Minutes of Region Meeting
Western Michigan Region, NSP
March
19January 9, 2008 Brann’s, Grand
Rapids
Region Officers Present: Region
Director, Tony Wolfer; Secretary, Colleen Wolfer; Assistant Region Director,
Gregg Hoppe; Assistant Region Director, Erica Krol; Treasurer, Larry Klose.
Section Officers Present: WM1
Section Chief, Ken Young; WM3 Section Chief, Tom Fisher.
Patrol Representatives Present:
Bittersweet, Dan Navis; Timber Ridge, Sue Brann; Crystal Mountain, Brian
Klebba; Western Michigan Nordic, Kelly Godfrey
Region Advisors Present:
Awards, Kathy Young; Assistant Awards, Patrick Mulvihill; OEC Advisor, Dan
Goldberger; Alpine NSPC Ski School, Chip Knappen; Avalanche, Michael Walenta,
Members: Dennis O’Brien, Dave
Corey, Mike Patterson.
Meeting called to order at
7:00pm.
Secretary’s Report:
Report accepted with corrections from Chip Knappen and Kathy Young. Timber
Ridge over the summer added new snow guns and replaced old piping. Awards
should be to Section January 21 and to Region January 28.
Treasurer’s Report: Larry
Klose presented a written report which is on file. He has directed
all patrol representatives to read the last page
memo regarding use of funds. Online treasurer’s report may be accessed with
the password “liftticket” and the financial info with
the password seniorpass. Report accepted.
Unfinished business: Sue
Brann and Erica Krol need to know who won the Harper Pack to reply to Chris Moe
to complete follow-up of the Division Meeting. Tony Wolfer will contact David
Menke.
Programs and Advisor Reports
ARD –
Gregg Hoppe: Division Senior Calibration Clinic gave us a lot of
information about what level skiing ability people need to be at to come to the
senior test. One injury to Britt Gustafson incurred. Central Division registration
with National will be starting to be entered this week. Cards will be sent out
when all the patrol information is complete. Do not contact the National
office about the registration packets – it will hold up the process. Contact
Sherwin VanKlompenberg if you have questions. Feel free to contact the
National Board and Board Members about the problem. Please emphasize that
people should correct their own information with National. Tony Wolfer
commends patrollers regarding correction of e-mail. Gregg says if patrol
hasn’t been completely processed you will need to do e-blast by using the 2007
information. Tri region 1-26/27
TES/SES coming up. Conflicts with SEM.
Alpine NSP-C School – Chip
Knappen: Region SES at Timber Ridge – working on the dates.
One level III PSIA and two level II PSIA instructors will be available.
Alpine Proficiency –
Britt Gustafson: Good calibration clinic
at Caberfae on 1/6/08. 16 people attended who will be grading at the senior
test. Expecting 14 candidates.
Alpine Toboggan –
Shawn Rhoda: One TES has been held and another will be coming up
at the Senior Warm-up. Can schedule week nights on Tuesday, Thursday or
Friday. Bittersweet, Feb 10 at 8:30am.
Avalanche –
Michael Walenta: Feb 2 and 3 at Boyne
Mountain in conjunction with Northern – sheet passed to post in patrol rooms.
MTR -
Michael Walenta: MTR Basic had a
successful class of 6 this fall. MTR Advanced has 4 in the course. The indoor
portion of the class has been completed. The outdoor portion is scheduled for
Fri/Sat/Sun February 29, March 1 and 2. It will be held at Sleeping
Bear Dunes. Contact Marty Monsma at 616-301-9138 to pre-enroll for
next year.
ARD -
Erica Krol: Tom Fisher will be the Section Chief for Section
III again – no election will be held as there is only one candidate. Erica has
contacted Division regarding running an election for Region Director and will
be run as we have in the past. We have two candidates: Tony Wolfer and Dennis
O’Brien. Chip Knappen proposes a motion that accepts our dates for elections.
Tony Wolfer says Division has a plan to change other elections dates and they
will be more in alignment with ours. Election will be by paper ballot.
Awards –
Kathy Young/Patrick Mulvihill: Awards deadlines 1/21
to Section and 1/28 to Region are coming up. Encourage everyone to submit
awards and recognize those who deserve it. One signed copy of every nomination
please. One electronic copy. Electronic copy is only form awards can be
passed on to Division. Changes to policies and procedures – more points for
recommendation letters than before and letters must be relative information.
Merit Stars – from now on the stars will be limited to the last two seasons.
Blue and Purple must be based on doing something using ski patrol skills within
the bounds of what ski patrollers do with documentation from a doctor saying
that something that was done was life saving.
