valley and The Canyons. The snow at Deer Valley was particularly superb.

Long trip participants enjoyed glorious sun & snow the first 4 days followed by bitter cold on Friday. Roger Holzman & Carmen Mchail were skiing the gondola area, & considered riding it up & down so as to warm their frozen bodies. On the first day, Cindy Moore, Michael Vick, Carmen & Roger skied at Deer Valley. Upon their arrival Cindy & Carmen took a bathroom stop, & returned with reservations to the noted Stein Erickson Resort Sunday brunch. It was sinfully delicious, for 2 hours of decadence!

TC Melinda introduced hubby Dennis to skiing the blacks with the “Big Dogs.” And when not on the slopes, Melinda diplomatically handled the many phone calls about our member concerns regarding bedding down with a same-sex member. Two of the guys sharing a king bed were heard to say that it was "touch & go". Hmmm!! One night they stacked pillows in the middle of the bed to which their friends sang, "Climb every mountain".

Roger Holzman was ill 4 days prior to the trip. Keith Kirkman & Bill Bomberger accused him of passing it onto them. Keith missed 3 days of skiing, Bill 2 days, but Roger skied 6 full days.

Sadly Ann Rogers received difficult news that her Mother's illness is terminal. She left for Seattle on Thursday to visit her. Compounding her sadness was a visit to the clinic on Wednesday with an injured knee.

Fresh snow fell for Thursday’s race day. SCSC race participants included Melinda Hughes, Thuy Rocque, Ann Ivory, Anne Marchetti, Debbie Dvorak, Mary Wollmann, Cindy Moore, Deanna Sullivan, Leyla Ozarkadesh, Thomas Norton, Phillip Vice, Robert Samen, Barry Caspar, David Dvorak, Richard Rocque, Dale Allbritton, Don Hodges, Bruce Lowther, Merlyn Harger, Bill Bomberger, Larry Edmondson, Dennis Hughes, Gary Hercules, Michael Vick, Brian Edmondson, Chuck Pena, Travis Carr, Tyler Carr, Robert Clements, K. C. Wang, Gary Butler, Roger Holzman, Michael Carr, Don Smith, Ron Rambin and Bob Wray.

Thuy won third place overall in the female open division individual races, and Ann Ivory was fourth. Thomas Norton was first overall in the male super senior division, and Robert Samen was fourth in the open division. Of the 4 large Clubs, SCSC placed 3rd. Upon this announcement our group was heard singing, "We are not the worst."

Park City had many SCSC couples and families on the long trip including Richard and Jane Adams, Alice and Dale Allbritton, The Carr’s: Michael, Barbara, Travis and Tyler, The Flemings: Bruce and Stephen, David and Deborah Dvorak, Don and Teri Hodges, Ron and Roberta Rambin, Thuy and Richard Rocque, Michael and Diana Carter. Other long trip participants included Deborah Abadie, Frank Adams, Alex Bunsch, Christie Burke, Margaret Cohen, Cheryl Crockett, Ray Davis, Gail Clayton, Mitch Gaspard, Merlyn Harger, Gary Hercules, Dan Hoffman, Robert Knupp, Art McKnight, Ken Pape, Jim Parise, Dennis Pechal, Cathy Phillips, Steve Slade, Davis Tucker, David Whitehead, Rich Purvis and Eric Dalrymple.

Cooking in the condos was prevalent on this trip. Poor Bob Wray often had decisions to make, with 3 invites each of several nights. Appetizers at one, main course at another, dessert & liquor elsewhere. Malinda Sheehan’s exotic cooking permeated the entire 4th floor several nights to the delight of her room mates Gail Clayton, Elba Villarreal and Sandra McCunis as the single guys followed their noses.

