| From Mission Control | By Pat Piech, Space City Ski Club President. |
 The SCSC ski season is in full swing and the snow is great. I am sure all of you are excited about hitting the slopes if you haven’t already. We have some great destinations coming up including Whistler, Telluride, Bansko and Quebec. Our intrepid SCSC skiers/travelers are sure to have a fabulous time. I just wish I could go on EVERY trip.
Well back to reality. The big event for the winter here at home is sure to be Mardi Gras in Galveston. Our Downhill Krewe will be partying up a storm on February 2nd with Z-Krewe. Contact AC, Steven Giesler or ACC, Rick Jaeger for all of the details and to sign up. It is great fun every year so make certain you are a part of the action. The general meeting for January is on Monday, January 14 and it is our annual Ski Swap. Now’s your chance to clean out your closet or find a new treasure. So bring your gently used equipment or clothing as well as your checkbook to shop your heart out. A big thank you to Christina Anderson who is coordinating the event for the club.
Our goal is to create the best ski trips and activities we can for our members. But we cannot do that without volunteers. And now the call for volunteers is most important. Bruce Lowther is chairing this year’s nominating committee. Bruce, along with Judy Schiro, Ron Hayes, Leona Schroeder, Sandra McCunis, Don Macken and Trish Ramirez, are in the process of seeking individuals to serve as next year’s executive committee. I can speak from personal experience, after serving in 3 different positions, that the work is fun and rewarding. If you think you would like to serve as an officer, feel free to contact any of the people on the committee. And many thanks to each of them for their time.
Speaking of committees, COB Ellen Eastham chaired a committee tasked with reviewing and making recommendations to update the existing Standing Rules and By-Laws for SCSC. Ellen, along with the committee, worked tirelessly to review the existing document and make intelligent updates for the betterment of the organization. The committee’s recommendations will be presented to the general membership for a approval at a future meeting. On behalf of the entire club, I’d like to thank Ellen for taking the lead in this very important exercise.
Be sure to always check the SCSC website for the latest and greatest on activities as well as our email blasts.
Ski safe and see you on the slopes! |
SCSC NEXT GENERAL MEETING - JANUARY 14, 2008 |
| Special Thanks from The Chairman of the Board | By Ellen Eastham, Space City Ski Club Chairman of the Board |
"Rousing win was all heart. " This was the headline in the Houston Chronicle describing the Texans win December 9 against Tampa Bay. "Congratulations, " he said. "That was all heart." These were just words exchanged by Bob McNair to Gary Kubiak, but they were filled with emotions, with a handshake and a smile. Richard Justice of the Chronicle wrote, "This one was about heart and character and all the things coaches always talk to players about." The win was a result of teamwork, Sage Rosenfels’ passes, the plays made by Mario Williams and the entire team.
What does the Texans win have to do with Space City Ski Club? I am writing to congratulate my team, the Board of Directors (BOD) and the specially-appointed committee which recently "overhauled" and revised the Standing Rules and Bylaws of SCSC. This was no easy task reading and dissecting all the rules that have governed our club for decades; then coming up with needed changes. The "Officers Descriptions Review Committee" (ODRC) volunteered to take on this task, met 5 times, and you can only imagine how many e-mails were written! The ODRC exchanged opinions and rewrites for over 3 months. The 6 on the committee are very experienced members and past/present officers of SCSC. The opinions of the group varied, brainstorming session held with the BOD, compromises reached, a draft presented to the BOD, wording discussed, then final revised documents were presented to the BOD December 10.
The opinions of 6 committee members were presented to 17 voting members and 8 non-voting members, who have highly-valued opinions as Directors for SCSC. The result of asking for comments, revisions, and agreement by the BOD was accomplished December 10 at the BOD meeting.
I really appreciate working with such a great group of loyal SCSC Board of Directors. This was a true compliment to leadership. The extensively-revised Standing Rules and suggested Bylaws changes were passed. We will present the suggested Bylaws changes to the membership at the January 14 meeting, they will be included in the February Sitzmarke, and voted on by the membership at the February 11 meeting.
Now you ask, what were the revisions all about? As you know the electronic world has changed everything. The SCSC Directory is now on-line and not published, which was a large part of the Secretary’s job. The Vice President-Programs has always been a difficult position to fill because of the requirements. Some Standing Rule revisions will be effectively immediately, others will begin with the election of new officers. The approved changes in duties include:
President – in charge of the program content and agenda of the membership meetings
Vice President-Programs – name change to Vice President-Activities (Bylaws revision proposal, subject to membership approval). The position will be
responsible for only activities and social events, and no longer the program for membership meetings.
Secretary – coordinate all arrangements for the monthly meetings, maintain the club volunteer list, and maintain the club’s physical inventory and official records.
Auditor – term effective October 1 through Sept. 30 to better help the transition between Treasurers.
Director of Public Relations – position was approved by membership May 2006. The BOD again approved this position reporting to Vice President-Membership is essential to planning promotional events, advertising to the Houston community, and for the growth of SCSC.
Policies - a Standing Rule added to reference approved policies by the BOD. Two such policies are Club E-mail and On-Line Voting (in reference to ExCom and BOD).
The changes above are only a small portion of the wording that was revised to reflect the officers’ duties. Read the approved Standing Rules at www.spacecityskiclub.org – “My SCSC” tab.
As Chairman of the ODRC committee, I express my sincere thanks and hope you will too, to committee members for their time and efforts: President, Pat Piech, BOD members Roger Holzman, Sue Salvage, and TC’s Leyla Ozkardesh and Brenda Soileau.
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| Having A Blast! | By Sandy Perry, Vice President of Programs |
Wow! Another year has gone by and there are still so many fun activities to do. I hope each and every one of you had a wonderful holiday season. Now that the holidays are over, we can concentrate on skiing and non-skiing activities for the New Year.
Our first General Meeting for the New Year will be January 14, 2008 and our program will be our Annual Ski Swap. Each and every one of you need to sort through your closets and storage areas to see what you might want to trade or evaluate what you might need for the new ski season. Please bring any ski equipment and clothes that you wish to sale or trade and your checkbooks. For more information please contact Christina Anderson, Director of Programs.
Some of the non-ski activities that we have planned for you include the following:
On Saturday, February 2 nd Space City’s Downhill Krewe will join Galveston’s Z-Krewe for Mardi Gras Galveston, 2008. We will be celebrating the event from the Zestival Balcony at Trumpets, overlooking the Strand. The ticket price of $170.00 includes access to Trumpets, two meals (lunch and dinner) and four drink tickets. All your beads for tossing and a bead bag are included. It really is a lot of fun to throw beads from the balcony and still have the comfort of having a place to rest, eat, drink, dance or whatever you fancy. Ah, and you will have clean restrooms too! This year’s theme is “Salute to “Pirates” so please come dressed as one. I think there are a few ghost pirates around Galveston that lurked around the island looking for treasures. The final payment date is January 14, 2008. Zestival will sell out! Reserve your ticket now by contacting AC: Steve Giesler or AAC: Rick Jaeger.
We have a Valentine Disco Dance Party planned for Friday, February 15 th. The price of $12.00 per participant includes a $3.00 cover charge to Melody Club, Hustle Dance Lessons by the professional instructor, Irene Griffin and a special instructor that she has chosen. The dance lessons are from 7:30 – 8:30 pm. There will be heavy appetizers and prizes for the best retro Disco costume and a cash bar. You can choose between beginning and intermediate Hustle lessons in the back room or you can join the Swing and Blues group in the front room. Bring your dancing shoes and show us your dance strut!! There will be a prize for the best dressed disco dancer. The payment date is January 25, 2008. Please contact AC: Cindy Moore for more details.
As you all know, March is the month for Houston’s Live Stock Show & Rodeo. Because the majority of the entertainment will not be announced until January, we do not have any details to announce to you yet. Please stay tuned for more details.
SCSC Holiday Gala (recap)
The Space City Ski Club held its Annual Holiday Gala on November 30 th at Vargo’s Restaurant. About 82 members and guests attended and raved about the gourmet dinner of spinach stuffed chicken breast, salad, vegetables, rice and a choice of several desserts. The usual cash bar was available and Van Lang played excellent dance music for the third year in a row. There were many compliments given to AC Ann Dorn and AAC Cindy Moore about this year’s event. Vargo’s provided a gorgeous set up including red satin sashes on white chair covers, creating the perfect setting. It was an extremely elegant event.
A gala committee is being formed right now to plan next years Christmas party. Please email Committee Chair Cindy Moore at dance_c_ski@yahoo.com any comments you have about whether or not we should continue the formal event, or try a more casual Christmas party. We are also exploring ideas of possibly combining with other clubs (perhaps TASS, Bayou City Outdoors, Clear Lake Ski Club) for a larger Gala-type event next year. We are also discussing whether a D.J. would work just as well as live musical entertainment. If you would like to serve on this committee, or just have ideas or comments, please email Cindy. |
| Copper Mountain | By TC: Trish Ramirez. ATC: Lora Gaige |
The second trip of the season, Copper Mountain, CO, was a hit! Our group had such a great time hitting the slopes and getting to know each other after the lifts closed. The adventure started off with a snow storm on the way to the resort. The bus even had to stop and have chains put on to climb to our final destination. This set the stage for a good first day of skiing! We had blue skies for the rest of the trip.
We had one new skier on our trip, Emma Garcia, and a first time rider, Annemarie Price. Both had a wonderful time, but decided to take on other winter sports the next day, including snowmobiling! We also enjoyed watching the half pipe at Copper throughout our trip. It was the first one open in NA! The Australian and Korean national teams were practicing their stunts all week…and providing us with entertainment! |
This group had a great time taking advantage of all the amenities of the Passage Point Condos, including the hot tub to soothe those sore muscles and enjoy a glass of Barry’s port! We met for après skis at Endos or Jack’s bar each day and our final night out together was celebrated by great food and even better company at the CB Grille.
Thanks so much to everyone on the trip that made it a great kick off to the 2007-2008 ski season! |
| Countdown to Liftoff | By Ted Widmer, Vice President of Trips |
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December is a great time of year and our ski trips are ready to kick into high gear. By the time you read this, our Thanksgiving trip will have already returned and the early season trip to Copper Mountain will be ready to return to Houston as well. Coming up are some fabulous destinations and space is still available.
The club is spending mid January in Canada at Whistler/Blackcomb. If you have never been to Whistler, you really need to consider this trip. By January, the average base over the last 7 years has been over 200 inches, so the snow should be great. Couple that with great trails and a fun town and it will be a vacation to remember. Get with Bruce Baird or Jill Nanney for more details. The other trip that promises to be fantastic is also in Canada and that is Quebec. In addition to the skiing, the town of Quebec is celebrating its 400 th year and it is going all out for the celebration. Plus, it is a TSC trip and we will be bringing a bit of Texas to the French Canadians. Be sure to be a part of the fun and history. Leyla Ozkardesh is the TC for this trip and contact her or Leslie Cashio for the entire scoop.
Our other trips, Bansko, Telluride and Steamboat, are all at capacity at this time. But if you are flexible and interested in one of these trips, you might want to get on the waiting list. You never know when someone needs to drop off.
Finally, please take a minute and thank all of the trip coordinators, their assistants and the directors for all of the hard work getting this ski season underway. They have done a terrific job. |
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