Cascade Drift Skippers
Membership Meeting
November 13, 2013
Kurt Zeutchel, President, thanked everyone for coming this evening.
Chris Mayer, VP, stated that we had a lot of new members at the meeting this evening and introduced all of them that were present:
- Steve Schwilke, lives in Renton area.He wants to meet new people. Rides a Polaris Pro RMK 600.
- Paul and Shannon Olsen, live in Enumclaw.He’s been riding since 1998, and his wife joined him a couple years.Looks forward to riding with his wife.He has a 2009 M8 and 2014 Ski-Doo Free-Ride 600.
- Rick & Celeste Fardig, live in Lake Tapps & has been riding since 1990.He rides a 2010 M8, she is on 2014 Ski-Doo.Looking forward to riding with the new group. He rides on extreme rides with his buddies, and wants to ride family rides with his wife.Looking for an adventure.
- Dick Robbey, lives on the plateau near Ronald. He rode with Don Wilkeson in 1992.Looking for new play mates to ride with. He rides old appropriate stuff, an old 1997 machine.
- Anthony.He used to ride when he lived in Colorado, was part of ski patrol when he first started riding.Doesn’t have a ride as he just moved here.
- Chris & Tonya Guinn live in Snoqualmie and has cabin in Sky Meadows.If the members are in the area and need a buddy, call him 206-225-8012.2013 Ski-Doo Summit.
- Craig Miller, joined last year, but this was his first CDS club meeting.He is the Vice President of Junco club, and is a member of Yakima Ski Benders.He rides Mt Adams also.He has a 2008 Ski Doo.
- Don and Margaret Mayer, from Last Resort attended.
Also, Keith & Judy Gardner attended to tell us about starting the club in 1969. We look forward to hearing their story later in the meeting.
Upcoming Events:
Discussed CDS upcoming events and organizing them. This organization is run by volunteers so it’s important to have support.
CDS Christmas event: We traditionally did an event in December. We would ride during the day, followed by a prime rib dinner, a gag gift exchange, and Christmas party at the Last Resort in Ronald in the evening. The club agreed to continue this tradition. Ride and party will be held on December 14th. Rebecca Hunt, Pete Beaupain, and Jason Holmes will help with planning of the party. Please register on the CDS calendar if you plan on attending.
Whistlin’ Jacks Ride will be held on January 25th. Looking for someone to take organizing the parking, Lee Koger will be the ride leader. Rooms are booked up at this point, but call Whistlin’ Jacks to verify availability.
Wounded Warrior ride:
For these rides, the club takes the wounded warriors on a ride for the day, they’re fed lunch, continue riding in the afternoon, then go to the Elks in Issaquah for dinner. It’s a great event to help the veterans have a fun ride…details are yet to be determined. Those helping with the event will be Shane Breal, Pete Beaupain, and Brian Cook. Kurt had a discussion with Ralph at the Elks about the CDS Wounded Warrior ride dinner as they have always supported this event and worked with us.
Upcoming Rides and how to register to attend:
Chris went over the website layout. Under front homepage he shared the rides section. We will have different levels of rides that are put up on the calendar and tagged with either “Beginner, intermediate or advanced”. Go to “calendar” tab to get to the ride calendar.
We are looking for ride leaders so contact Chris or Jon Ferrian and they will ask the questions to get the information on the calendar. We’ve scheduled a skills ride on December 7th and it’s on the schedule. Each weekend will have multiple rides, note that there could be intermediate and advanced on the same date. If you click on the ride on the calendar, it will take you to the description of the ride and what will be covered. Christmas Tree Party ride is on the 14th.
Update on the Initiatives
Carl Corn wants to improve funding for Washington State Parks grooming. He’s been working with the legislators to pass registration fee increase bill (HB2002, which is now SB5889). It passed out of the House last legislative season, it’s still pending and in the Senate Ways N Means Committee. The good news is that he scheduled a meeting a few months ago with Terry Cole (WSSA’s Lobbyist), Jon Ferrian who is a constituent of (45th legislative district), Senator Andy Hill in Sammamish who is the Chair for Ways N Means. They delivered WSSA’s political action donation of $900 at this meeting. Pay attention to the WSSA flyer for updates.
