Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! On Thursday night December 16th we held our annual Christmas Party. After everything we have been through in the past 20 months or so, wasn’t it great to get together again? For those of you that missed it, Hilda, Bobbi, Jinksie and others planned and executed a fantastic evening. The venue (Hilda & Willis’ Flat Duck) was beautifully decorated, the main course (from Susan & Van Chambers) was delicious, the member-supplied desserts were scrumptious, and the entertainment (by Bobbi and DJ Stacey VanPelt) was joyous.
Note that there will NOT be a membership meeting in January (since we have been meeting outside at the Flat Duck for the last few months, it might be a bit cool). We will keep you posted on our plans for February.
Since this is the season for giving, Lulu is planning an opportunity for us to give sometime in January. We are looking at volunteering at the Chattanooga Area Food Bank again. The Food Bank primarily distributes food to those in need through partner agencies located in 20-counties across Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia. Be looking for more information in the coming days, and if you can, join us. We will only work a few hours and it isn’t hard, but you will be helping people in our community.
The 2021-2022 ski season is officially underway as 17 members of the Chattanooga Ski Club joined 200+ members of other Crescent Ski Council clubs for a week at Steamboat. I understand everyone had a good time despite the less-than-ideal conditions (is it true that there was a scavenger hunt where one item was snow?). In just a few days (January 8th to be precise) the first of three Chattanooga Ski Club trips will be underway as we return to Aspen/Snowmass, probably our most popular destination.
While our club is running three western trips this season (two more than last year), we have had to cancel the European trip for the second year in a row. I wish this wasn’t necessary, and our Trip Coordinator, Scott Kramer, and the Trip Leader, Lulu Copeland, worked very hard to make the trip work. Unfortunately, there are several reasons that made this decision necessary. First, we only had 20 participants who were paid up, but to prevent a significant cost to the club, we needed a minimum of 25 participants. Second, due to the increasing COVID numbers, the US and France are implementing travel requirements including negative PCMR tests 48 hours before returning to the US; vaccine passports required in France to visit tourist attractions, go into bars, cafes, restaurants, and shared areas in hotel; etc. These were causing, with good reason, some of our participants to consider dropping the trip. Third, the air fare was over $1000, which was a bit pricey for some participants. Had only one of these factors been in play we might have still run the trip, but not with all three. The good news is that Scott is already working on trips for 2023 and a European trip is planned.
We have five new members to report: William Cesan, Autumn Friday, Natalie Gill, Marie Holland, and Grant McAlpin. Let’s be sure we make them feel welcome.
Stay safe everyone,
Bob
Event Listing
Membership Meeting January – cancelled
Snowmass Ski Trip – January 8-15, 2022 https://chattanoogaskiclub.org/event-4231819 (Full)
Membership Meeting @ TBD – February 1, 2022
Breckenridge Ski Trip – February 5-12, 2022 https://chattanoogaskiclub.org/event-4241705 (Full)
Mt. Bachelor Ski Trip – February 19-26, 2022 https://chattanoogaskiclub.org/event-4254580
Membership Meeting @ TBD – March 1, 2022
Chamonix/Lyon/Paris Skiing & Touring Trip- cancelled