Greetings

Hello everybody and welcome to 2012. I hope everybody had a good holiday season, while waiting for warmer spring and summer weather and dreaming of following eagles and hawks around the foothills east of Arlington. As I start my year as Evergreen President, I’m looking forward to another soaring season and the camaraderie of all my fellow northwest soaring pilots.

 

New Members

I’d like to extend a special welcome all the new Evergreen members who joined within the last year. I believe I’ve met most of you and I’m truly thrilled at hearing of each new milestone you accomplish. You are starting an adventure that really does change the way you look at the world. Soaring takes time and effort to learn and become proficient at. It certainly is not an instant gratification sport. But stick with it, continue to learn, and some of the most rewarding adventures you can imagine are waiting for you. 

 

Working Together

In the past we’ve faced many challenges as a club and always managed to work through them together, the result being a better club in the end. As we start the New Year we have a few challenges that we’re continuing to work through. Some of these are large and affect the way the club operates (e.g. our dwindling cadre of instructors), some are just tuning up our current processes to operate more efficiently (e.g. volunteerism), and some are just getting back to the way we’d like to interact with each other (e.g. more social events). As I said above, we’ve always worked together, let’s continue that tradition. We’ll be extending requests and invitations to help with these challenges. This is your club, and you have a say in how it operates. Do not hesitate to come forward and help out. 

 

Volunteerism

During one of our recent online discussions (you all know which one I’m talking about) we discussed the need for various jobs and chores to be performed around the club, its equipment, and the various adventures we take part in. During and following this discussion, we suddenly had quite a number of people asking what they could do to help out. Turns out we don’t have a good organized way to take advantage of people’s offer to help. So, during the winter months, we’re thinking of gathering and organizing this information. The current thinking is to put together a committee (read loosely organized group of members) to collect and organize these tasks. Watch for messages getting this effort started and if you’re one of those people who regularly help’s out in some manner, consider joining the committee to help define how YOU get things done within the club. 

 

Let’s Fly

Okay, finally, let’s not forget the whole reason why we’re here. We all have this odd attraction to flying airplanes without engines. The machines we fly are relatively simple and, in most cases, absolutely beautiful flying machines. The Evergreen Soaring club is here to promote and facilitate YOUR soaring adventures in a safe, fun, and organized manner. As the soaring season gets underway in the spring, maybe take advantage of a midweek soaring opportunity. These optimum weather adventures can change your whole perception of soaring on the west side. The scenery just a few short miles east of Arlington is absolutely spectacular. Also, watch for planned and even short notice soaring adventures to places like Ephrata, Twist, Darrington and maybe even someplace new. These trips take a little planning and effort to get equipment moved around, but the rewards can be stunning.

 

I’m looking forward to seeing you all in 2012 either at the airport, or sharing a thermal somewhere above.

 

Have a ton of fun in 2012 and Please Fly Safe,

 

Dan Teifke

President, Evergreen Soaring