RMCC State of the Paddling Union 2014:
First – Thanks!
- Most importantly, to the ELEVEN Trip Coordinators whose efforts made all our Club trips possible;
- To Steve Bimm and Christine Valentini for opening their Westminster home to us for the January Permit Party;
- Jeanne Willson for once again opening her Denver home for our Nov Annual Mtg);
- To our largely tired J club officers who have ably served us this year and have reluctantly agreed to stand for re-election: Carol Duecker (Schedule Coordinator), Doug Hurcomb ( Quartermaster), Kathryn Mutz (Treasurer), Anne Fiore (Webmaster), and your humble servant as President. More about the officers later
- And finally, to you the club members for continuing the keep alive the spirit of the paddle in the Rocky Mt west
Trips and Events
I’m delighted to announce that the number of and participation in our scheduled outings remains strong (though down a bit from last year ). To wit:
No. of outings & events: 2011 (11) 2012 (24) 2013 (24) 2014(19)
No. of participants: 2011 (185) 2012 (270) 2013 (303) 2014 (253)
No. of trip coordinators 2011 (6) 2012 (10) 2013 (14) 2014 (11)
Note: the dip in the numbers is largely due to the cancellation of the Joint Clubs March paddle due to last year’s flooding on the South Platte and high water this year which forced the cancellation of several events.
Here’s a summary to the outing and events, no. of participants, and coordinators: January: Permit Party (22, Bimm/Valentini). Apr: Macintosh Lake (6, A. Fiore); Lower Ark (6, K. Amundson); Boat Rigging &Packing Class (14, B. Ashworth).May: White (9, K. Amundson); Intro to Canoeing Class (10, E. Hermann, D. Hinde); Niobrara (28, B. Ashworth). June: Rio Grande (8, K. Amundson); Gross Reservoir (K. Ashworth, K. Mutz); North Platte Saratoga (10, B. Ashworth). July: Rio Chama (10, J. Willson); Colorado Dotsero to Hanging Lake (11, J. Mallory). Aug: Lower Ark (8, K. Amundson); Radium Rendezvous (40, B. Ashworth); San Juan (6 (B. Ashworth, K. Amundson). Sept: Boundary Waters (4, L. Richards). Colorado Loma-Westwater (9, B. Ashworth); Oct: Green River Stillwater Cyn (10, C. Winkle). Nov: Fall potluck and election (31, J. Willson)
I think we achieved a good balance of outing types this year but didn’t get the increased number of day events that I’d hope for – a good goal for next year! The 2014 numbers: day outings (3); classes (2); weekend outings (9); extended outings (3); meetings (2)
Instruction
We were fortunate to have Poudre Paddler’s excellent instruction corps provide our Basic Canoeing classes again this year owing to Jeff Oxenford’s time and talent’s being lured away by the start-up Paddling Club he’s founding at his daughter’s Golden high school Thanks again Eric and Deb from Poudre (who are both also RMCC members)! Our second Canoe Rigging and Packing class was well received and well attended and should become part of our regular curriculum. I think a need for next year is to add a Safety class.
Membership
Our membership grew again this yearand when secondary members (generally spouses) are added, we have over 180 folks on our rolls as paid up members.
No. of households: 2011 (100) 2012 (90) 2013 (112) 2014 (114)
Website
With Anne F taking the lead, we successfully (though not without angst) transitioned to a new and much more stable web platform this year. And revitalized the indra discussion board. Check out Anne’s posting on the website from last Feb if you have any questions about using the indra site – a great way to communicate directly to other members.
Finances
Per the Treasurer’s report below from Kathryn, our Treasurer, the club’s finances are doing fine. We had a modest surplus of about $300.
| Rocky Mountain Canoe Club | ||
| 2014 Financial Summary | ||
| Summary 11 8 2014 | ||
| Beginning Cash | $6,121.38 | |
| Receipts: | ||
| Dues 2014 | $960.00 | |
| Dues 2015 | $60.00 | |
| Miscellaneous | $20.00 | |
| Total Receipts | $1,040.00 | |
| Disbursements | ||
| Newsletter | $0.00 | |
| Internet | -$64.75 | |
| Dues (ACA) | -$225.00 | |
| Brochures | $0.00 | |
| Events | -$321.04 | |
| Other* | -$97.48 | |
| Total Disbursements | -$708.27 | |
| Ending Cash | $6,453.11 | |
| Total Receipts | $1,040.00 | |
| Total Disbursements | -$708.27 | |
| Net Change | $331.73 | |
Officers
As noted in the introduction and in a previous email, the club is suffering from a hardening of the arteries, by which I mean officers serving too long in office. I think you’ll agree that the vitality and longevity of any organization is partly dependent on a regular infusion of new blood into the leadership corps. Many of our officers have been serving for over three years (Quartermaster, Treasurer, President) and while willing to serve another year would like to see others step forward to share the load. Carol as Scheduler and Anne as Webmaster would like to carry on but it would be great to have the three long-serving officers mentioned above be replaced in the coming year. Please take a look at the Job Descriptions linked at Job Descriptions Nov 2014 and seriously consider helping out. By the way, thanks to Cathy Cormack for taking over the Membership role (which the President had been doing).
Looking forward
It’s been a pleasure to serve as your Club President this year.. Here’s hoping to see you at the Permit Party in Breckenridge in January and somewhere on a river next season.
Look for a 2015 schedule to come out after the January potluck and permit party. Between now and then, let Carol and I know where you’d like to paddle next year – yes, you can help set our paddling agenda!
Keep on paddlin’
Bill Ashworth, RMCC President