Watch for the Thursday night bike rides!
2007 ANNUAL SKI TRIP
"ABR" (ACTIVE BACKWOODS RETREAT)" DECEMBER 15TH 2007
Second verse same as the first. For last year’s trip I didn’t pack my skis due to back problems. I took my snowshoes instead. This year everything stayed home, and I took a book because of a bum knee. Don’t even ask me about what will go wrong next year.
Next year’s equipment will be a sled and a pack of Alaskan Huskies to pull me to wherever I want to go! What a bummer!
Saturday morning rolled around early enough and I was even on time because I didn’t forget anything when I left the house. The donuts, bagels, bananas and orange juice were picked up without a hitch and I rolled into the John Muir parking lot around 7:00 am and was greeted by the Progressive Travel bus and its driver Ross and several early birds from the club.
At about 7:45 we pulled out of the parking lot minus a bunch of the regular travelers. My brother’s daughter got married on the 2nd Saturday of December which has normally been the travel date for ABR the past 13 or 14 years. This years numbers were down a bit but 31 people that journeyed north were treated to a great day of fun and adventure! My good friends at Progressive Travel were able to give me a smaller bus which helped reduce the costs. Thanks Bonnie!
Next year if I’m still around, and no one else gets married on the 2nd weekend of December, that will be our "go" date. So everyone especially Tom and Babs Zehren) mark Saturday December 13th 2008 as our annual trip to ABR!! Thanks go to Barb Bradley and Jeff Hinueber for bringing the soda and other refreshments for our trip. As soon as I can think of an award to give to the Hinuebers they will get one for being on every trip that the club has sponsored up north! It’s akin to doing 20 "Birkies" or something like that!
We arrived at ABR around 10:00am. I normally do a group picture in front of the bus but after 10 minutes of waiting for everyone to get off the bus and get lined up I had second thoughts. There was a bit of a chill in the air and the people outside of the bus were getting anxious to go so I said I would do a group picture at the Restaurant later. I forgot to do that also!
For those that haven’t heard about ABR or for that matter know where it is, you are missing a good thing. This is one of the premier ski destinations in the UP. It is located in Ironwood, Michigan and is several miles away from Hurley. It is also one of the first to open for Cross Country skiing because of its location which receives a lot of lake effect snow. If the trip was the weekend before, the ski conditions would have been only marginal. As I’ve mentioned in my other write ups, ABR is run by Eric and Angela Anderson. Eric, Angela and crew do an excellent job. The conditions of the tracks are as good as you can find anywhere, and were exceptionally good because of all the snow they have had. Eric just doesn’t quit. This year he has added another 15K or so of new trails and even added onto the main cabin to make more room for sales and more space for people to warm up and have lunch. Speaking of lunch it’s always fun to see how people react when they have their first UP "Pasty" sandwich. For those that don’t know, a pasty is a pastry crust with a meat and potato filling, or an all-vegetable filling. Timmy Hinueber is one of the few people I know (he’s a rail thin teenager) that can eat two of these things and still go out and ski!! It’s a good thing his mom and dad both work!! I think each pasty weighs about 5 pounds! Thanks Eric for taking care of getting the food. It’s an annual treat.
I told the group that I wanted everyone back at about 4:00pm so we could start heading back to St. Germain for Supper. The Temme children Alexa and Connor were the last ones in! They got every last "K" in that they could. I think they slept well Saturday night. It’s great to be young and full of energy. I’m jealous!
Ross, our driver, pulled the big Progress Travel bus into the parking lot of the "Golden Pines" restaurant in St. Germain around 5:15 pm. We ate there last year and had such a great meal that we decided to go there again. They didn’t disappoint! Everything was wonderful and the place was well decorated. It put you in the Christmas and Holiday spirit! The toughest part about this trip is to find a restaurant that can handle a group of 45 – 50 people who are able to order off of the regular menu and have separate checks! Chuck and Sharon’s (the owners) establishment fits the bill nicely.
Once again I had a great time. One thing about this club, if you are in it long enough you get to meet some pretty nice people. Ask someone that has gone on this trip and ask them what they thought. I think you’ll get an answer that makes you wish that had been able to join us. One of my friends, a long time skier and Birkie veteran who’s kind of shy, quiet and some might even say reserved and laidback, (Jeff Martin) summed it up when he e-mailed me to signed up for the bus trip and I quote:
"Will you cancel if you don't reach 40-45 people? It figures, I sign up for the bus trip and we have skiable snow at Nine Mile for 2 weeks before the trip.......... Well, the bus trip is about more then just skiing."
To the 31 people that went on this trip Jeff’s last sentence really strikes home. Thanks folks, I couldn’t have done this without you!
Happy skiing & Happy New Year!
Denny Helke
January 19th 10:00 a.m. Snekkevik Classic & Skate Race Nine Mile entry form on Race Forms page
Ministry Health Care is again sponsoring the Snekkevik , which will be held on Saturday, January 19th this year. There will be both classic and skate races (timed so adults can do both). The sponsorship money will provide the merchandise drawings that have been so popular the last couple of years. Remember – entry to the event makes you eligible for the merchandise drawings, however you must be present when your name is called! Timing will be provided/donated by our club member John Burke who has a timing business called Performance Timing. Age placement will be posted, but random drawing will determine WINNERS of merchandise. Awards will be given to Middle School and High School athletes, but not to adult age division winners. Participants can also look forward to a new course if snow conditions permit. Snow is everywhere, so we need your local support of our race. So come and race or just participate by entering to ski the course and support the club event – you could be a winner either way!
January 25th Weenie Roast 6:00 p.m. Nine Mile
February Club Meeting
February 15th 7:00 p.m. Club meeting Nine Mile - Chocolate Decadences
bring your favorite chocolate to share.
Anyone interested in a “HAT” exchange – please bring a ski hat to trade (requirements are it needs to be clean, cannot come from Fleet Farm , and it cannot be Orange in color )
Haven’t figured out if we will do a grab bag or have a random drawing of numbers and then depending on your number (1st, 2nd, 3rd) you get to pick the hat of your choice. Should be fun!
Remember we also share desserts that night, so save some calories for the end of the day.
February 20th Weenie Roast 6:00 p.m. Nine Mile
March 13th 6:00 p.m. Nine Mile Forest Pot Luck Dinner
Awards and Recognitions
Last meeting of the year