April May 2015 Brandywine Valley Ski Association PO Box 549, Downingtown, PA 19335 BVSA GENERAL MEETING IT S SPRING 2015 APRIL FOOL S DAY, TOO BEACH THEME MEETING Beach dress and accessories Brickside Grille 6PM Happy Hour 7:00PM General Meeting ELECTIONS THIS MEETING Accepting nominations for next year s BVSA board. Don t forget donations for SPCA See Prez Sez for details. You Will Be Missed BVSA 2015 Upcoming Events GENERAL MEETING Apr 1st Flotilla @Marsh Creek June 6th Raindate June 7th Niagara Falls Bike Trip June 19 21 Grand Canyon of PA July 23-26 1000 Islands Kayak and Biking August 22 29 Chile Ski Trip Aug 27-Sept 5 Have no fear, election time is here It s election time. Why not consider stepping up for a position and giving back to the club? If you are interested and/or have any questions, please contact your nominating committee Rose Stancato orjeff Klein, for more details on positions available
BVSA 2014 2015 Officers Dave Mertz, President 717-786-0878 dmertz000@comcast.net Phil Shiner 860-262-1497 philip.shiner@flotech.net Laird Duncan, Treasurer 484-883-2149 stuckinexton@yahoo.com Committee, Record Secretary Open Marie Riley, NL Editor 484-340-3444 marieinpa@gmail.com Activities Committee Anita Gordon-Palmer 610-593-1149 agordon50@frontiernet.net Pat Jones 484-612-8858 patjones7890@yahoo.com Jeff Klein 484-459-8508 jklein4907@aol.com Jeff Lucas 610-255-5749 jlucas1313b@aol.com Barbara Siegel 484-888-6104 Barbee1012@gmail.com Rose Stancato 610-696-5949 rstancato@yahoo.com Tom Ward 610-384-0883 wardtl77@verizon.net Donna West 610-719-0447 WestD1@verizon.net Barbara Cropper, EPSC Rep 610-836-2350 barb@ansteyteam.com BVSA Webmaster Frank Dulin 610-696-0789 fdul@ccil.org Advertise in the BVSA Newsletter Business Card Size Only $15 per ad Submit copy-ready by 15th of month to: Marie Riley marieinpa@gmail.com Submit payment to: Laird Duncan, 510 Winding Way, Exton, PA 19341 BVSA HAPPY HOURS Apr 10th Apr 24th May 15th Days Inn Carriage House 943 High St W Chester 610-692-1900 HH 5-7 $1 off all wine $1 off all beer Ron s Original Bar & Grille 74 E Uwchlan Ave Exton 610-594-9900 $2.25 Miller Lite bottles $4 well drinks, $1 off draft Beer, house wine $4.75 Anthony s Coal Fired Pizza 123 E Swedesford Road Exton 610-594-1900 Www.acfp.com HH all day, $1 off beer & wine $2 off mixed drinks May 22 Seasons 18 Downingtown Country Club 93 Country Club Drive Downingtown 610-873-0800 Www.golfdowningtown.com BVSA Board Meetings are held the 3rd Wednesday of every month.. Activities @ 7:00 pm; Board @ 8pm Days Inn (formerly Holiday Inn of West Chester) 943 South High Street, West Chester, PA (610) 692-1900 All members are welcome to attend. Many of our members cannot attend all of our functions. They depend on BVSA s Trails and Tales Newsletter to fill them in on all the fun! Please remember, submit your articles and/or photos by the 20th of the month to: Marie Riley marieinpa@gmail.com 2
APRIL 2015 Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat 1 BVSA General Mtg Elections April Fool s Day 2 3 Passover 4 5 Easter 6 7 8 9 10 HH 5-7 Days Inn Carriage House W Chester 11 12 13 14 15 Activities 7pm and Joint Board Mtg 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 HH 5 7 Ron s Original Bar and Grille Exton 25 26 27 28 29 30 MAY 2015 Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 BVSA Gen.Mtg 7 8 9 10 MOTHER S DAY 11 12 13 14 15 HH Anthony s Coal Fired Pizza Exton 16 17 18 19 20 Activities And New Board Meeting 7 Activities 8 Board West Chester 24/31 25 Memorial Day 3 21 22 HH Seasons 18 Downingtown CC 26 27 28 29 30 23
