essay for 50th anniversary from ken...

Essay for 50th Anniversary from Ken Lumsden (member since 1977)I am occasionally asked at our meetings and activities: “Where did all these old people come from?” Or, they will phrase it a little more indirectly, “How long have you been a member?”

My answer is always the same: “We are “old” now because we’ve been here for many years – 37, since January 1977, in my case – that is how long I have been having fun in the club.”

More specifically, I met my dear wife, Pat, through the club (we’ve been married since 1980), I have traveled extensively in Europe (all in connection with ski vacations), skied

over 75 different ski areas in N. America and Europe, learned to water ski (beginner level), kayak (beginner level), rappel (beginner level), canoe, ski, ski race, and moun-

tain bike, all with help from my friends in the club.

Did I say friends in the club? There are hundreds! My best friends are nearly all connected in some way with the club – all sharing the common interest

of the love of outdoor recreation – mostly hiking, backpacking, cycling, mountain biking, skiing, ski racing, identifying wildflowers, not to mention

all of the club’s social activities. And, when I get too old to do all of this fun stuff, I will still have a few hundred thousand images of all of this to

help keep my memories alive.

My wish for all of you newbies: May you have more fun, more friends, over more years, than I have. You’d better get started now.

Fraction of the Fun continues: Upcoming Hikes and Bike RidesFraction of the fun continues with several hikes and bike rides planned for June: Get ready for the annual Bike & Hike and Wine & Dine with:

Saturday, June 7: Foster Falls to Allisonia Bike Ride/New River Challenge at New River Trail State Park, VA. Meet at Sam’s Club on University Parkway near the gas pumps, ready to depart by 8:30 AM. Bring plenty of water, lunch and rain gear, you never know! Trip Leader: Tree Bright. Contact Tree [email protected] if you have questions.

May 2014

Newsletter of the Winston-Salem Ski & Outing Club

Find us on:Facebook offers us additional opportunities to get information on short notice. Our official page has the club logo on the top.

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Member Profile: Becky WheelerBecky Wheeler, the longest standing member of the Win-ston-Salem Ski & Out-ing Club, was recently featured in Buena Vista Life magazine for her outstanding culinary skills. Becky is an avid skier, world

traveler, landlord and gardener. She can now add culinary artist to her resume. Who knew we had such talent in our ski club! Ask Becky for her recipes! Yum!

Saturday, June 14: Hike to Swimming Hole on N. Harper Creek, Pisgah National Forest, NC. Meet at the Harris Teeter across from Tanglewood ready to depart by 8:30 AM. Trip Leaders: Ken Lumsden and Roxanne DeJames. The hike is moderate and less than 2 miles. The swimming is suitable for children under age 14 only with close parental supervision. Despite being only a week before the Summer Solstice, the water will be cold (and refreshing!). Be sure to bring spare clothes and a large beach towel! Contact Ken [email protected] or Roxanne [email protected] if you have questions.

Friday, June 20-Sunday, June 22 Bike & Hike and Wine & Dine, Damascus, VA. Meet in Damascus at 10 AM at the red caboose for Satur-day’s bike ride on the VA Creeper Trail. The hike at Grayson Highlands on Sunday will be the second of two hikes in remembrance of our friend Getty’s Pratt. See details below.

21st Annual Bike & Beverage, Hike & Dine WeekendJune 20, 21 and 22, 2014Bike the Virginia Creeper Trail, Wine at the Abingdon Winery, Beer & Music @ Damascus Brewery, Hike at Grayson Highlands State Park, Dine - TBD

Friday: No organized activity on Friday, but there are lots of options: Barter Theater or shopping in Abingdon, ride the Creeper Trail (to White Top?), hiking, shopping in Damascus or just relaxing while rocking on the front porch of many of the local B&B in town. Catch up with other club members as we walk to the local pizza restaurant for dinner.

