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Annual Fall Meeting Minutes and notes of the meeting held on Saturday, Novenber 22, 2008 at Holiday Inn Express, Brattleboro, VT.
The meeting was called to order at 4:25 PM by Chairman Art Tokle. Tokle reviewed, week by week, the competition schedule for winter 2000 and a few changes were noted:
In the course of these discussions, it was asked how many Eastern jumpers would be going to a five-hill tournee in the Central Div. Casey Colby's answer was probably none to all five, and only 3-4 to Norge. We also learned that three of our best young Eastern jumpers, Colin Delaney, Cooper Dodds and Alex Madden, have chosen to spend the coming winter training and competing in Steaboat Springs, CO. This will be a significant loss for Eastern competitions such as Salisbury and Brattleboro.
NENSA. The group welcomed Jim Rodriguez, a part-time employee of the New England Nordic Skiing Association (NENSA) which promotes Cross Country Skiing in New England. The ensuing discussion considered how the jumping and cross-country interests, which were once joined at the Bill Koch League level, could get together again for mutual benefit. The main interest from the point of view of the jumping community is to expose many of the young cross country skiers (many hundreds of these join NENSA each winter) to the joys of ski jumping.
Martina Lussi reported that several of the Eastern parents have attempted to divide and assign the many tasks previously carried out by Marianne Fairall so as not to lose the momentum that Marianne's good work created. However, Martina pointed out that those taking on the various tasks had already been burdened with their own volunteer work in support of their clubs or of Eastern Jumping, so the addition of Marianne's responsibilities left them with even a heavier load.
Larry Stone suggested that we send a letter to clubs, perhaps signed by Art Tokle, describing the crisis of insufficient help. A silent auction is planned again in Salisbury. Hill Inventory: A complete inventory was not taken, but we learned that the jumps at Gould Academy in Maine, built not too long ago, were bulldozed, leaving the state of Maine with no active ski jumps. Sad! USSA Membership: Jon Farnham encouraged clubs to be member-clubs of USSA. Ken Barker reported that SWSA has received very good support from USSA in a frivolous law suit against SWSA regarding their fireworks and its alleged impact on a neighboring pregnant alpaca. Jumping Equipment for Juniors: Several clubs are short of up-to-date skis, boot and helmets for kids. Dana Zelenakis said that Brattleboro has a number of usable suits, not particularly small, perhaps appropriate for high school jumpers. Dan Warner reported on the present state of the rebuilding of Harris Hill. The landing and outrun are graded and the tower is up. Many "smaller" tasks remain as winter closes in. These include stairs, snow-making pipes, deflection boards, profile boards, electric power, and further work on the new judges stand. Dana Zelenakis mentioned the huge effort by Pat Howell to get the new hill built and paid for, but also noted that jumpers are needed for the Harris competition, which conflicts with the Continental Cup meet in Iron Mt. However, it was pointed out that the Iron Mt. meet has a limit on U.S. entries (8 skiers, max) so there should be a few left who might come to Brattleboro. The Harris Hill Committee is considering all of its options, including European and Canadian skiers. It is important to have a good field to introduce the new hill to the public.
Financial Report: Martina Lussi presented a brief oral report, mentioning only two significant recent purchases: a new order of bells and a video camera. She reported that we received $1400 in memory of Marianne Fairall. The time and place for the spring meeting was not discussed. The meeting was adjourned at 5:08, and the gavel was handed over to Dan Warner who then led a forum discussion on how we might attract more new ski jumpers. Respectfully submitted, Don West (Secretary).
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