Rusty Parka News Vol. 52 Issue 2 www.nspcentral.org Winter 2014 Division Director’s Report What a start of a ski season: The snow started falling early and has kept on coming! The Janu- ary thaw has been short. I hope everyone’s season has started off great as well! The Division held three successful STWs (Ski/Snowboard Trainers Workshops) with the larg- est number of Central Division members in attendance. Thank you for supporting this pro- gram. As I traveled around the Division this fall visiting areas during OEC season and now during the skiing season, I have been focusing the discussion on the importance of you- the dues-paying-member to vote in the National Board election(s). When I’ve asked why you don’t vote, I get some of the following responses: “I don’t know any of the people running in the election”, or “What happens at the National level doesn’t affect me, the everyday Patroller”. Here is what I can tell you about the above responses. I do understand the statement about John Thomas not knowing the candidates. But how much do you know about the candidates that run for Division Director Government offices? The only information you get is what they say about themselves and what the other candidate wants you to know about their Parka Picks opponent. The NSP limits the campaigning so that all the information is in the candidates’ statement and resume. The only other information that is available is the ranking the Division Board provides you as a member. You ADD Report Pg. 2 can use the ranking the Division board provides, you can rank the candi- Kasten’s Korner Pg. 3 dates yourself with the same data the Division Board uses, or you can create Region Reports Pg. 4 your own ranking. When you vote in any Government election you need to Supervisor Reports Pg. 8 educate yourself on the candidates and make a choice. The same is true Dan Somalski Memorial Pg. 10 with the National Board elections. Division STW Photos Pg. 12 Central Division Alumni Pg. 15 The bottom line is that the National Board is responsible for making policy Patroller 101 Pg. 17 decisions for you as the member. Decisions like what the National dues Nordic Workshop Report Pg. 21 should be. Decisions on fund-raising for the NSP. Decisions on how to han- Awards ReCap Pg. 24 dle members that negatively impact the organization and create our spon- NSP Sponsors Pg. 28 sors to question the value that the NSP members bring to them. It would be Div Fall Meeting Motor City Pg. 35 a good idea if you would look at the NSP financial statement to figure out the staggering amount of how much your dues would increase if we lost a spon- 1 sor. The National Board and all of its members is responsible to maintain the relationship with the NSP sponsors. And the National Boards’ decisions about the business affairs directly affect the sponsor’s reactions. If any National Board member is not fiduciary responsible, all of this can crumble. If you, the member, don’t take the time and energy to vote, that sends a message to National Board also. The importance of you voting or not voting in the National Board election does affect you personally and what happens to your patrolling activity. Please take the time to vote in the National Board election every year. For those of you that have made the commitment to improve your patrolling skills by taking an exam this season: I hope you are successful in this current step of your Journey. For those of you committed to improve your patrolling skills in a non-exam mode and continue your journey, I hope you see the fruit of your labor. Remember that life is all about a learning journey that never ends. Remember you need to commit to your learning journey to be successful. If you see a fellow patroller struggling with their journey, please reach out to help them with guidance and support as helping your fellow patroller can help you with your journey. I just returned from the Mid-Winter National Board meeting. JT’s view is that the National Board is still struggling to find its way. The Division Director (DD) team (made up of the 10 Division Directors) is committed as a team to help the National Board get on the correct track. You the member have told me your concerns of the NSP and the DD team is working as a team to help the National Board move in the direction to fix your concerns. Please continue to send or discuss your concerns with the NSP to your PR, Region Director or to me, your Division Director. Thank you for all that you do, John (JT) Thomas, Central Division Director Winter Cometh! Happy New Year to all of our Central Division family! What a great season we’re off to. Decem- ber was a whirlwind month spent following the new Skills Development team around to three Ski Trainers Workshops in as many states. With all of the traveling came the reminder of just how dedicated our members are. As evidence, I offer the accompanying picture of 80 plus pa- troller’s who showed up on a cold (-20 degree) Minnesota morning to train. I think most would agree the combination of great company and squeaky cold snow has few rivals in our universe. Don Loerch Assistant Division Director With that dedication so evident, this seems an appropriate time to remind all of you that the Dan Somalski Memorial Fund is now accepting applications for sponsorship. As most know, the fund was established to honor one of our past Assistant Division Directors and more importantly a member of our patroller family. All told, Dan’s friends have contrib- uted in excess of $15,000 over the past 18 months. As planned, the proceeds have been carefully invested in a trust in- tended to provide an annual revenue stream dedicated to assisting patrollers interested in advancing their credentials. If you or someone you know could benefit from sponsorship, we’d encourage those interested to visit the division website. Our home page contains a link ( http://nspcentral.org/somalski.php ) to Dan’s Fund and a short sponsorship application form required for consideration. Thank you for all that you do, best wishes for great adventures on the snow this season. 2 Kasten’s Korner Copyright 2014 Gary Kasten 3 Region Reports Eastern Michigan Region Boy the season came quick! The patrols have been working now for a number of weeks and the region staff has been busy providing a number of training events. By the time you read this, the region staff will pretty much have all three scheduled SES, SNES, TES and a STW completed for the Eastern Michigan Region. We still have a Women’s event schedule for February 01. 2014. This and all EMR events can be found on the EMR calendar located on our new website, nspemr.org. This year has a VERY large group of candidates who have registered for the Senior program. It makes the region staff happy to know that folks want to grow in their training and NSP education. The pre-evaluation clinic is scheduled for February 9, 2014 and the on-hill evaluation at Boyne Mike Schons Mountain on Saturday, February 22, 2014. We will need a number of extra patrollers to make Eastern Michigan sure these events run to the high standards we have set. Region Director We are proud to announce new Accredited Senior Evaluators, they are Pam King, Marty Blas- kowski, Doug Young, Mike Taylor and Ron Palmer. Congratulations! Also congratulations to Rob Carpenter for his ASE credential renewal. This upcoming year, we are proud to announce that we will be again participating in the downtown Detroit WinterBlast. Times are: Friday February 7th, 11am-11pm Three, 4-hour shifts of four to six Patrollers Saturday February 8th, 11am-11pm Three, 4-hour shifts of four to six Patrollers Sunday February 9th, 11am-9pm Two, 5-hour shifts of four to six Patrollers We will work as roving "Advance Team" for Hart Medical EMS. We will respond to first aid issues, stabilize and call for EMS back-up. This is LOTS of fun "Patrolling" among the skyscrapers of Downtown Detroit Sign-up will be available on the EMR website. I personally will be supporting the event on Friday for the first shift. I am trying to personally get to every patrol at least once every year. This year so far, I have visited Pine Knob, Mt. Brigh- ton, Alpine Valley, Blizzard Metro and Snowsnake. I have talked to the shift patrollers and some of the resort General Managers, looking for suggestions, questions or comments of how we could provide a better service to the skiing public. So far, all the resorts visited have had a great relationship between the patrols and resort management. This has been very positive for me. I have had a few suggestions that I will be forwarding to the region staff. The 2014 Division Fall Meeting plans are coming together. Since EMR is hosting the event, we have confirmed the Greektown Hotel as the hosting venue. If you are looking for electives, we will be holding classes during the event. As we move along after the first of the year, look for information that tells you everything that the Eastern Michigan Region has planned for this great event. I would like to thank the planning committee for their hard work so far.