Saturday: Meet at the little, red caboose in Damascus, VA and be ready to ride at 10:00 AM on the Virginia Creeper Trail. The trail is approximately 17 miles each way. (We normally ride from Damascus to Abingdon since it is MUCH less crowded on this side of the trail on Saturday). **Wait for the group picture before heading out**

Biking Options:

* Damascus to Abingdon: Ride up the hill and back. On the way back stop and check out the Abingdon Winery, just ½ mile from the Alvarado Station, 7 miles from Damas-

June Club Meetings & SocialsClub MeetingThurs, June 19 at 7:00pm Watch the skier for details!

Last Friday SocialFriday, June 27 at 6:00pm Carolina Vineyard & Hops Contact Ken F. at [email protected] for more information.

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cus. It’s a great place for a picnic lunch. Sandwiches and snacks are available at the Alvarado Station.

For anyone ending the ride at the winery, please make arrangements with another participant to pick you up. No drinking and riding – be safe!

* Damascus to Whitetop (the steeper of the 2 routes): Ride up the hill and back. Or take the shuttle to the top and ride down the hill. Either way, Green Cove Station is a great place to stop and have lunch.

For shuttle reservations (highly recommended) call one of the local shuttle services. this route is VERY crowded on Saturday

Another local establishment you might want to check out after riding:

Damascus Brewery on Government Road, just off of High-way 58 (near the grocery store). They are open from 6-9 with live music on Saturday nights.

Saturday Dinner: Walk to the local pizza restaurant for dinner, or head to Abingdon for a night out in the city.

Sunday: Meet on the street next to the Dancing Bear B&B and be ready to leave at 10:00 AM heading to Grayson Highland State Park. If the weather is nice, there will be spectacular views and we will see the wild ponies.

RAIN JACKET & WATER REQUIRED FOR THIS HIKE. We will stop for a lunch break on the hike. The weather at Grayson Highlands can and does change dramatically and quickly – be prepared.

Sunday Dinner: We will decide as a group where we want to go for dinner and what time depending on weather, hike distance, etc.

The following links are great resources for planning your lodging:

• Camping: http://www.vacreepertrail.us/camping.html• Damascus: www.damascus.org/lodging• Abingdon: http://www.abingdon.com/lodging/hotels/ Contact Kathy Smith at 336.970.1164 for additional infor-mation and sign up.

Weekly Bike Rides at Salem LakeWednesdays, 6 PMUse of the Salem Creek Greenway in the vicinity of US 52 is disrupted while construction of the new Technology Connector proceeds. We checked out the detour and found it to be unsuitable. Accordingly, we will meet for our weekly bike rides at Salem Lake. Meet in the lower gravel parking lot at Salem Lake ready to ride by 6PM.

In a further change, we are moving our rides to Wednes-days (was Tuesdays). his enables us to continue with the very popular “Tuesday Night at the $2 Movies” at Mar-ketplace Cinema. we’ll ride on every Wednesday EXCEPT the first Wednesday of each month (to avoid a conflict with W-SSOC BOD Meetings).

2015 Ski Vacation Planning ContinuesWe’re still waiting on bulk group airfares for flights to Hayden (HDN) for Steamboat, CO. When we have that, we’ll choose between Steamboat and Park City for a trip, likely Feb 7-14, 2015. We’ll also offer a repeat of the 2014 Salt Lake City Trip in the second week of March. At the Crescent Ski Council’s Spring’14 Convention, we learned of an excellent offering to Okemo, VT that we are also considering and, if offered, likely will be in addition to, not instead of, the above offerings. Watch for details.

Crescent Ski Council accepting sign-ups for 2014 Steamboat Race CampThe Crescent Ski Council will begin accepting sign-ups on May 20, 2014 for the Steamboat Race Camp, Decem-ber 6-13, 2014. The first 72 to sign-up will have priority. Documentation is available on the W-SSOC web site.

Report from Crescent Ski Council, Spring ConventionApril 24-27 – Kingston Plantation, SCTKyle Carroll, Ken & Pat Lumsden, Cathie Mulgrew and Marcy Wood attended for W-SSOC. It was the usual fun time with the Wine & Dessert Mixer on Thursday night,

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the Mini-Golf Tournament, Golf Tournament and Tennis Tournament on Friday, Trade Show and DJ dance party on Friday night, Racing and Trips Meetings on Saturday morn-ing, Beach Olympics on Saturday afternoon, 1980s Theme Party with live band on Saturday night and Board Meeting on Sunday morning.