PREZ SEZ Hi Everyone: When I last left you, I was talking about St. Patrick s Day, wow has time flown since I took office last year. It has been a good year,and we got more done that I ever thought. Rather than go through the list, the previous newsletters going back 1 year will tell the story of what was accomplished in the club. Here we are into April! For the skiers there may be one more trip left to take to a destination. For those who are in transition from cold to warm, it may be doing some spring cleaning around the house, or getting the decks and yards ready for the upcoming spring and summer months. Whatever it is, the days are getting longer and warmer. Speaking of warm, do not forget that we have elections coming up in April at our general meeting. And, the meeting is a beach theme so weather permitting, be sure to wear some beach wear ;and, if you have any large beach balls, sand buckets or whatever you feel is appropriate for the beach bring them along. We will also be collecting charity donations for the Chester County SPCA. The following items are needed, canned and dry dog food and cat food, kitty litter, old newspapers, old towels and blankets, cleaning supplies (glass cleaner, laundry soap and trash bags). You can also donate money online at www.ccspca.org. This will be the last call for election nominations. If you are still on the fence about stepping up to run for a position, time is running out on having the opportunity to give back to the club. So again don t delay, step up today. Even if you do not want to run for a position or have time constraints with making the board meetings, we can always use the extra pair of hands at our non-skiing functions, as well as before the general meetings setting up the room before the crowd comes in for the meeting and happy hour. Speaking of non-skiing activities, for those of you who have a pool in the backyard or at your condo, etc., and you are interested in hosting a pool party, please see myself or one of the activities folks. We have had 1-2 pool parties in the summer and that has been on the decline the last few years. We have not only talked about it at our board meetings, but it has been a tradition with the club. We would like to see it continue. So please let us know about it. If you saw from our last newsletter, Anita Gordon- Palmer has put together 2 great trips this summer. One is a cycling trip along the Niagara River Rec. Trail in June, and the other is the kayak, biking and cottage week at the Thousand Islands in August. Space is filling up so if you are interested in going on these trips please see her. Also, we cannot forget about the Chile trip that Pat Mullins is running at the end of August. There are still spots left, so again if you have been procrastinating about going on the trip, now is your chance to sign up. Please see Pat for the details. The final meeting of the year will be the first week of May, the theme will be Cinco de Mayo and also a picture party. Stay tuned for additional details when we get closer to the time. Until next time, Dave 4
BVSA Election time is here again Election time is here again and there are many openings for people who would like to get involved. You know the kind of people who make things happen, the kind of people who have good ideas, the kind of people who think they can do it better, and the kind of people who just like to make other people smile. Yeah! People just like you! Everyone enjoys BVSA s great activities, there is a group of people in the club that make those activities happen, they re called the Board of Directors and the Activities Committee. At election time the club needs new people who can make things happen? Things like trips, picnics, parties and events. As the saying goes BVSA needs you! The offices that are up for election this April are: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary/Newsletter Editor, and 4 Activities Committee positions. The positions of President to the Corresponding Secretary are 1 year terms, and the 4 Activities Committee positions are 2 year terms. These are the People who create the activities that everyone enjoys so much, these are the people that make the club run so well. So please consider running for one of these positions. If you are interested in getting involved you might want to know what these positions entail. The duties of these positions are as follows: Duties of Officers 1. It shall be the duty of the president to preside over all meetings, to enforce the constitution and by-laws, to enforce rules of order, call all special meetings, appoint all committees not otherwise provided for, and perform such other duties as the office may require. The president shall make no motion or amendment to a motion, or vote on any question or motion, unless the association is divided, then he/she shall cast the deciding vote. 2. In the absence of the president, the vice-president shall perform the duties of the president. The vice-president shall be chairperson of the membership committee. 