Did you miss the first 2 races at Sugar Bowl last month?  Do not despair!  There are plenty (7) more to come.  It’s not too late to buy a race pass.  You will still save a bunch of money if you race more than 3 races.  No FaGowees won but we had lots of fun celebrating the medals of others as we drank beer and laughed with each other. 

With all the snow we have this season, this should be YOUR year to race!  You’ll have lost 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! 

You’ll have 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 am! 

It’s not too late to get a race pass; three are still 7 more races.  Please send your  $95 check, made out to the FaGowee Ski Club to FaGowee Ski Club, 4002 Hillcrest Lane, Sacramento CA 95821.  You MUST enclose the 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 which you can download from the Sierra League’s home page:  http://www.sierraleague.com/home.jsp.

Where to Register for Racing
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.

 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

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

Lift Ticket Rates

$15 Fri with College ID
IRIDE: 3^rd day free

$15 Tue &Thur
$15 Mon & Wed College ID

$5 off on-line tickets
$35 Sun-Fri College ID
$45 holiday

$47 Mon - Thurs College ID
Coupon on website

CAR RALLY DATE SET!!!

FaGowee Car Rally 2008
Kati White, Car Rally Co-Chair 

OK! Mark October 11 & 12 on your calendars for the FaGowee 2008 Car Rally and pray for beautiful weather.  We will start early…about 8 or 8:30 AM at our yet to be designated meeting place and head out for a day of fun in perhaps new and uncharted places.

Now… possible catches to this are…there is only room enough for 50 people at the lower rate so you will want to sign up early.  You must be a member in order to qualify for the lower cost for the Car Rally, i.e. $75.00 per person.

Otherwise, the cost for non-members/guests or late comers will be $125.00 per person.  Be aware also that everyone is paying for the Road Rally.  First payment of $50.00 is due June 30^th and final payment will be due August 15^th.  Usual FaGowee rules on refunds will apply so read those in the newsletter.  Checks should be made payable to FaGowees and mailed to P.O. Box 15058, Sacramento, CA.  95851. 

I would like to thank members of this year’s Committee:  David & Daniele Sliper, Sandy Lange, Fred Conjour, Dick Persons, Helene Mulligan, Bob McDonald, Norm & Karen Benedict and Andrea Woelfle (wanna bet that Joe gets roped into doing something? Ha!) for working on this event.  We met on Sunday, Jan. 20^th for over 5 hours (of course we ate and finished off several bottles of wine!) but the results were wonderful.  It’s been a long time since I’ve worked with a group of people who are so dedicated to seeing to it that this Car Rally will be one all participants will remember!

REMEMBER!  YOU MUST BE A MEMBER TO GET THE $75.00 RATE SO GET THOSE DUES IN NOW TO KAREN BENEDICT, OUR MEMBERSHIP CHAIR.  SAME ADDRESS AS ABOVE.

We want the 2008 Car Rally to be one 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! 

2008 Abalone Dive & Dine

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!
By:  Jim Van Riper 

The Abalone Dive & Dine camping trips have been the most attended and most successful events that the FaGowee’s have held for the membership for many years.  This event has been in existence long before I joined the ranks of the FaGowees.  Some have gone down in the FaGowee history books and are more memorable than others, but each one has provided an utterly fantastic time for those who have attended.

Andrea Woelfle did a great job of planning and hosting the Ab Dive in 2007.  Nobody can honestly deny that.  But, for personal reasons, she is unable to host it again this year.  She has laid the ground work for the 2008 Ab Dive next August by already reserving the R/V sites and the campsites, and she has already recruited several divers and cooks to assist in making the 2008 Ab Dive a reality.

What this club needs now is somebody to take the reins from Andrea and make history of their own by hosting this event.  Due to prior commitments to my family, I personally cannot host it this year as I have in past years, but I (as well as many others) am willing and able to assist whoever takes the helm and hosts this event.

Sadly, many of the past annual events the FaGowee’s have presented for the membership have gone by the wayside (houseboat trips, clam digs, etc.) and it would be a real shame to see the Ab Dive join the ranks of the “forgotten” trips.

Think seriously folks.  These events are put together for YOUR enjoyment. Hosting one isn’t really all that hard when you have the help we all have to offer.  But if we don’t have a host, we don’t have an event.  It’s as simple as that.  Hopefully, someone will step up to the plate this year and take their turn at bat.  You won’t be sorry you did.

Please contact Andrea at 916-487-9052 if you have any questions, positive & constructive comments, or if you’d be willing to offer to host this event.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!

SUPERBOWL PARTY
By:  Jim Van Riper 

     Superbowl XVII is over and a small intimate group of FaGowee braves and bravettes (well, not quite THAT intimate) got together at the home of Diane Wilson to watch the grand finale of the football season and see the Giants beat the Patriots - 17 to14, effectively ruining the Patriots undefeated season.  Our members were on both sides of the fence rooting and cheering for their team preferences (and my team came out as the ultimate winners - yeaaa!)

     Those attending the party were honored to meet and greet our two newest members (Tony Ray and Cathy Davis) to our tribe.  It was nice to get to talk to them and get to know them a little bit.  (Tony describes himself as an "intermediate" and Cathy as a "beginner" skier.)  As an initial welcome to them, we even allowed Tony win the football pool for the first 3 final quarter scores.  How's that for a welcome?  It more than paid for their membership for the year.  (Just a quick note to Tony....  enjoy it while you can because that ain't happening again next year!)

     As usual, the friendliness abounded, the laughter was plentiful, and the food was scrumptious and varied.  A baked ham was provided by the club, other attendees provided an elk sausage and cracker tray, deli-sandwiches, chips & dips, spicy sausages, watermelon, a vegetable tray, cubed watermelon and kahlua brownies.  Everybody had a great time and nobody went home hungry.       

     On a personal note:  One of the main highlights of the Superbowl each year is watching the commercials.  Does anybody agree with me that those commercials weren't really up to the high standards set in past years?  I was really disappointed in them. 

Fun in the Sun Cruise
November 10-20, 2008
From ski to shining sea in the southern Caribbean

Join the FaGowees as we cruise the southern Caribbean in November 2008!  Our 10-day cruise sets sail from Ft. Lauderdale on the Emerald Princess stopping in Aruba, Grenada, Bonaire, St. Thomas and the Princess Cays with 3 fun and relaxing days at sea.  Details on club-planned activities will be forthcoming as the trip date nears. 

Itinerary

* Cabin pricing:

    Inside                       $1,156.00

    Window                   $1,408.00

    Balcony                    $1,696.00 

Optional trip insurance is recommended and can be purchased individually at the discretion of each traveler.  Princess adds a gratuity of $105 pp which may be adjusted up by personal preference.  A $100 pp deposit will reserve your spot now.  A payment of $200 is due March 10 and another of $200 is due April 20.  That totals $500, your deposit.  A mid-term payment is due June 30 – ½ the balance is recommended, but we’ll accept whatever you can pay – and a final payment is due August 26.  The trip is fully refundable until that time.  Send a check made out to FaGowees to Marcia Hackett at 1301 S. Walter Reed Drive, #102, Arlington, VA  22204.  If you have questions or suggestions, you can reach me at 703-920-4515 or e-mail at Marcia. 

* Prices are per person, based on double occupancy and include taxes and fuel surcharge.  There’s no guarantee gov’t taxes won’t increase.   Travel is not included to/from Ft. Lauderdale and is the responsibility of the individual traveler.  If you need assistance with a roommate, please state your preference with your deposit.  Theresa Marker and I will try to help you find someone suitable, but ultimately the responsibility is yours.

YIKES!! HAVE YOU SEEN THE PRICE OF GAS LATELY??? 

Do you peer at the price of gas and wonder how you can avoid bankruptcy?  Here are some tips from Richard Dangles, as per Internet sources.

1. Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still cool.  Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands, so if you're filling up in the afternoon or in the evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products) are significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature-compensated so that the indicated gallon gage is actually the amount pumped. A one-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don't have temperature compensation at their pumps.

2. If a tanker truck is filling the station's tank at the time you want to buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car's tank.

3. Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates rapidly, especially when it's warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation.)

4. If you look at the trigger you'll see that it has three delivery settings:  slow, medium and high. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses at the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor recovery from gas that already has been metered. If you are pumping at the high setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapors, which is being sucked back into the underground tank, so you're getting less gas for your money. 

 Hope this will help ease your 'pain at the pump'

FWSA/ Sierra League Council Travel

· 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