Greetings East Iowa Ski Club members. Our friend & president, Marty, has asked me to fill in for him this month. He has been extremely tired from his current treatments. The EISC Kickoff Meeting went well at the cool Morgan Creek craftsmen style pavilion. It was our first meeting there and everyone was really impressed by the park and facility. Some members arrived early for a bicycle ride on the new trails that ran north of the park. The new tree lined trail was really nice – it was close to the highway, but seemed isolated. The hill down into the river valley was much easier riding down than back up – good training for the October 1st memorial ride. The crowd was pretty good sized and it was an enjoyable time. Thanks to Brad and Denise for providing their grill and Dale for hauling it to the park.
Todd Eadie described the new Midwest February trip to Stillwater & sold some sweatshirts w/ the new EISC logo. One of the highlights was Mary Day’s description of the Canadian Rockies tour and Alaska Inside Passage cruise. I spoke to several members who were amazed by the scenery & the experience. Another highlight was Diane Scholl’s description of two Collette tours that the club is considering for the fall of 2026. Thanks to Sondra who updated the crowd on Terry Osmanski’s condition – we all wish her the best.
At the meeting it became apparent we aren’t selling the 2026 ski trips as hoped and there were some questions on the adventure trips I was unable to answer & will bring to the adventure trip committee. The Adventure trip dates for the Black Hills bus trip and the Lake of the Woods fishing trip were announced. There will be more information on these trips in the newsletter. The food and desserts were great as usual (thank you!). There was a good crowd of members sitting around the large fire pit inferno, relaxing and enjoying the darkening views of the park when I loaded my bike up and took my leave.
Our ski trip sales got off to a good start in the spring with both the Steamboat trip January 31 -February 7 and the Winter Park Trip March 1 - March 8, but we need more members to sign up. Both of these are great ski resorts at the top of the survey list at good pricing. We went with drive-yourself-trips to keep the costs down and because that is what was preferred in our surveys. Both of these trips have outstanding Trip Leaders who do a great job making the trips fun for everyone. If you are at all interested in either trip, please contact the Trip Leaders to sign up.
The Ron Saboe Memorial Bike Ride on October 1st is our next club activity. Thanks to Kim Betts for organizing the camping and to Jim Wittnebel for leading the bike ride. Rosanne will be leading the Maquoketa Caves tour and dinner at the Bluff Lake Catfish farm on October 5th.
Thanks to all who came to the Kickoff meeting. It was good to catch up with everyone and I hope to see you soon at a future EISC event.