Short trip participants enjoyed themselves once they acclimated to the resort as most arrived with an after midnight check-in. They had to wait until daylight for the grocery & beverages but soon discovered that to go to the Liquor Store, go with Larry Edmondson instead of Greg Biasetti. Larry hails buses by jumping in front of them to stop, while Greg and Janetlee meander along the scenic route only taking buses whose driver stops for 15-minute breaks. Ask Walter Robin instead of Don Smith to start the fire. Walter burned up all the wood from their suite, the suite next door, and from the bucket downstairs, while Don had to re-start the same fire three times during the evening party. If you see left over cheesecake in the fridge, don't eat it even if Deanna Sullivan has not put her name on it. If Deanna's name is on it, only eat a little bit and deny that it was you. Anne Marchetti likes to cook for groups. Make sure she is in your suite and she doesn’t mind when you do the cleaning. If you like snacks make sure that Kay Smith is in your condo.... she stocks more than convenience stores can offer! And remember - nobody likes White Zinfandel - just dump it in the sink instead of trying to “make a use for it” in the spaghetti sauce.

If you want to ski over cliffs (and rocks), ski with Larry Edmondson, Bryan Edmondson, David Morse, Anne Marchetti, Deanna Sullivan and Bob Gottlieb. By the fourth day, the aggressive antics wiped out Anne’s knee requiring a subsequent trip to the doctor.

TC Jan Ferrell described it best—MAGICAL. TSC stayed in three different family owned hotels and every club swore they were at the best hotel with the best staff. We, however, know Hotel Berghof was THE absolute best. Saturday was a travel day. At the meeting that night it was obvious Tom Huzzey was our most ardent skier as he had purchased a 5 day super pass, the only one that was sure he was skiing every day! After a long day, dinner and meeting where most people retired for the night. Some, however, decided to check out the local night scene Steve Gallagher, David Eickhoff, Bret Henderson, Andy Brown and Robert Reidenbach were the first to hit the bars and clubs. Tor Lileng, Jose Araujo, Janice Harris and ATC Brenda Soileau also sampled some local hangouts.

Monday night was Toboggan Night. Most of us had signed up thinking these were going to be like 4 man flat sleds going down a long run. WRONG. A European sled is called a toboggan. One person sits on it about 15 inches off the ground. There is no steering mechanism. Robbie, Jose, Russ, Jan, Steven Giesler, Janice, Harry, Nelson, Liz, Brenda, Gaynelle. Margaret Walker, Fred and Angela had all signed up for this fun. After some fine wine and wonderful food but mostly finding out the type of conveyance to be used and the fact that is was down a very long catwalk (the longest in Austria ) with multiple hairpin turns on an icy surface not everyone participated. There were two guides for the 46 TSC people going down the run. Brenda rode up the lift with the guides and asked how often people were injured or went off the mountain and they looked quite surprised at the question and said, “Never.” Well, let the games begin. After a very brief lesson it seemed they expected everyone to go down single file in a sedate and controlled manner. . Forty-six Texans are not easily controlled. Many took off like they were riding a bull at Gilley’s, lots of hooping and hollering, A little over half way down they had a “watering hole” where we could buy something, to drink, i.e. wine, beer, etc. Many drank quickly and were antsy to get on with the show. As Brenda and Steve were turning in their toboggans, Jose and Angela arrived at base saying not to let anyone leave. Apparently guides were a little upset because there was a five sled pile up on the mountain (shades of Hwy 59), some people had gone off the mountain and they needed to get a “count.” As Brenda was talking to the toboggan shopkeeper to figure out how many toboggans had been returned, Rick walks up and says we need to get a car as Jan had gone off the mountain and was injured so badly it hurt her when he tried to carry her. Brenda and Rick took off for the Hotel Berghof where they found Semy, one of the hotel’s wait staff. Brenda struggled to explain, in German, the need for a car. He called Friedl, the hotel owner, who promptly arrived at the front door in a small van. They drove back to the lift and found Jan walking very stiffly with the aid of several people. Brenda, an advanced nurse practitioner examined Jan and thought she had severely bruised the insertion of her gluteus maximus. A doctor on the trip was consulted and he concurred. That translates to where the muscles of the backside connect to the bone. Rick Jaeger nicknamed Jan “Broke Butt Mountain.” Margaret Walker sprained her left ankle that night, an avid skier grounded. The poor guides were sitting back at the Berghof looking shell-shocked! Besides Space City’s injuries there were two broken bones on the ride that night. After all the mishaps everyone still said it was a blast and would do it again—good old Texas gumption! Unfortunately, Deb became ill and was laid up for the next several days. Don’t feel too sorry for her though. She had Julian waiting on her hand and foot. He was even seen at 5AM one morning making her a hot cup of tea. Back off ladies, he’s taken.