Instructor Development – Tony
Wolfer for Pat Livingston: One person interested
in taking Instructor Development. Pat is interested in running the class in
April. Please contact her.
National Appointment – Sue
Brann: Same deadlines as Kathy Young has but please send
National Appointment recommendations to Sue Brann. Sue suggests that it would
be best if someone has already had an award. Dennis O’Brien will join the
committee.
OEC –
Dan Goldberger: 15 new patrollers in
Section I have passed their OEC. Section II had final on 11/29 with all but
one patroller passing. Section III had three patrollers take the test but only
one completed at this time. This was the first time for an e-class and the
program will continue to be modified. Gregg Hoppe says that the most
difficult part was the skill sets. January 26 will be the Senior OEC
final. Direct questions to Mike Fick.
Section and Patrol Reports
WM I – Ken
Young: Ken reported on the loss of Bruce Johnson and the
coming together of the patrol for his funeral.
Timber Ridge – Sue
Brann: Hope to be open this weekend – difficulty getting
toboggan refreshers completed with the weather.
Bittersweet – Dan Navis:
Hope to be open this weekend. Patrol room coming together.
Section II –
Patrick Mulvihill: Section II hill test
has been moved to Feb 24 from the 10th because of the weather and
ability of the candidates. Expects about 10 candidates. Will need help with
evaluators as there will be a conflict with other Region programs. Evaluators
contact Mike Fick Jack Katerburg or Patrick Mulvihill.
Cannonsburg – Mike
Patterson: On January 26, Cannonsburg will host SEM clinic.
They received a thank you letter from management for their efforts in keeping
the area running over the holidays.
Western Michigan Nordic –
Kelly Godfrey: Weather permitting they will be covering: Feb 2 -
White Pine Stampede in Mancelona; Feb 9 – Vasa - Traverse City. March 1 come
to Caberfae at 9 am if interested in Nordic patrolling – contact Kelly.
WMIII – Tom
Fisher: The proposed registration form for the Region
Banquet was passed out and discussed. Discussion followed about the use of region
funds since this will cost more per person for the dinner. Gregg Hoppe made
motion to increase the region funding to help reduce the cost of the dinners
since they are more costly this year. Patrick Mulvihill moves that the amount
should be $1000.00 authorized on a year by year basis. Gregg withdrew his
motion. Ken Young questions whether reducing the cost of the meals will
actually increase the attendance. Michael Walenta suggests that the season has
to do with attendance also. Dan Navis suggests using the money for meals vs
prizes. Motion passed.
9:06 Motion to continue meeting for 15 minutes to
complete business passed.
Caberfae Peaks – Chip
Knappen: From one of Caberfae’s owners: Dec 30 they had
an all time record day. They are very pleased to have patrollers come up and
sign in to help out.
Crystal Mountain –
Brian Klebba: Women’s Winter Tour celebrating women winter and
chocolate will be coming. Skiing this weekend 44 of 45 slopes are open. Hill
refreshers are conducted as a TES program on four separate Sundays focusing on
bringing people up to a senior level of toboggan handling.
New Business –
Larry Klose requests that we amend the policies and
procedures for the region to reflect that if only one candidate is nominated
and accepts the nomination that there doesn’t need to be an election run.
Next meeting – need
to move from the planned date of March 12. Wed March 19 will be the new
date.
Meeting adjourned 9:24.Region
Officers Present: Region
Director, Tony
Wolfer; Secretary,
Colleen Wolfer; Assistant
Region Director, Erica
Krol; Assistant
Region Director, Gregg Hoppe; Treasurer,
Larry Klose.
Region Advisors Present: Alpine, Jackie Bottomley; Alpine, Shawn Rhoda; Alpine, Britt Gustafson; Avalanche, Michael Walenta; Awards, Kathy Young; Awards, Patrick Mulvihill; Instructor Development, Pat Livingston; National Appointments, Tom Norton; OEC, Dan Goldberger.
Section Officers Present: WM1 Section Chief, Ken Young; WM2 Section Chief, Jack Katerburg; WM3 Section Chief, Tom Fisher.
Patrol Representatives Present: Bittersweet, Dan Navis; Caberfae, Tim Kirch; Pando, David Menke; Timber Ridge, Sue Brann; Western Michigan Nordic, Kelly Godfrey; Cannonsburg, Michael Fick.
Members Present: Dennis O’Brien; David Bolliet; Ron Vrba; Scott Waddell; Mike Patterson;
Minutes: Tom Fisher requests clarification of amount for this years Region Banquet to $2000.00.
Reports
Alpine Program Reports: Gregg Hoppe - Written report provided by Britt Gustafson – copy on file. Linda Barthel will be retiring – looking for someone to take her place – please see the RPN and or the web site.
Assistant RD: Erica Krol -48% of Region voted in the election for Region Director. Tony Wolfer will continue as Region Director. Our Division Director is pleased with the way the election was run and contacted both candidates personally with the election results.
OEC Advisor: Dan Goldberger – Senior challenge for OEC on 1/26/08 – 7 of 10 candidates passed. Difficulties were encountered with having enough people available to staff the exam due to another exam running the same weekend. Britt Gustafson suggests that this worked out okay for examiners that only had to be gone one weekend. Sue Brann says candidates found it difficult to do both. March 2010 is the due date for the 5th edition of the OEC manual. There may be an increase in training requirement.
Mountain Travel and Rescue: Michael Walenta – for Marty Monsma -MTR -1 had 6 people attend. MTR-2, the advanded program, help by special use permit in Sleeping Bear Dunes, had 2 people attend. Instructor of record was Marty Monsma, also instructing was Laurie Snedeker. To get on the e-mail list now, notify monsmamartin@yahoo.com
Avalanche: Michael Walenta - Basic Avalanche was held at Boyne Mountain this year. A combined course with Western Michigan and Northern Michigan putting on a joint program. They were also joined by the Central Division Avalanche Advisor Dale Mihuta. 17 students from across the state, including a few from the Upper Peninsula. Instructors were Todd Morgan and Michael Walenta. To sign for Basic Avalanche for next season, e-mail michaelwalenta@yahoo.com,
Bittersweet: Dan Navis – 5 took hill training this winter and will be taking OEC in the fall. A senior candidate passed as well.
Timber Ridge: Sue Brann – last official day of skiing was Sunday Mar 16. May be open Saturday for the terrain park only. Basic test was late in the season – 7 new patrollers. SES at Timber Ridge this year. Their ski school enjoyed being part of teaching at our level. One new full senior after the hill test this year. Jim Smith was commended by Tom Norton for his work with the candidates for OEC.
WM2 Section: Jack Katerburg - Basic test 2/24; 9 of 9 passed. Some candidates passed the hill test and still have OEC to take. Cannonsburg held a torch parade January 10 in memory of Dick Carrick who passed away unexpectedly three weeks ago.
Cannonsburg: Mike Fick – Cannonsburg closed on Sunday 3-16. Mike DeVriendt has announced that he will plan an annual torch parade in memory of patrollers who have passed away. OEC will begin Apr 14 at the ARC in Grand Rapids.
Pando: David Menke – Pando closed 3-16. TES went well although not many people in attendance.
WM3 Section: Tom Fisher – Needs to get the word out SOON to get a count for the banquet. He had planned Apr 1 as a cutoff but hasn’t had any reservations. Tony will e-mail blast to the Region.
Caberfae: Tim Kirch - he was elected on Sat Mar 15 as the new Patrol Representative. Caberfae is expecting to be open this weekend. Two new basics on the hill. Two candidates have passed the hill portion and need to continue with OEC. They are working on a new system to organize their schedule to assure the management that they will have enough coverage on the hill.
WM Nordic: Kelly Godfrey - congratulations to Tom Fisher for passing his Basic Nordic. White Pine was reduced due to the snow conditions. Vasa had great conditions. Patrollers covered a small race in Muskegon. Dave Snoek worked the Birkie.
Crystal Mountain: Dennis O’Brien for Brian Klebba – they had phenomenal snow this year and are still open. They have a new building coming. Crystal will be tearing down the old building. One candidate passed OEC. They have one new candidate who will challenge the OEC next year. Anyone who needs last years cycle of refresher, please contact Crystal patrol. Crystal patrol is looking for 20 new patrollers. They will also build a policy for sign on patrollers.
Treasurer’s Report: Larry Klose - Written report is on the web site. The numbers still look okay in spite of expenses related to hosting the Division Meeting.
Instructor Development: Pat Livingston – has people interested in taking Instructor Development but not enough to schedule a class yet. If there are any interested people please let her know.
New Business
Sue Brann: Would like to have everyone in charge of a discipline, copy the patrol directors with the information of who participated in their courses. Gregg Hoppe says that National’s software update will improve the availability of information.
Scott Waddell: He feels communications are not working well. He was not involved in testing this year due to lack of sign up sheets etc. General discussion was held of methods to ensure good communication. Everyone will attempt to follow up better.
Sue Brann: Curious about how other patrols manage patrollers missing their shift responsibility. Suggestion was to establish a written policy and then enforce it. General discussion of the different methods to manage coverage and benefits.
Gavel: It was voted that the Region Director should have a gavel to conduct the meeting.
Next meeting: Next meeting May 3, 2-4 at the Region Banquet site.
Meeting Adjourned 8:27.