Also, Carl mentioned that he would like to recognize Mr. Gardner for his generosity for letting our club use his cabin as a snow-park. Carl recommended we pay Gardner’s for plowing his entry and driveway. Bob Seelye motioned we pay $300 to Gardner. Although, Kurt stated we made a budget at the beginning of the year and this was not in the budget, so he proposed that we pass a bucket around this evening for those that want to make a donation to contribute to the snow plowing for the season. That way the people that use Gardner’s place, can contribute to support the plowing costs. Those present at the meeting collected $374 to share with Keith & Judy Gardner to help with the plowing this season. Gardner’s were very appreciative to receive the funds as it cost them $50 every time they plow the driveway throughout the winter. Since Gardner’s are not at their property throughout the winter, as they are now retired, they love to have the snowmobilers come to their property to use it anytime for parking while we ride. Gardner’s mentioned that club members don’t need to call as they are leaving in a couple weeks and they are comfortable with the members using it as a snow-park.
CDS History shared by Keith Gardner:
He told the story of how CDS began. In 1969, there was an ad in the newspaper asking for interested parties to start a snowmobile club, posted by Sam and Dora Wolf / Jack and Nancy? Keith and Judy answered the ad and started the club in a basement in Bellevue. It was a lot of fun to get together from time to time. They would enjoy drinks, take a ride, have a bomb fire, and run up and down the air field. In 1970, they decided it needed to be a formal organization and needed a name and logo. In 1971, Polaris came out with a suspension system under snowmobile and the unit was called a Drift Skipper. One ride they were sitting around the camp fire with a couple beers and they decided that they were riding in the Cascades, riding over drifts….. so they called their club Cascade Drift Skippers. Then they decided to try to come up with a logo. They worked on copyrights. Back then it was all about fun and they looked at Goofy, Mickey, Snoopy, etc. So they went with Snoopy, who was a Red Baron and on the air. Snoopy on a dog house was the original drawing. Back then, it was a family oriented club. And, that’s how the club started. Judy and Keith Gardner rode from 1969 until a couple years ago. It was 30 hp sleds back then. And, to get into Lions Rock it was an all day affair and burned 2 belts ($6.50 each) on the way, including no groomed trails. Fun times….
Budget Report
The club has gained income from t-shirts, WSSA, dinner, 50/50 raffle, and .04 cents interest. Our detailed budget is on the website in club documents folder. $1830 gained from the Expo Snow Show.
Pete asked whether brush cutting was on the budget? Kurt was not sure, but asked to have members check the budget online to verify.
Grooming Report
Kay Lloyd reported out that we all missed a rousing meeting on Monday night.
*Evergreen snow-park, formerly Woods N Steel, Dan Austen reported.
*All 4 groomers are ready and waiting for snow.
*In lieu of losing the snow-park on Snoqualmie pass (Price Creek), possibly something in Teanaway. Looking at DNR expansion, but we would need a Discover Pass to use that area. They are looking at giving us 6 parking places.
*Blewett Pass was doubled and will have a parking sign up soon. There’s a new great rock wall and pictures will be shared soon.
*4510 road is a mess and who it belongs to.
*We have 2 new Forest Service officers and asked to attend the next groomer meeting.
*Tim Foss, in February, is asking for volunteers for Hog Loppit Ski area to put snowmobilers on trail to watch over racers during the event. Tim is retiring in January so Lauren Dirosher will step in to take over so she is aware of what snowmobiling is all about. Burms will be allowed to go up. As riding, if you see bridges damaged, document, and report it because the Forest Service is accusing the groomers of damaging the bridges. Tim was the biggest buffer for cross country skiers and snowmobilers and has been there 31 years and was a blessing to the clubs. Kay asked if we could send a letter of appreciation for his time. Kay said they are having a farewell party for him, more information to follow. He took a lot of crap from skiers and snowmobilers and had many great years.