At the Racing meeting, it was announced that we would not race at Cataloochee next season. It was a very suc-cessful experiment in 2014, from racers’ point of view, but Cataloochee management received too many complaints of slopes closed to the public during the races. We’ll return to Appalachian for the second January race in 2015. CSC’s Assistant Racing Director, David Lippucci, presented info about a possible future race at Wintergreen, VA.

In the Trips meeting, Crescent announced Aspen/Snow-mass as its 2015 destination and solicited input from clubs for 2016. They also announced that they would begin ac-cepting sign-ups for the 2014 Race Camp on May 20, 2014.

The Chattanooga Ski Club said they had been audited by the IRS and had advice for clubs on how to handle that situ-ation, should it arise. Of particular note was an apparent change in IRS policy pertaining to the practice of “reci-procity” wherein, clubs of the Crescent Ski Council allow members of each other’s club to go on their respective trips without extra cost. Even though we are all related through our affiliation with Crescent Ski Council (all individual mem-bers of the Authorized Clubs of the Crescent Ski Council are Members of the Crescent Ski Council), the IRS viewed the “reciprocal” participants as non-members of the club. This results in all revenues from such persons becoming taxable to the club. This will lead to a change in the way that clubs handle members from other clubs participating on their trips.

In the competitions managed by the CSC Member Services Committee (Ken Lumsden, Chair), results were:

SCRAPBOOK Winner: Cape Fear Ski & Outing Club

WEB SITE Winner: Southern Snow Seekers

WEB SITE 2nd Place: Greensboro Ski & Outing Club

WEB SITE 3rd Place: Winston-Salem Ski & Outing Club

VIDEO-SKIING ACTIVITY: Winston-Salem Ski & Outing Club

VIDEO-Video SCRAPBOOK: Winston-Salem Ski & Outing Club

VIDEO-Non-skiing ACTIVITY: No entries

VIDEO-Member Recruitment: No entries.

This was the first year of the video competitions. We hope participation will increase in 2015.

At the Board meeting, Crescent elected its new slate of offi-cers and approved the slate of appointed committee chairs to the Executive Committee:

PRESIDENT: Pat Harvey (Charlotte Ski & Snowboard Club, a.k.a., Charlotte Ski Bees)

VICE PRESIDENT: Michelle Shuford (Asheville Ski club)

TREASURER: Alice Taylor (Kanawha Ski Club) (re-elected)

SECRETARY: Diane Andrews (Augusta Ski & Outing Club) (re-elected)

Executive Committee Appointments:

Past President: Margaret Crum (automatic appointment following terms as President)

Conventions: Bryan Bobo (Spartanburg Ski Club)

Member Services: Ken Lumsden (Winston-Salem Ski & Outing Club) (re-appointed)

Racing: Ron Scott (Raleigh Ski & Outing Club) (re-appointed)

Trips: Lisa Beregi (East Tennessee Mogul Mashers) (re-appointed)

Report from Sunday, April 13, 2014 Report from Tulip Tour Paul J. Ciener Botanical GardenThe new Paul J. Cierer Botanical Garden is a gem of an addition to Kernersville! A surprising array of gorgeous tulips of all colors fit into the relatively small tulip garden. It will be expanded in the future. The Visitor Center and Gift Shop were open for our visit and we took the guided tour. Attendees included Phyllis Hudspeth, Ken & Pat Lumsden and Becky Wheeler.

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Report from April 8,15,22,29, May 6 2014 Tuesday Night at the MoviesWatch W-SSOC’s Constant Contact email notifications for reminders. Recent movies have included “GRAVITY”, “THREE DAYS TO KILL” (liked), “MONUMENTS MEN” (liked, especially for those of us who have been to the places and seen some of the works of art involved), “300 START OF AN EMPIRE” (too much splashing blood in 3D). Viewers have included Margo Cooper, Tammy Cooper, Ken & Kathy Furr, Ken & Pat Lumsden, Vance Parker, Randy Reavis, Sharon Watson and Becky Wheeler.

Report from April 10, 2014 Flower Walk at ReynoldaPhyllis and Bob Hudspeth arrived early at Reynolda Village to try some samples at the Olive Oil & Vinegar Tasting Bar. Some of the flavors were Coconut, Chocolate, Cranberry Walnut, Orange Mango, Roasted French Walnut, just to name a few. Then they headed next door to the Black Mountain Chocolate store to sample the Expresso Bar, Sea Salt Bar, Truffle, and Dark Chocolate. As they left the store, Bob and Phyllis could not pass up the free wine tasting at the Crown & Cork Wine and Beer Studio. After all of the sampling, they headed to the lower parking lot to meet up with Barbara Braswell, Randy Reavis, Ken Lumsden, and Kathy Furr. When Barbara closed her car door, she realized that she had locked her keys inside. AAA had to be called. We decided that we would walk the trail since it would take a while for anyone from AAA to arrive. Half way around the trail, Barbara and Ken returned to Bar-bara’s car after she received a phone call that AAA service was on its way. Thanks, Ryan, for coming to Barbara’s aid! Phyllis, Kathy, and Randy continued and completed the trail. A few daffodils were still blooming, but the tulips and the pansies were in full color. There were white, red, orange, yellow, and pink tulips mixed in with purple, lav-ender, white, and yellow pansies. Pink and white Lenten roses were blooming, also. These roses only bloom during the Lent season. It was a perfect day for a walk with the sun shining, the spring flowers in bloom, and the tem-perature in the 60’s.

Report from Wildflower Hikes: Severe Winter + Hard Freeze before Easter Mixes Things UpThis year’s severe winter, followed by a hard freeze just be-fore Easter, considerably delayed and mixed up the timing of wildflowers, not only in the NC mountains, but also in Winston-Salem. But, excellent wildflowers are still to be had at Profile Trail (Grandfather Mountain State Park, NC), Elk Knob State Park and Rock Castle Gorge Trail, VA. On May 3, 2014, Tree Bright, Katherine Brown, Margo Cooper, Tammy Cooper, Ken Lumsden and Randy Reavis found nearly all of the species we would expect at Rock Castle Gorge: Trilliums, Showy Orchis, Dwarf Iris, Giant Chick-weed, Large-flowered Bellwort, Canada Violet, Common Purple Violet, to name the main ones. We found Fire Pink and Virginia Bluebells but far fewer than prior years and the Lily-of-the-Valley was a couple of weeks delayed. At the Profile Trail (make-up hike) on May 4, Ken Lumsden and Martha Ann McDonald found far fewer Trout Lilies than would be expected and fewer Red Erect Trilliums, but, though delayed maybe a month, the largest ever display of Spring Beauties near Shanty Spring---literally millions covering the forest floor. But, with spring green-ery encroaching, it was not always easy to get a perfect view of this immense, and immensely beautiful, display.

2014 Calendar: What’s Happening

May 2014Date Day Time Event Meeting Place Leader

27th TueApprox 7:00 PM

Movie Night Tanglewood Park – Shelter No. 2 Tree Bright

28th Wed 6:00 PM Bike Ride-Salem Lake Salem Lake Parking Lot – Lower Level Ken Lumsden