3. The treasurer shall maintain a record of the name and address of each member. He/she shall receive all monies belonging to the association and safeguard same. He/she shall disburse funds as authorized by the officers acting as a board, or by vote of the membership. He/she shall keep a detailed record of the disposition of all funds received, disbursed, and held in a depository. A summary report of all transactions shall be given monthly along with the depository balance. The treasurer shall provide surety in an amount satisfactory to the membership, but not less than $15,000. An audit committee to include the treasurer shall be appointed by the president and shall annually audit the accounts and records of the treasurer, officers, and committees who have collected or disbursed association funds. 4. The recording secretary shall keep in a book, provided for the purpose, a record of all the proceedings of the association keep minutes of all meetings, read the minutes of the previous meeting, keep a record of the subjects debated, the disputants, and decisions of the association, and shall have charge of all books, documents, and paper s belonging to the association other than those of the treasurer. 5. The corresponding secretary shall be responsible for all correspondence within and outside the association. A detailed membership record including name and address, date admitted to membership, dues payments, and resignations/expulsions of members. The dues monies shall be turned over to the treasurer no less than twice a month with the names of those members having paid. The eight (8) activities officers shall plan all association activities. The activities officers shall appoint and chair activities committees. The activities officers shall be responsible for submission to the treasurer a final written report including a financial statement for each activity. Ask yourself this, If not you then who? Great activities don t just happen, people like you make them happen. So let s have another great year, full of great BVSA activities. You can make it happen! Revised 12-11-14 5
Cycling The Niagara River Recreation Trail: Ice Wine, War Of 1812 History, And A Back Door To Niagara Falls JUNE 19TH TO THE 22ND STAYING AT THE DOUBLE TREE CLUB IN BUFFALO NY ROOMS COST $315 TOTAL DOUBLE BEDS FOR WEEKEND 3 nights CALL HOTEL DIRECTLY TO RESERVE THE ROOM= BE SURE TO SAY YOU ARE PART OF THE BVSA GROUP FOR DISCOUNT BEFORE MAY 1ST 716-845-2026 or do online at www.doubletree.com. use code: BVA for our discount. http://gadling.com/2013/06/07/cycling-the-niagara-river-recreation-trail/ This is a non-sponsored trip-you are responsible for booking and cancellations Erie Canal is near by if you wish to kayak or tour the oldest lock on the canal 6
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CRYSTAL LAKE 2015 BVSA at Crystal Lake was another winner in 2015 For the fourth year in a row, we had all the cross country skiing we could handle. All the trails were well covered, and the woods full of snow. It was a little cold, but if you want snow we'll take it. This year we rented the Bellevue B@B to include Friday night. It worked out well because we could relax with a nice breakfast before we headed out on the trails for a full day Saturday. Dinner Sunday night was at the local Tivoli Tavern where you could get a picture with a Black Bear or Coyote ( stuffed of course ). Everyone got together for lunches at the huge dining hall with a nice big fireplace. The fire came in handy to dry our frosty gloves and hats. Our thirteen members filled the two B@B's this year. But, Crystal Lake is renting their cabins again so plan to join us next season. Save the Date Flotilla Day Hi Everyone: We will be having our annual Flotilla summer picnic by the lake to celebrate the beginning of the warm weather activities. Bring your kayaks, canoes, or anything that floats. Once again, King of Prussia, Buck Ridge and Brandywine Valley Ski Clubs will be joining forces, so expect a little larger crowd than normal. WHAT: Flotilla Day or Summer Picnic WHEN: Saturday, June 6th, 10 AM till sundown RAIN DATE: Sunday, June 7th, same times WHERE: Marsh Creek State Park COST: No Charge for KOP and BVSA members, Buck Ridge members pay $5/head Members, their family s friends and dogs are welcomed WHAT IS PROVIDED: Hot Dogs, hamburgers, ice, soda, water, etc? There will also be volleyball, horseshoes, bocce ball, etc. Feel free to bring your kayaks or small day sailing boats. WHAT TO BRING: If your last names are from, A-J: Please bring an appetizer, L-R: Please bring a picnic salad (Example, potato salad, coleslaw, pasta salad, fruit salad), S-Z: Please bring a desert We will have games, etc. CANOES, KAYAKS, ETC. Please make sure that your flotation devices have a valid sticker on them or you will get fined by the park rangers WHATS NOT ALLOWED: No alcoholic beverages or motor boats PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR OWN LAWNCHAIRS Should you have any questions, etc., please contact us, Thanks Dave Mertz dmertz000@comcast.net 8
***SKI CHILE*** Valle Nevado, Chile August 27 September 5, 2015 - $2,465 pp Round Trip transportation from Southeastern PA to JFK Non Stop JFK to Santiago, ground transportation, FIRST bag free 6 nights at Puerto Del Sol, Valle Nevado Daily Breakfast and Dinner included 6 day lift pass good on all 3 mountains ½ day tour day of arrival - Chile fish market and Santiago Only 3 Spots Open 1 night Hotel San Francisco in Santiago W/breakfast. Full day in Santiago before 10 PM departure. Optional all day tour $95 details to follow ONLY A DEPOSIT HOLDS YOUR SPOT You must be a member of BVSA or a reciprocal club with a valid Passport Initial Deposit- $800 at sign up Second Payment- $500 2/01/2015 Third Payment $500 3/18/2015 Fourth Payment $500 4/18/2015 Final Payment $165 5/15/2015 Cancellation Fees: Optional trip insurance is highly recommended! Cost is 6.25% of trip price. Prior to Feb 5, 2015 $760 Feb 5,2015-May 1,2015 up to $1500.00 After May 1, 2015 full forfeiture CANCELLATION POLICY: Cancellation must be RECEIVED IN WRITING and emailed to Pat Mullins pat12258@gmail.com Phone 610-524-4061 Refund amounts will depend upon a) Name change or correction fee of up to $300.00 b)airline and lodging fees in place at time of cancellation c) whether trip is re-sold PAYMENT: Make checks payable to BVSA pat12258@gmail.com 610-524-4061 Mail to: Pat Mullins 2905 Trinity Ct, Chester Springs, PA 19425 Happy Hour at The Corner Bar April and May s Happy Hour Corner. April Showers Bring May Flowers. April is known for its wet weather, so come out to a BVSA HH and wet your whistle, with a few of your ski club friends. On Apr. 10th we will be at the Days Inn, Carriage House, 943 S. High Street, West Chester, 610-692-1900, HH 5-7PM, $2 off all wine, $1 off all beer. This is always a fun HH and in the past we ve pretty much owned the place. If you want an HH where the place is happy to see us, and your able to hear the person your talking to, then this HH is for you. Apr. 24th we will be at the always popular Ron's Original Bar & Grille, 74 E. Uwchlan Ave, Exton, PA., 610-594-9900, HH 5-7PM, $2.25 Miller Lite bottles, $4 well drinks, $1 off drafts beers, house wine $4.75. On May 15 th the BVSA HH will be at Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza, 123 E. Swedesford Road, Exton, PA, 610-594-1900, www.acfp.com, HH all day, $1 off beer and wine, $2 off mixed drinks. This is a great place with plenty of craft beers to wet your whistle. May 22nd the BVSA HH will be at one of the clubs favorite venues, Seasons 18 at the Downingtown Country Club, 93 Country Club Drive, Downingtown, 610-873-0800, www.golfdowningtown.com. Don t forget to email me your suggestions for new and interesting HH locations, send to: wardtl77@verizon.net, as my memory isn t what it used to be. I would like to thank all the people who gave me HH suggestions, I m making a list, and I will be referring to it. The saying is the more the merrier, so lets have bunches of BVSA revelers show up at these excellent watering holes. An April shower happy hour is more fun with bunches of people. Take a chill pill and drink your fill. Tom Ward 9
BVSA RECIPE EXCHANGE BVSA is looking for some really great recipes to publish in the newsletter each month if there is an interest in doing so. Please send your favorite recipes for summer cookouts or any other special recipe to marieinpa@gmail.com CAMPING GRAND CANYON OF PA July 23 26,2015 Camp at Leonard Harrison State Park Need to book early if you want a site for this weekend as they fill up early and you will have to wait for a cancelations. This is replacing Ricketts Glen since they are draining the lake. This is electric and water hook-ups at these sites. Join us for a beautiful biking train and kayaking if water is high enough. Go to the site and email me at agordon50@frontiernet.net when you have booked your site. So far we have site #26 and 27. http://www.pa.reserveworld.com/ SearchCriteria.aspx Recipe of the Month From Marie Riley EASY RAISIN WALNUT BISCOTTI 1/4 c butter 2/3 c sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 2 c flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp cinnamon Add in: 1 c walnuts (chocolate chips) 1 c raisins or crasins Beat 1st 4 ingredients Stir in dry ingredients Mix in add ins Shape dough into 2 long loaves approx 2 diameter on baking sheet. Flatten slightly. Bake @350 for 18-20 min. Cut loaves diagonally into 3/4 slices, place cut sides down on sheet. Bake another 10-12 min until lightly browned. March s Splinters from the Board Thanks Nothing to report. No actions voted on this meeting. Dave 10
BVSA Whistler Blackcomb 2015 Hard to believe our trip has ended but we had a great time playing in the Coastal Mountains of British Columbia! We got a very early start to our adventure, needing to be at the airport at 4:30am - but it was well worth the trip flying from coast to coast and arriving in Vancouver at1:15pm. The 2.5 hour bus trip up to Whistler, known as the Sea to Sky highway, was full of breathtaking beauty- seeing mountains rising out of the Pacific Ocean. We had a fun-filled kickoff party at Dusty s, conveniently located next to our condos and readied ourselves for a great week of skiing. Whistler could have used some of the snow that fell at home during the week but we were happy skiing up on the glacier and beyond. Most days were filled with sunshine and bluebird skies. After skiing, most could be found having drinks in the hot tub and discussing dinner plans for the evening. Some highlights shared by the group of the week as follows: Best Après ski activity: Hot Tubbing (Hot, hot, cold!) Best Après ski bar: Dusty s Best Restaurant: Araxis Best Snow: Glacier Bowl Scariest Trail: Spank y Ladder and DOA above BC Peak Best Non-ski activity: Zip-lining/Skating at Olympic Park, Pub crawling Best Bar in Whistler: Dublin Gate Irish Bar (ask about who was photo bombing in the window!) Best Ride up the Mountain: The Tram with the glass bottom Yummiest Food: Beaver Tails Funniest Line of the week: Are you the real Phil Mayer? Best Group: BVSA er who made the trip so much fun! Jeff and I want to thank everyone for being such a fun group of people to be with and making our job such a pleasure to do. I ll end with this comment from someone in the group We had better snow last time we went to Whistler - but we had BETTER company this time!! 11
General Meetings 1st Wednesday of each month September through May 5:30pm Social Hour 7:00pm Meeting Brickside Grille Eagleview Town Center 540 Wellington Square Exton, PA 610-321-1600 Brandywine Valley Ski Association PO Box 549 Downingtown, PA 19335 Don't miss out on up-to-date BVSA News! If you are not on the email distribution list, send an email to: BVSASubscribe@Yahoogroups.com SKIING - CAMPING - HAPPY HOURS KAYAKING - POOL PARTIES - HIKING EXOTIC TRIPS - SAILING - BIKING - RAFTING Let s build BVSA Membership. Bring your friends (or enemies) to our next meeting Don t forget to come out and vote for the new BVSA board. APRIL 1st WANTED Pool Party Location Anyone willing to host or know of someone willing to host a pool party this coming summer please contact the board. 12