The FaGowee International, Sacramento Chapter

December 2007

Dinner Choices:
Prime Rib
Baked Chicken
Band: Ridge Riders for Dancing!!!
Raffle to benefit Disabled Sports of America (to include ski tickets, ski bags, fanny packs, gourmet coffee, movie tickets, dinner certificates, etc...)

Season's Greetings

In the midst of Christmas preparations and all the commercialism that surrounds it, take a moment to reflect on the true meaning of this celebration. Yes, there is much emphasis on buying the best gift, having the prettiest tree, the biggest turkey and having "The Party of the Season."

Take some time this holiday and look beyond the ribbons and bows.

The Christmas season is a time from our busy schedule and focus on our families and friends. It is a time to remember how much they mean to us.

It is a time to reflect and re-energize ourselves and it is a time to think of those who are less fortunate than us.

So, instead of looking at Christmas as a 'Commercial Christmas', make it a 'Magical Christmas'. Be thankful for what you have in life, for your family and friends. Sing your favorite Christmas song, hug a friend, and forgive someone that may have disappointed you. And take time to give to someone less fortunate than you.

Have a truly Magical Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Table of Contents

FaGowee Annual Christmas Party....…..Front Page

Prez Says………………………………….Page 2

Pictures Wanted………………….……….Page 3

Correct Email? Article…………………….Page 3

Birthdays………………………………….Page 3

Trips, Trips & More Trips………………...Page 4

Event/Trip Refund Policy………………....Page 4

Social Corner……………………………...Page 4

Learn to Ski or Snowboard...........................Page 4

FaGowee Golf Tournament Recap...............Page 4

Discount Tickets…................................…...Page 5

Lift Ticket Rates............................................Page 5

Share the Fun Article……………………...Page 5

Race Corner & Race Schedule..…………..Page 6

Ski Exercises.................................................Page 6

Ad Space Article…………………………..Page 6

Car Rally….....................................................Page 7

FWSA/Sierra League Travel...……………..Page 7

Calendars…………………………………..Page 8

Snow News is published monthly for the FaGowee International, Sacramento Chapter members. Articles or photos MUST BE to Tracee Carter by the 20th of each month. You may e-mail the information to Tracee or call (509-279-8454). Editor has the right to edit or omit submitted material because of content or space, with Executive Board oversight.

Special Announcements

Do you have information about a special event, interesting news or a sale that is relevant to the interests of club members?
Email Andrea at andreajoew@sbcglobal.net and it can be forwarded on to all the FaGowees.

Do We Have Your Correct Email Address???

The club sent out a lot of email in July. If you didn't get them, it is because we don't have your correct email address. WE are sending out a lot of updated information that isn't in your newsletter and we don't want you to miss out.

If your email has changed, please contact Andrea NOW!! Word will be passed on to membership chairperson, Karen Fountain-Benedict. If you have other changes, such as address or phone number, be sure to contact Karen directly.

December Birthdays

2	Chizuko Kawamolo	10	Diane Tiche
10	Karen Fontaine	11	Cynthia Barlow
10	David Sliper	14	Linda Trombino

Pictures Wanted!!!
Bob McDonald

Take pictures of any FaGowees having fun so I can include them in our photo albums. The albums are brought to each and every FaGowee function with the photos of our past events, and I depend on you, the general membership, to supply those photos for the albums.

So...get those pictures taken so I can add them to our archives.

For the sake of ease in creating and displaying the photo pages, I’d prefer the prints to be 4”x 6” in size. Also, I would like them in groups of 6 so that they will take up a whole page in the album.

If you have any questions, or photos you’d like to part with, please contact me at 817-4277.

I’m Looking For Any Pics of Club Activities:

Fall Foothills, Goldpoint, Hopscotch, Halloween Party,
Bike Ride & General Snow Pics.

See Photos Online!!!

ALSO looking for pictures for the newsletter!!!

January 19-26, 2008

FWSA Ski Week
Blackcomb/Whistler Canada (PAGE)

FWSA Ski Week

Blackcomb/Whistler Canada

January 19-26, 2008

Debbie Stewart

559-734-9294

gwstewart@prodigy.net

Debbie Stewart
559-734-9294

February 1-11, 2008

Austria Sampler by Berfreunde Ski Group of Portland, OR (PAGE)

Robert Burns - 503-524-5261
Charles Burns - 503-694-9664

March 7-15, 2008

FWSA International Trip
France (PAGE)

Norm Azevedo
925-944-9816

Late September 2008 OR Early October 2008

FaGowee Car Rally

Dick Persons
Kati White

Join us Next Year for our Social Meeting!!!
January 22 @ 6:30 pm

Social Corner
Please mark your calendars now for the following dates. There is always room for more.

Dec 11 Board Meeting @ 6:00 pm Lee Johnson’s Residence
8776 Mondego Way, Fair Oaks ~ 967-5903

Dec 21 FaGowee Annual Christmas Party @ 6:30 pm Carmichael Elks Club
VOLUNTEER NEEDED

Jan 8 Board Meeting @ 6:00 pm Andrea Woelfle's Residence
4002 Hillcrest Lane, Sacramento ~ 487-9052

Jan 22
Social Meeting @ 6:30 pm TBD

Upcoming Events
Watch the Newsletter for more Information

Combination bowling night and all you can eat pasta dinner at Strings
January Ski Day at Sierra at Tahoe with leader, Ellen Page

North Lake Tahoe Learn to Ski or Snowboard

Friends & Family Weekend

December 8-9, 2007

(Dates may vary by resort due to weather/resort conditions, so contact resorts for details.)

For only  $25/day, first time skiers and snowboarders over 9 years old will receive
an all-day beginner lift ticket, lessons and gear rental on December 8-9 plus coupons for return visits.

This $25 rate is a savings of up to $75 off the normal cost for this package.

Reservations are not required, but try to arrive 2 hours early to leave time for securing rental skis, etc.

Participating resorts include.  For specific information, call the resort.

Alpine Meadows www.skialpine.com (800-441-4423)

Boreal Mountain Resort www.rideboreal.com  (530-426-3666)

Diamond Peak www.diamondpeak.com (775-832-1177)

Granlibakken Resort www.granlibakken.com (800-543-3221)

Homewood Mountain Resort www.skihomewood.com (530-525-2992)

Mt. Rose www.mtrose.com  (800-SKI-ROSE)

Northstar-at-Tahoe www.northstarattahoe.com (800-GO-NORTH),

Squaw Valley www.squaw.com (530-583-6985)

Sugar Bowl www.sugarbowl.com (530-426-9000).

Learn to Ski and Board lodging/event packages are available, beginning at $69 per person/per day, based on double occupancy.

For more information on the lodging and event packages, call 888-434-1262 or visit event calendar for December at www.gotahoenorth.com

FaGowee Golf Tournament Recap
Norman Benedict

Our FaGowee golf tournament was held at the world renowned Scandia South Course right here in Sacramento. Our top 7 golfers in the championship round were Norman Benedict; Karen Fontaine; Bob McDonald; Marilyn Miller; Richard Persons; Andrea Woelfle; and Joe Woelfle. After a welcome dinner at the neighboring Strings Restaurant it was tee off time on a wonderful balmy Sacramento evening. Our closest to the pin contest was held on the dreaded number 2 hole

with a ninety degree dogleg to the left. The winner, Joe Woelfle really had his irons working and the crowd on its feet by driving to within 14 inches of the cup which just beat out Marilyn Miller by 9 inches.

The course was very demanding with several bogies recorded on the wind mill and ant hill holes but thanks to the skill of all the finalists not one golfer ended up in the sand traps or water hazards. Despite "holes in one" by Andrea Woelfle and Norman Benedict none of the golfers could overcome the hot putter of our resident pro Joe Woelfle, who on the back nine opened up a 2 stroke lead and rode it all the way to the clubhouse.

Interviewed after the game Joe was quoted as saying "that was as tough a course with the fastest greens that I've seen in a while but I have confidence I will return next year and defend my title". We'll just have to see. Go To Photos to see pictures!!!

FaGOWEE FUNCTION OR EVENT SIGN-UP LATE FEES
(Approved and Adopted at the Executive Board Meeting on July 11, 2006)

SIGN-UP LATE FEES: On each and every advertised FaGowee club event published in the Snow News newsletter, a sign-up due date will be listed as well as the member and non-member prices to attend that function or event. Any person who signs up and submits their payment for attendance after that published due date will be assessed a 50% late fee penalty. In addition, any person who does not sign up at all to attend a function or event and just shows up at the door will be assessed a 100% late fee penalty (payable in full at that time) before being allowed admittance to that function or event.

FaGOWEE EVENT / TRIP REFUND POLICY
Revised, Approved and Adopted at the Executive Board Meeting, October 8, 2003

The following Refund Policy applies to any Club event for which a fee is charged.
You will automatically receive a 100% refund fur any trip or event cancelled by the Club.
If you cancel and someone takes your place from the waiting list, you will receive a refund of the amount you paid, less a cancellation fee. The cancellation fee will be $10.00 or 10% of the event/trip fee- whichever is more, unless a specific cancellation fee is advertised for the event/trip.
If you cancel and there is no waiting list, or no one on the list takes your place, you will receive a refund of the amount you paid less a cancellation fee and less any expenses that the Club incurs due to your cancellation.
If you arrange for someone not on the waiting list to take your place, you will be responsible for full payment to the Club plus any transfer fees or costs the Club incurs because of the change. Other money transactions are between you and your replacement. You must provide that replacement with a note for the trip leader or you must confirm the replacement directly with the trip leader prior to the event/trip. The person who submits payment must request all refunds from the Executive Board in writing within 60 days after the completion of the event/trip. The Executive Board will review the final financial report from the event/trip and may approve refunds in accordance with this refund policy.
Any member may appeal to the Executive Board for refunds greater than provided by this policy if special circumstances warrant.
There will be no refund for events that are designated as "Fund Raisers" unless they are cancelled or rescheduled by the Club.

Ski Area	Regular Price	Holiday Price	Discount Price
Alpine Meadows	$58.00	$63.00	$49.00	Discount Tickets good during holidays.
Homewood	$53.00	$58.00	$41.00	Estimated discount price, holiday blackout may apply.
Northstar	$74.00	$76.00	$58.00	Discount tickets good during holidays. When used at Sierra-at-Tahoe you get a $7 credit towards the cafeteria or bar.
Squaw Valley	$73.00	$77.00	$57.00	Discount Tickets good during holidays.
Sugar Bowl	$60.00	$70.00	$52.00	Upgrade fee of $10 during holiday periods.

Race Corner ~ Andrea Woelfle

If you haven’t tried racing this year, now is a great time to start. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, we’re going to have plenty of snow this season! You’ll have lots of fun, race against people that ski the same level as you (there are 10 classes), make new friends and really improve your skiing. Races are $20 each; first time racers are free!

Race registration is between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. at the following locations:

· Northstar: Next to Children Center across from skating rink.

· Homewood: bar at the South Lodge (formerly Tahoe Ski Bowl).

· Diamond Peak: bar upstairs over cafeteria in the main lodge.

· Alpine Meadows: Main cafeteria next to the stairs which go down to the special tickets office (near fireplace)

· Heavenly Valley: Cal Bar in the main California Lower Lodge, upstairs by the cafeteria. FWRA: from 7 to 9 AM.

If you think you will race more that 3 times, it pays to get a season race pass, But You Need To Hurry. Race passes cover 9 races. If your money is Received By Monday, December 3^rd, you can use it starting with first race. Your race is subsidized by the FaGowees; no other clubs do this. Your cost will be $95 (9 races + refundable gatekeeper’s fee. Races this year will be at Homewood, Northstar, Sugar Bowl, Diamond Peak, giving you a chance to try resorts you might not normally go to. Also, you get substantial discounts on lift tickets at these resorts on race day. If you pre-pay for the races, you can register on-line, which means no more dragging yourself out of bed at 5:30 to get yourself to registration by 8:30 a.m.!

Please make out and send your $95 check to:
FaGowee Ski Club
4002 Hillcrest Lane
Sacramento CA 95821
You MUST enclose the attached waiver form for Sierra League.

To save time at future races and enable you to pre-register for races download the resort individual waiver forms at the FaGowee Race Team Page.

The new race schedule is up
Race Schedule

It’s time to start thinking about getting our bodies ready for skiing.
Concentrate on leg and core strength.

It’s a good idea to get a month of cardiovascular endurance in first to provide you with the endurance for skiing. Good activities are jogging, jump roping, skating, risk walking, hiking, and cycling. Then you’re ready to begin with strength training.

Here’s an exercise that challenges one leg at a time and works the quads:

Wall Slide—Lean against a wall with feet about 18-24 inches in front of you and slide down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Your shins should be perpendicular to the floor. Lift one leg and press your back against the wall and slide up. Variations: Lower with one leg and lift back up with two; Hold the position and alternately lift one leg and then the other as you hold steady for as long as you can.

Keep up with the Sierra League at their website
http://www.sierraleague.com/home.jsp

ATTENTION SOCIAL SKIERS!!

You’ll get the best deals on lift tickets if you show up at registration on race days between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. Savings are VERY substantial. Resorts do not care whether you are a racer or not. Check out registration sites in the Racer’s Corner article. You will also probably run into other FaGowees to ski with. If you plan to join the racers, please contact Andrea at 487-9052 or at EMAIL prior to race day and we will look out for you.

You are also welcome to attend the race clinics (check the racing schedule.)
Maybe you’ll decide to race, maybe not, but they are designed to help skiing in general, not just racing techniques.

NEED ADVERTISING SPACE? WANT TO SELL SOMETHING?

Several club members have recently made inquiries as to the possibility of placing personal advertisements in the Snow News. The Executive Board addressed that question at the January ’05 Executive Board Meeting. Effective immediately, we will be accepting personal advertisements for publication in your newsletters.

If you have something to sell or if you want to advertise your business, you can now place your personal advertisement in the Snow News, and your cost of placing each ad will be as follows:

AD SPACE SIZE:	MEMBER PRICE:	NON-MEMBER PRICE:
*Business Card Size* (2-1/8”H x 3-1/2"W)	$ 5.00 per month	$10.00 per month
*¼ Page Size* (4”H x 3-1/4”W)	$10.00 per month	$15.00 per month
*½ Page Size* (4”H x 6-1/2”W)	$15.00 per month	$20.00 per month

The Usual Small Print:

Personal ads will be published one-time per month for the above-indicated prices. Please include your payment along with your ad and mail it to the FaGowee post office box.

Your ad and payment must be received at the FaGowee post office box on or before the 10^th of the month to be included in the following month’s newsletter.

The Publications Editor has the right to refuse any advertisement that may be deemed inappropriate.

FaGowee Car Rally 2008

Yes, Virginia (who wondered about Santa Claus, remember?)…there will be a FaGowee Car Rally in 2008! Do we know where we are going? Of course not! (At least not yet) And you won’t know until you are almost there, having done a bunch of fun things during the day to get where you didn’t know you were going. Does that make any sense? A lot of things on a car rally aren’t supposed to make sense. You are just supposed to relax, drive, take in the scenery, bring along your good sense of humor and enjoy the day. Then enjoy the evening. Sleep well and enjoy the brunch on Sunday morning. Then have some more fun on the way home.

Do we know the exact date yet? No! But we will and we’ll let you know when we know; probably either September 27-28 or October 4 & 5. Depends on what kind of sweet deal we can wrangle. As they say on TV…news at 11…or some such time.

Anyway, Kati White and former Vice President (not Al Gore or Dan Quayle)…Dick Persons…have agreed to chair the 2008 FaGowee Car Rally. What we need from the general membership…to start off anyway…are helpful suggestions as to where you would like to end up on Saturday. Napa, Concord, Sonora, Truckee, Santa Rosa, Forest Hill, even Yuba City could be fun! (Yeah…right!) Maybe you know some places we don’t know that you’d like us to check out? If you haven’t been there before, maybe it’s someplace you’d like to finally stay for a night. The more unique the place, the better! There could be a prize for you if we end up in the location you’ve suggested. We do want to stay within a 1 ½ hr. to 2 hour drive home from Sacramento so you’ll feel like you’ve actually been away for a weekend, so keep that in mind with your suggestions. Yes, we’d all like to go to Cabo or Vegas but that’s a far piece to drive.

We are also looking for about 4 - 6 more people to help us with this Car Rally. David & Danielle have offered to help, we’ll drag Andrea into it, but the more the merrier and the more ideas we can come up with the better for a memorable weekend. We want a Car Rally you’ll never forget so help us out!

Contact:
Dick Persons OR
Kati White
with your ideas and suggestions.

Let’s give all FaGowees something to look forward to in the Fall of 2008!

FWSA/ Sierra League
Council Travel

· Far West Ski Week 2008

Blackcomb/Whistler, Canada ~ January 19 – 26, 2008
Lodging & Amenities Package Prices (not including transportation) will be

approximately: $1020.00 pp double occ. For More Information:

Call Debbie Stewart at 559-734-9294 or EMAIL

· Austria Sampler
Put on by Bergfreunde Ski Group in Portland, OR ~ February 1-11, 2008
Lodging, Amenities, & Transportation: $1424.00 pp douple occ. For more information:
Call Robert Burns at 503-524-5261 OR Charles Burns at 360-694-9664

· FWSA International Trip
Les Trois Vallées France ~ March 7 - 15, 2008 (Provence & Post Extension to 3/21/07)
   Basic Ski Week Package: $1390.00 pp double occ.
   Post-Extension: $895.00 pp double occ. For more information:
   Call Norm Azevedo at 925-944-9816 or EMAIL

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8 Race #1
9 *Race #2*	10	11 Board Meeting	12	13	14 *Keystone Nationals*	15 *Keystone Nationals*
16 *Keystone Nationals*	17	18	19	20	21 Christmas Party	22 Winter Begins
23	24	25 Christmas	26	27	28	29
30	31 New Year's Eve

December Events

12/11 - Board Meeting @ 6:00 pm ~ L. Johnson's Residence
12/21 - FaGowee Annual Christmas Party starting @ 6:30 pm ~ Carmichael Elks Club

January 2008

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
		1 New Year's Day	2	3	4	5
6	7	8 Board Meeting	9	10	11	12 Race #3
13 Race #4	14	15	16	17	18	19 *Far West Ski Week*
20 *Far West Ski Week*	21 *Far West Ski Week* Martin Luther King Day	22 Social Meeting *Far West Ski Week*	23 *Far West Ski Week*	24 *Far West Ski Week*	25 *Far West Ski Week*	26 *Far West Ski Week*
27	28	29	30	31

January Events

1/8 - Board Meeting @ 6:00 pm ~ A. Woelfle's Residence
1/22 - Social Meeting @ 6:30 pm ~ TBD

· Far West Ski Week 2008

Blackcomb/Whistler, Canada ~ January 19 – 26, 2008 Lodging & Amenities Package Prices (not including transportation) will be

approximately: $1020.00 pp double occ. For More Information:

Call Debbie Stewart at 559-734-9294 or EMAIL

Blackcomb/Whistler, Canada ~ January 19 – 26, 2008
Lodging & Amenities Package Prices (not including transportation) will be