30th Fri 6:00 PM Last Friday Social Sangria on the DeckKen and Kathy Furr

31st Sat 2:00 PM Salute Wine Festival Downtown Winston-Salem Kathy Furr

25th Fri 6:00 PM Last Friday SocialBack Porch Northwest Blvd

Kathy Furr


Movie NightMarketplace Cinema Meet 15 minutes before show time

Kathy Furr


June 20143rd Tues

Approx 7:00 PM


Pat Lumsden

4th Wed 6:30 PM Board Meeting Hutch & Harris Ken Furr

7th Sat 8:30 AMBike Ride-New River Trail, VA

Parking lot at Sam’s on University Park-way, near the gas pumps

Tree Bright



Kathy Furr


14th Sat 8:30 AMHike—Swimming hole at N. Harper Creek

Harris Teeter-Tanglewood Ken Lumsden



Vance Parker


19th Thu 7:00 PM Club Meeting tbd

20th - 22nd

Fri -Sun

Bike & Hike and Wine & Dine

Damascus, VA Kathy Smith



Kathy Furr


27th Fri 6:00 PM Last Friday Social Carolina Vineyards & Hops Ken Furr

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CONTENTS

May-June, 2012

2014 Calendar: What’s Happening

July 2014Date Day Time Event Meeting Place Leader

1st TuesApprox 7:00 PM


Kathy Furr

2nd Wed 6:30 PM Board Meeting TBD Ken Furr



Vance Parker


12th Sat 8:30 amBike Ride-New River Trail, VA

Parking lot at Sam’s on University Park-way, near the gas pumps

Tree Bright



Kathy Furr

16th Wed 6:00 PM Bike Ride-Salem LakeSalem Lake Parking Lot – Lower Level

Ken Lumsden

17th Thu 7:00 PM Club Meeting tbd

22nd TueApprox 7:00 PM


Kathy Furr

23rd Wed 6:00 PM Bike Ride-Salem LakeSalem Lake Parking Lot – Lower Level

Ken Lumsden

25th-27th

Fri-Sun

Camping/hiking Shenandoah National ParkLeanne Brendle

25th Fri 6:00 PM Last Friday Social tbd Ken Furr



Kathy Furr


For more photos, see our online photo galleries.

BOARD OF DIRECTORSOfficersPresident – None : Functions will be served by the VPs on a rotating basis VP Outings: Karen Vohs ............................................................ [email protected] Membership and Mail Checker: Phyllis Hudspeth....... [email protected] VP Publicity: Ken Furr .................................................................... [email protected]: Pat Lumsden (non-Board Officer) [email protected] Secretary: Pat Lumsden (non-Board Officer) [email protected]

Board Members BOD Member/SKIER Editor Robyn BilfeltBOD Member/Assistant Mail Checker—Roxanne DeJames BOD Member/WebSite/Calendar Keeper—Kathy Furr BOD Member—Vance Parker

COORDINATORSSKIER Editor: Robyn Bilfelt, Tree Bright ....................................... [email protected] Coordinator: Leanne Brendle .................................... [email protected] Contact Coordinator: Robyn Bilfelt [email protected] Website: Kathy Furr, Robyn Bilfelt ...................................... [email protected] and Beverage: George WunkerSki Vacations Director: Ken Lumsden ..............................................Ken@wssoc.orgRacing Team Director: Ken Lumsden [email protected] Racing Team Asst Director/Comptroller: Kyle Carroll ..................... [email protected] Team Assistant Director for Division II: Dena Carroll ........ [email protected] Team Trainer: Wes Snyder ..................................................Wes@wssoc.orgCrescent Representatives Ken Lumsden ...............................................................................Ken@wssoc.org Pat Lumsden .................................................................................Pat@wssoc.org

The Winston-Salem Ski & Outing ClubP.O. Box 24304Winston-Salem, NC 27114-4304

www.wssoc.org

CHANGE OF ADDRESS INFORMATIONSubmit changes of address to Tammy Cooper ([email protected]) or mail them to the address below. That way you keep your monthly Skier coming and don’t miss a thing!

SUGGESTIONS, IDEAS & COMMENTSPlease feel free to send an e-mail to any of the Board Members or send mail to: WSSOC PO Box 24304, Winston-Salem, NC 27114-4304

EDITOR’S NOTEThe WSSOC policy is to provide interesting and factual articles concerning upcoming and past outings to the general membership. All articles need to be submitted by the 15th of each month due to the time necessary to publish the newslet-ter. No handwritten copies please! All text should be in a digital text format (such as MSWord or other text program) and e-mailed ([email protected]) by the 15th of each month. Articles after the 15th will be considered for upcoming newsletters. The editor(s) reserve the right to refuse or edit as necessary.

WSSOC BYLAWSCopies of the Bylaws of the Winston-Salem and Outing Club are available to members by con-tacting the Membership VP.

essay for 50th anniversary from ken...

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