*Battle of Yellowstone finally has a final rule after years of work. Under the final rule, Winter 2013-2014 will allow motorized up to 318 guided new technology and 78 guided snow coaches will be allowed. They will permit up to so many groups going out. Working with National Parks Service to get training so you would not need permit. This is all being finalized. NOTE: 1 Sno Coach or group of 10 snowmobilers is 1 event.
*Blue Ribbon coalition: Go to bluecoalition.com to vote for Kay Lloyd to run again. This is not only snowmobiling, but jeeps and other motorized vehicles.
*Kay shared ACSA educational webinar for Public plans acts challenges. If interested, it’s on Nov 26th 5PM PST. Go to webinar and join in on computer and can type a question to ask and not open F2F meeting.
*Kay would like to challenge Cascade Drift Skippers to get a club report in the SnoFlyer.
District Reps:
Lee Koger mentioned election is up at end of December. Vote for Dick Elkins for re-election of District 1 South Rep.
Mick Steinman Safety Update:
Mick is our WSSA Safety Chairman. He reminded the club to look out for stumps and rocks as he has seen many people bust up their sled and bodies early in the season. We all need to go out and practice with the beacons. Have someone test it with you. Mick will do an easy ride in December (to be scheduled) and include a Beacon test during the ride.
Friends of Avalanche benefit will be on January 30th. Tickets are not out yet. But normally run $85. See Mick if interested in attending.
NW Avalanche Summit by Michael Jackson. UW Professor for Weather shared that the snow level is going to raise by 2025.
CDS Clothing:
Chris is putting in a clothing order for CDS t-shirts and has a few. But there will be a sign-up form online to order the items. There will be more grey and blue t-shirts, black embroidered collar shirt, and charcoal hat with the CDS logo. $20 for all, except embroidered shirt is $30. Chris will have picture of each item and 4 to choose from. Setup cost is in the logo fee so we already paid that. Can we get patches so we can put it on our own items, Chris will look into it. Carl asked if we can get an event flag like Ski Benders and the snow show had so we can place out in the parking lot during rides to advertise our club.
Past Trips and CDS Events:
Mick Steinman’s Whistler trip. He did a ride up in Whistler in late April 2013. Weather was fair and had 8 guys join him up from the club. One snafu on the ride as Elwood lost his GPS after a rollover.
**He is doing a ride again the 3rd weekend in January and the week of April 18-26. If interested in joining him, please contact Mick Steinman. Carl responded and said this is the coolest ride he has ever gone on…all you see is mountains and is not for experts, need to have proper gear (beacon, shovels, probes). You have to have the proper sled and proper day as there are times that you can’t ride due to the weather. Bring gas as you run through a lot, since you can ride long distances.
Mick Steinman commented on the Annual Cavanaugh get together the 1st weekend of September. He had 25 people attend from CDS. We had boats, quads, potlucks throughout the weekend and had a great time!
Darrell’s fun filled float trip in July. It was a great event as we had the Ferrians, Carl Corn, Cheryl O’Shaughnessy, Bill Yager, Rebecca and Elwood Hunt, and Chris Mayer and Patricia.
50/50 Raffle:
Half of the money goes into the budget and use it for our end of year party, the other half is raffled to a lucky winner that evening. Tonight’s winner was Ken VanAsse for $60.
OTHER ITEMS:
- Bob Posey has 10 pairs of ice scratchers.They are $20 per pair if you need some.
- Are we having a New Year event? No one reported an event.Please let the club know if you would like to hold an event.
- Sheri and Kate are heading to Idaho for the Amber Holt ride to learn some new techniques…
- PLEASE REMEMBER TO REGISTER TO ATTEND THESE MONTHLY CDS MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS SO WE CAN PLAN ACCORDINGLY FOR MEALS. -LOGIN TO THE CDS WEBSITE (IF YOU NEED YOUR LOGIN,CONTACT CHERYL OSHAUGHNESSY) - SELECT THE “CALENDAR” TAB -GO TO THE DATE OF THE MEETING -SELECT THE “REGISTER NOW” BUTTON AND FOLLOW THROUGH THE STEPS TO REGISTER -YOU CAN PAY ONLINE OR PAY AT THE MEETING
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