Tuesday, Robbie, Gaynelle, Steve Giesler, Rick, Kathy, Harry and Barbara went on the day trip to Venice, Italy. Andy, David Eickhoff, Stephen Gallagher, Russ, Paula, Vic and. Bret skied in Kitzbuhel. Nelson and Liz tried cross country skiing. David George, Jose, Sandy, Janice and Brenda took off for Munich on their own, first taking the bus to Innsbruck and then the train to Munich. On the way their David explained the set up of the train and the train system in Europe. David and Jose are both experienced train travelers and were a wealth of information. Jose’s brother-in-law had recently been granted back his family’s German citizenship and he had asked Jose to get him the “D” that signified Germany on cars. At a Munich pharmacy Brenda asked where one could buy the “D” for a car (auto in German). She was told to go around the corner to the store with the K on it and go to the third floor. When Brenda and Jose approached the building it really looked like a department store to them but they took the escalators up anyway. As the approached the third floor they both saw the sign for “Auto DVDs”. Jose, who collects music from around the world, decided this was a good time to get some local German music. As they left the store David waves at them and says he has was just strolling past a kiosk when he happened to notice they sold the German “D” Jose’s mission was accomplished. On the return train ride Jose demonstrated how the seats in the car converted to a bed and David took pictures. We’re not showing them to anyone without a lot of cash.

Friday night was hectic with dinner, packing, checking out and the farewell party. Saturday morning came early, 5am, to get to the airport for our various flights. Sandy, Deb, Julian, Tom, Fred, Angela, Barbara, Millie, Kathy, Joe, Pat and Margaret headed home. Jan, Brenda, Janice, Jose, both Steves, both Davids, Bret, Russ, Robert, Robbie, Gaynelle, Rick, Harry, Marianne, Paula, Vic, Julie, Larry, Liz and Nelson took off for Prague in the Czech Republic. We were welcomed by the hotel manager with complementary glasses of champagne. Sunday there was a walking tour of the old city. After that, everyone went their own ways. Marianne enjoyed a night at the opera and several concerts. Julie and Larry also enjoyed the concerts available. Steve Gallagher entered a gambling contest. David George took a trip to a silver mining community. Janice, Russ, and Harry toured Terenzin concentration camp. Jan, Bret, David Eickhoff and Janice enjoyed a beautiful evening dinner cruise, Many climbed to the top of St. Vitus’s Tower to get a bird’s eye view of this beautiful city. Jan enjoyed shopping. Jose and Brenda shot crossbows. Jose, on his first attempt, got a bull’s-eye! Our time in Prague was short and several have expressed an interest in returning because they found so much to do. Before we knew it, it was time to pack. We can’t wait to see where TSC takes us next year!

Renew NOW and get the discounted rate of $35.

1. Go to spacecityskiclub.org
2. Click on the “My SCSC tab
3. Log in with username and password
4. The light blue print above “Here are your member features” verifies your membership expiration date.
5.  Click on “Update My Membership Profile” and check all information for accuracy
6.  Click on the “Renew My Membership” button
7.  Decide if you want a single year membership (through 4/08 or multiple years – so you don’t have to do all of this stuff every year!)
8. Proceed thru PayPal to complete your payment. It’s secure, it’s free and you don’t have to have a PayPal account, just a major
9. credit card or checking account.
10. TROUBLESHOOTING:

Volunteer to assist on a choice of 8 committees.*

Join the Space City Ski Club Team to become a part of racing history and join the “Festival of Speed”.

** Committees: