![[SFL logo]](http://www.sfl.org/sfllogo2.jpg)
News and Information about the People and Programs of SFL International
Skiing. Sharing. LearningThe mission of Ski for Light is to enhance the quality of life and independence of visually or mobility-impaired adults through a program of cross country skiing.
The cooling temperatures and changing colors of fall are sure signs that the next Ski for Light International Week - our 41st! - is coming soon. As the prospect of another week of adventure, exploration and friendship on the snow approaches, I hope that you have visited www.sfl.org and completed your on line application.
Recently I joined several members of the 2016 event committee at Shanty Creek Resorts for a weekend of planning with members of the Shanty Creek Resort's staff, who you should know are very excited to have us back again. This year our event is being led by co-chairs Judy Dixon and Doug Boose. Later in this bulletin you will read more about the 2016 event.
During and immediately after an SFL event, I frequently receive comments about the smooth operation and precise scheduling of the week. This success, which often comes about despite a wide variety of surprise bumps and lumps along the way that necessitate play-action thinking - is primarily due to the dedication of our Planning committee volunteers and extraordinary attention to the many details involved in conducting an SFL event.
We operate from a planning manual that provides specific instructions for every aspect of the event. Announcer, housing coordinator, guide training captains, and ski trails maintenance are just a few examples of the more than twenty-five jobs that are described in the manual. Usually, one member of the Planning Committee is responsible for one - and sometimes, more than one - of these jobs. These folks work closely with the event co-chairs for several months leading up to the international week to insure that their area of responsibility runs smoothly once the event begins, and they kick things into high gear as the actual event week approaches. As Ski for Light's President, it is extremely rewarding for me to see firsthand the dedicated work that goes on behind the scenes to plan and then execute our International Week.
As many of you know, Ski for Light is managed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors. 2016 is an election year. Elsewhere in this bulletin you will read more about the election process from Renee Abernathy, Chair of the Board Development and Elections Committee. If you are interested in becoming more involved in the management of SFL, I encourage you to consider running for a board position. The whole SFL community welcomes and appreciates your interest.
I look forward to seeing many of you in Michigan as we gather for another week of exhilarating exercise and celebration of friendships and all things SFL. See you on the trails!
By now I hope that many of you are making final plans to attend the 41st Ski for Light International Week in Bellaire Michigan. The dates are January 24 through January 30, 2016 and the location is the fabulous Lakeview Hotel on the grounds of Shanty Creek Resorts in Bellaire, Michigan. There is still time to apply, if you act quickly, at www.sfl.org.
The trails that we will ski in 2016 will offer a quality ski experience for everyone. The 5 kilometer course will be gently rolling. It will be an enjoyable, welcoming trail for beginners as well as a place for experienced skiers to improve their skills. The 10 kilometer trail will incorporate more hills and a bit more challenge for those looking for that.
Under the leadership of event co-chairs Doug Boose and Judy Dixon, the Event Planning Committee has been busy over the last few months attending to the many details that make up the SFL week. Many thanks to Doug, Judy, and the entire Planning committee.
In recent years, under Ken Leghorn's direction, we have expanded our skiing technique instructional programs for beginners as well as more experienced skiers and guides. This year that trend will continue and we anticipate having additional volunteer professional ski instructors to assist Ken.
As always, the week will be filled with skiing, special interest programs, enjoyable evening activities, and many opportunities to renew old friendships and create new ones.
Don't miss this opportunity to experience an extraordinary week of "Skiing, Sharing, and Learning". I look forward to greeting you at SFL 2016.
Plans and preparations for the event are progressing nicely. Dave Fisk and Lynda Boose have lined up a great crew of guide trainers and are prepping for guide training. Ken Leghorn is busy lining up some additional volunteer professional ski instructors and otherwise planning for the ski technique sessions. Tim Byas has ordered race/rally bibs, and he and I are finalizing plans for the race/rally awards. Jeff Pagels, with some help from John Peiffer, is finalizing trail and trailhead issues. Lars Johanson has been busy with the huge pre-event job of processing applications from guides. They and others behind the scenes are bringing together countless details to make it happen in January.
In October here in Michigan, we have had some instances of lake-effect snow in both the upper and northern lower peninsula including Shanty Creek. Each early snowfall, even though it melts, cools the ground that much more and prepares the ground for the later winter snows that will come and stay.
I am looking forward to some fun on the snow.
Would you like to be involved in the inner workings of Ski for Light? Are you interested in running for Election to the Ski for Light Board of Directors? Now is your chance to get involved by submitting your nomination to the Ski for Light Board.
Ski for Light is governed and managed by an elected Board of Directors made up of approximately 25 guides, participants, and others. The Board is a working Board, with each member expected to take an active role in some aspect of the work we do.
If you have great ideas about how to improve Ski for Light, simply want to know how the organization works from an inside seat or want to do your part to ensure that Ski for Light continues on its groundbreaking path, then this is the time and opportunity to put your name or someone else's (but ask them first!) in the hat.
Approximately half of the seats on the Board will be up for election in January 2016; directors serve terms of four years and may stand for re-election at the end of their term.
Any interested person may nominate himself/herself. You may also nominate another person, as long as you have that person's permission. Nominations should include:
All nominations will be considered and the election results will be announced on Friday, January 22, 2016 at the annual Board Meeting. The deadline for receipt of nominations is December 10, 2015.
Please send all nominations by e-mail to Renee Abernathy at reneabne@bellsouth.net by December 10, 2015.
Once again, we will hold the perennially popular Silent Auction at the 2016 event in Michigan. As always, we will have items donated by our corporate sponsors as well as those from generous event attendees. Popular items range from homemade raspberry jam to backpacks, jackets, and other outdoor items from brand-name manufacturers.
But in recent years, the number of items in the auction has increased while the amount raised has decreased. The increased number of items has meant a significant increase in the time to prepare the auction. This has necessitated a huge effort on the part of the auction volunteers who must process each and every item from writing descriptions to creating an appealing arrangement on each table.
New Gift Guidelines: To help make the auction a better experience for everyone, we are introducing some new guidelines for this year's silent auction:
Be assured that everyone's generosity to the auction is much appreciated, but we must also manage the auction in a way that is sustainable and does not place an unreasonable burden on a few generous volunteers. If you are unsure about the suitability of an item you are considering for donation, please feel free to contact me at Judy@judydixon.net.
Items can be sent to:
Shanty Creek Resorts
Ski for Light Silent Auction
Attn: Meghan Nelson
5780 Shanty Creek Road
Bellaire, MI 49615
There I sat in the waiting room at California Pacific Medical Center pondering whether the potted plant in the corner was real. I sat quietly, waiting for my low vision evaluation and wondering why I was there at all. I had made the appointment at the suggestion of one of my doctors, but the longer I waited the more I felt sure that there were better things for me to be doing in San Francisco than looking out at the city from a high-rise office building. After all, I had a low vision evaluation at Pacific Medical Center over thirty years ago and well....
Still, sitting in this waiting room surrounded by the accoutrements of low vision treatment and acutely aware of the flow of visitors with various vision impairments, I started to think about a very different situation in which blind people play a critical role. So rather than leafing through the pages of a magazine that I could not actually see, I began to reflect on the impact of Ski for Light on my life. In 1999, I attended my first Ski for Light event in Anchorage, Alaska after learning about the cross-country skiing program from a man on a bus. (Yes, my mother told me not to talk to strangers, but what can I say?) In addition to wonderful skiing and evening activities, I was inspired by many of the participants I met who have become my friends, mentors and role models.
While Ski for Light is first and foremost a program of cross-country skiing for visually and mobility impaired adults, there are also numerous opportunities for networking and learning off the snow. Many participants call Ski for Light the experience of a lifetime and talk about their "Ski for Light Family," but I would like to give a shout out to what I call my Ski for Light Family Resource Center! If you have been even once to an International Ski for Light Week, you will recognize what I'm talking about, and you may already have created just such a center in your own mind - and if not, I urge you to do so.
So what is in my SFL Family Resource Center? It includes all the people I have met at Ski for Light whose interests I share and whose knowledge and care are there for the asking. For example, I wouldn't dream of purchasing a new e-gadget without checking in with Doug Wakefield and Judy Dixon. If I need technical support for my Victor Stream, Dave Wilkinson is just an email away. If I want the latest news from the CSUN Conference, Jennison Asuncion is the man. When I purchased a Trekker, Lynda Boose offered tutorial assistance, and Larry Showalter did the same when I purchased a Braille 'n Speak. Then there are all those who have tried, and tried, to help me master my iPhone including: Tim, Heather, Scott, Peter, Larry, Judy, Bob and many others, but alas, this smart phone still outsmarts me every day.
The ready availability of tips and tricks from people who actually use such products on a daily basis has been a valuable bonus to my participation in Ski for Light. While I continue to come for the skiing, I often leave with a blizzard of resource information in addition to an avalanche of happy memories. So begin building your own SFL Family Resource Center and become part of someone else's at the same time.
As my vision continues to decline, I am confident that my Ski for Light friends and mentors will keep me in the tracks on snow and in life. Thank you Ski for Light Family Resource Center!
On September 13, veteran Ski for Light participants Amy Bower and Duane Farrar were crowned World Champions at the 2015 Blind Sailing World & International Championship, hosted by the Chicago Yacht Club. Racing was held over four days in a variety of wind & wave conditions just outside Belmont Harbor on Lake Michigan.
Amy and Duane, along with their sighted guide teammates Denis Bell and Solomon Marini, sailed consistently well throughout the eight-race series, winning three races and finishing second in three others against teams from Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and the United States. All of the teams battled high winds, and waves and seasickness hit Duane and Amy's boat on Day Two; they were further challenged by light, oscillating breezes on Day Four. (Racing was cancelled on Days One and Three due to unfavorable weather conditions.)
During the races, Amy is responsible for trimming the main sail and its various controls while Duane, as the helmsman, steers the sail boat. Sighted crew Denis trims the sail and controls in the front of the sail boat while Solomon, as Tactician, touches no sailing controls and only communicates verbally with the rest of the team.
Amy and Duane's team clinched the Gold Medal with a dominating victory in the final race of the regatta. "The money was on the table, so to speak," says Duane, "And we responded with our finest effort. We sailed a perfect race when it counted most. I am so proud of what we accomplished as a team."
And it is a very close-knit team indeed. Duane began sailing and racing with Denis in 1997 and with Solomon in 2004. He and Amy have been friends for 25 years and it was Amy who first introduced him to both Ski for Light and sailing in 1996. "For years I tried to return the favor and pestered Amy to become my teammate and go racing with us," says Duane. "She finally agreed a few years ago and, even though she's still fairly new to racing, she's outstanding in her role on the team and she's a tough competitor." He continues, "Winning this championship is such a special achievement and doing so with such good friends makes it all the more so. We're all going to savor and enjoy this for a very, very long time."
Ski for Light, Inc. is loosely affiliated with nine regional organizations around the United States that share our name. Many of the same people are active in SFL, Inc and in one or more of the regional organizations. Each of the regional organizations conducts winter trips in its area that includes teaching and guiding visually impaired adults in cross country skiing. Most, if not all, also train new guides. Several of the regions have other activities for visually impaired and physically disabled people, including snow shoeing and alpine skiing. Some of them have summer activities as well.
You do not have to live in a particular region to attend its events. The easiest way to learn about all of the regional activities in one place is to visit the Ski for Light Regional Roundup webpage at www.sfl.org/regional.html. However, we do not always have the most up to date information on our page. Eight of the nine regions have their own websites, a list of which follows.
Black Hills Regional Ski for Light: www.bhsfl.orgThe Puget Sound Regional Ski for Light does not maintain a website, but you can get the latest information by e-mailing Deng Kong at DKong@seattlelh.org
In 2015, the Gibney Family Foundation generously provided a grant to SFL Inc. to foster closer relations with the regions and to attract new skiers and guide to our international event. Anyone under the age of 45, who has never attended an SFL International, or who has not attended one in at least five years, may apply for a grant through the regional organization closest to their home. If the region agrees to sponsor them with at least $200, that will be matched by an additional $600 toward the cost of attending the SFL International. Five of those grants remain available to attend the 2016 event at Shanty Creek, Michigan.
Our thanks go to the following companies that have provided products or services to help support Ski for Light. Many of these companies have stood behind us for years - and we're grateful. Be sure to think of our friends when you're gearing up for your next adventure.
JanSport * Acorn * Blue Ridge Chair Works * Camelbak * Clif Bar * Columbia * Cowbells.com * Crazy Creek * Dansko * Darn Tough Socks * Eagle Creek * Fox River Mills * Haiku * Honey Stinger * Hydro Flask * Kavu * Leki * Live Eyewear * Olly Dog * Patagonia * PEET Shoe Dryers * Peppers Polarized Eyewear * Polar Bottle * Powertraveller * Ruffwear * Sierra Designs * SportHill * Tiger Tail Massagers * Toko US
The SFL Bulletin is published three times a year. It is available in
ink-print or via e-mail. If you wish to change
formats, please send your request to: webmaster@sfl.org
The current as well as past issues of the Bulletin are also available online at www.sfl.org/bulletin. In addition to an online edition that may be read in your browser, you will find a downloadable pdf version of the current issue.
For future Bulletins, remember that your contributions and feedback are always most welcome. You may submit articles as e-mail or as a word attachment; if you do not have e-mail, you may send a typed article through the mail. Send all items to:
Peter SlatinThe deadline for the Spring 2016 Bulletin is March 1, 2016. We look forward to hearing from you.
Ski for Light, Inc. is a registered trademark. All rights reserved.