Hello Everyone,
If you have been out and about the past several weeks, you know that it is colder and with the briskness we feel, everyone with the Club should know this is our time of year. Yes, yes, this is our time! We need to enjoy it wholly and completely because after a long year, we need all the refreshment we can get from a cold and hearty “slap in the face.” Make sure you get outside and thank the gods for any kind of chilly weather that you may have and the pleasure of having contact with it this winter. Especially at night!
CHRISTMAS PARTY A GO-GO
I want to offer a sincere thanks to all of the members and guests who attended and put together the Christmas Party December 1st. It really was the Hamilton County social event of the year. The Car Barn is a neat facility, and it was just a great time. I think I was hugging or being hugged all night long. To a certain degree, because I saw so many people at the Christmas Party, I kind of felt that I fit in and was wanted (fat chance). Hopefully everybody else felt the same. We had upwards of approximately 140 to 145 people attended and it was, once again, just a real special time. I think it was the perfect way for all of us to start out the Christmas party season right.
SKI TRIPS
Ski trips are starting and Vail is on the way. Do not forget we have two weekenders for Gatlinburg that are great deals that come up in January. Contact John Neblett or John Hildebrand about the details.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE ROLLING STONES!!!!!!
With it getting cooler and it just being such a wonderful time of the year, I think we need to look into how the Rolling Stones, cold winters, and skiing all are so closely connected. So anyone does not get a brain lock, I will be more than happy to say there is no connection whatsoever between the greatest rock and roll band in the world and our ski club or any ski club and winter. But you must admit, they are always fun to talk about.
I would like to point out two things the Rolling Stones did as good or maybe better than other entertainment group in the entire college of our existence and knowledge has ever done and that is the following: being open and changing constantly.
Regarding openness, if you ever see a photograph of Mick Jagger, along with always jumping and moving, you must notice his hands are placed firmly on his rear-end totally exposing everything he has to the crowd. He has an exaggerated open posture toward the crowd that is purposely done to get everyone to see everything they possibly can about him while on the stage. He wants to supplement his singing, his actions, and words to songs through his posture. He wants to convey a certain feeling and a mind set to others they will in all probability never experience. Jagger is a god in conveying his own life experiences to others.
Regarding change, The Stones have been a blues band, 60’s psychedelic drug induced coma five piece (the drug stuff lasted for decades), social change icons, country funk and rock and roll idols, semi punk rockers, and, I think lastly, semi- new wavers in the 80’s. They have been living off their spoils since 1985, I think, while moving on through drug comas, drug deaths, drug arrests, infighting, hatred between everyone, knockdown drag outs, extraordinary nasty talk, and several changes of all parts of the band and management they continue to morph into something each year we have never seen previously seen or ever thought could occur with a bunch of old doper drink guys.
Now, I know you are saying will you please get us to the ski club stuff? Okay, here goes.
To go skiing, as we have done through the years, means we have a particular lifestyle that we adhere to that includes, festivities, travel, and to say the least physical self-improvement (we have to be in some sort of shape to play on the mountains whether we want to or not.)
We have an open-door policy regarding members and all we ask or want to express to new folks is they get along with everyone, whether they like everybody or not, and have a good time with us. We, through our open-door policy, hopefully convey a sense of community to anyone looking in on the outside of our club, and if you were at the Christmas Party at the Car Barn you know exactly where I am coming from. I bet when employees from the Car Barn saw everybody hugging each other, I wonder if they thought we in the club really did like each other that much, or did somebody put something in the Yuengling beer they were serving (I think Yuengling beer should be given to enemy combatants at Guantanamo and it will gum them up to not be dangerous.) One of the secrets to our group is our ability to be open and enroll everyone interested. Of course, this is a personal opinion.
With every group, organization, or individual, everybody changes. The ski club is nothing like I remember almost 20 years ago, and for anyone who has been around longer the club probably has more resemblance to a Shriners convention or a medical seminar than the old ski club from the 70’s and 80’s. I think the fact we have changed and are willing to change is a trait we have in our pocket that will help us continually in the future.
I feel that the past six months we have seen what our club can be in this upcoming year is nothing short of electric!!! With short trips to bike, hike, drink, paddle board, view art or attend any event interesting every month it is my hope we will continue to be there. It is further my hope and dream that we will be able to ski and have no limitations on how we interact or what we do to have a good time together with ourselves or others for 2017. Hopefully, it is a time to look and see what we can do and push the limits, and not focus so much on what we have done in the past.
I encourage everyone to accept the change and make sure that no hurtles are placed in front of any place we plan to explore. I guess in Star Trek, the Borg kept the Enterprise and its crew down from time in reaching it destination in space. But that, as we all know, was a TV show and you must have conflict like the Borg have decent drama.
Let us all be careful about criticism to change regarding what the Club may do in the future. Understand, everyone must state what they feel and I wholeheartedly encourage discussion about anything good or bad with the club activities. But please remember, even though someone may be totally correct in their comments and criticisms, they may say it in such a way that the boundaries of the unpardonable sin may be broken: someone may say something that hurts someone else’s feelings.
As Alex Haley said, “Find the good, and praise it.”
Let us get ready for a great year!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL
