PRESIDENT'S UPDATE
October 2009

Alice Taylor, CSC President

Alice Taylor, President
Crescent Ski Council
luvs2ski@verizon.net
 
I hope everyone had a great October!  The month flew by quickly, as evidenced by the fact that this is being issued in November.  The CSC Fall Conference was a great weekend, and the clubs which were not represented missed informative meetings and workshops, as well as a fun party Saturday night. 
 
TRIPS

 

Steamboat Race & Ski Camp:  December 5 - 12, 2009

Whitefish, Montana:  January 16 - 23, 2010

(Information about both trips is contained on CSC's web site.)

 

As of October 25th, approximately 250 individuals had registered for Steamboat.  Anyone still wanting to attend needs to contact Sara Ford at Sports America Tours soon!  Please help Lisa Beregi and Sara verify that all registered participants are actually Crescent members.  Each club will be receiving a list of individuals who listed that club as his/her club.  Please confirm that each individual has paid dues and is a current member.  All attendees on Crescent trips must be current members, in good status with their clubs. 
 
Around 130 have registered for Whitefish, and the deadline for registering is rapidly approaching!  Also remind everyone that their final payments are due.
 
The information for  the March 4 - 7, 2010 Crescent Cup weekend at Silvercreek, WV has been issued to the race directors & race workers and should be sent to all clubs within the week.  Please be sure to adhere to all deadlines.  Linda Redd, Local Trips Coordinator, needs your information to plan properly for the weekend, and there are late fees assessed for failure to meet the deadlines.
 
Trips Committee met at the Fall Conference and covered many items.  (I'm not going to list all of them;  talk with your club's representative at the meeting or contact Lisa Beregi, Trips Chair, for details.)  The most anticipated item, of course, is always the presentation by the tour operators / resorts of the proposed trips for next year.  This year, there were four excellent presentations, which led to difficult decisions.  Lisa is contacting the three clubs who were not at the Fall Conference to obtain their destination votes, and it's anticipated that the results for both the January and March 2011 trips will be available within the week.

 

 

CONVENTIONS

 

The Fall Conference was attended by approximately 120 individuals;  three clubs were not represented.  Mary Anne Koltowich and the Knoxville Ski and Outing Club worked hard to make it an enjoyable and successful conference.  Numerous items were discussed at the Administrative workshop, and feedback from that session has been very positive. I am attaching the handouts from that workshop to this update.  If you have any questions, please contact me.  Wayne Bailey, Asheville Ski & Outing Club, did a great job conducting the Technology workshop, and many participants asked for the topic to be included next year;  we'll do our best to comply.  

 

Information about the Spring Convention was briefly presented at the BOD meeting.  Details, including registration forms, have been distributed to clubs.  It will be held at Kingston Plantation, North Myrtle Beach, SC, April 22 - 25, 2010.  Party theme has not been determined;  if you have a geat idea, please contact Michelle Shuford, Conventions Chair at skibumlong@aol.com. 

 

At the BOD meeting, Gatlinburg was again chosen as the site for next fall's conference.  It will be at the Glenstone Lodge, and the date, probably late October, will be finalized later this year.

 

 

RACING

 

Ron Scott and the race workers are ready for the upcoming season.  Get those skis tuned and get involved in the racing program.  You don't have to be an expert skier to race.  In fact, it's a great way to improve your skiing, and it's a wonderful way to meet many members from other clubs.  Also, the Subaru program has been extended for another year.  This is a superb way to purchase a vehicle.  Your race directors should have all of the information concerning the program.

 

At the Race Director's meeting at the conference, the dates and locations of the 2010 -  2011 races were set.  Contact Ron Scott, CSC Race Chair, or your club's race director for the schedule.

 

 

MEMBER SERVICES

  
Crescent directories were distributed at the Fall Conference.  This is the last year that paper directories will be issued.  Due to changes in club positions and simple reporting oversights, the directory becomes somewhat obsolete almost immediately after it is issued.  Bruce McMurray, Augusta Ski & Outing Club, maintains CSC's database and can provide needed listings to any club upon request.  The only requirement is that the request come from a club officer/chair/director so Bruce has assurances that the information will be used for CSC-related purposes.
 
 

ADMINISTRATIVE

  
At the BOD meeting, Rod Davis was elected to fill the vacancy created when Bill Melton resigned as treasurer.  I'm not sure Rod is going to want to continue as treasurer beyond this year so please ask your members to consider volunteering for that position as well as any of the other positions within Crescent's Executive Committee (ExComm).  A lot of us have served on ExComm for a very long time, and we're getting tired.  The only way to keep an organization growing is to reinvigorate its leadership periodically.  The old saying "If it isn't broken, don't fix it." isn't applicable.  We need new ideas and members with lots of energy and enthusiasm to help the old-timers continue to keep Crescent a great organization!
 
In addition to the material covered at the Administrative workshop, I've attached GSOC's alcohol policy.  The insurance discussion at the workshop touched on the need for every club to have a written policy - whatever it may be.  Without that written policy, the club has no defensible policy;  verbal just doesn't work in a lawsuit.  GSOC's policy is the only one I've seen so I'm passing it along as an example.  If any other club has a written policy, I would appreciate receiving a copy of it so I can share it with the other clubs.
 
One other item from the workshop:  Clubs were reminded that the National Ski Council Federation has added Outdoor Recreation Insurance as a benefit on its web site.  This inexpensive insurance provides ski accident coverage that pays in addition to your regular insurance.  To check it out, go to NSCF's web site, Member Discounts:  logon (skiclub), password (member) (all in small letters).  Lisa passed out brochures about this benefit at last year's Trips Committee meeting and BOD meeting.
 
At the BOD meeting, the SnowEast magazine was distributed.  In case you didn't get the contact information, it is intra@optonline.net or snoweastmag@optonline.net.  If you think your members would enjoy reading this magazine, contact William (Bill) Jones, editor, and tell him your club is a member of Crescent.
 
From discussions at the Administrative workshop, I've concluded that some of you don't read the President's Updates.  That's your choice, but since the update is used as Crescent's primary means of communicating with the clubs between meetings, you risk being uninformed.  I try to keep them as short as possible, so please take time to read them, and if I've requested information, please respond.
 
That's all for now.  Start dreaming about snow and skiing and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

Alice Taylor, President

Crescent Ski Council

402 Woodbridge Drive

Charleston, WV  25311

luvs2ski@verizon.net