Hawaii Ski Club – November

    President – Geof Chu – 330-7432
    Vice President – James Purvis
    Secretary - Anita Hodges, 486-8667
    Treasurer - Wanda Sowell – 487-7485
    Ross Kuraya
    Aaron Setogawa
    Toby Kravet – 224-1065
    Wanda "Wandi" Sagum
    Linda Giers
    Sylvia “Sam” Wright
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   Club Historian
    Jo Yee
   Newsletter Editor
    Toby Kravet

Every Monday evening (except on holidays): 4:30 P.M. A group of ski club members and their friends play tennis at Keehi Lagoon courts, off Lagoon Drive. Stay in shape, and share refreshments afterwards!

August 23, (Saturday): Annual pool party and wine tasting at the Hodges' "manor." Details below.

September 4, (Thursday): 5:30 P.M. General Membership Meeting at Sam Snead's Tavern (Navy-Marine Golf Course, Valkenburgh St.--Across the the Airport). Possible speaker at this meeting: Stay tuned.

September 11, (Thursday): 5:30 P.M. Board Meeting. Mexico Restaurant, 1247 N. School St. (Approximately 250 feet Diamond Head of the corner of N. School and Houghtailing Sts. Unlike previous venues for our Board Meetings, this is BYOB.

September 12, (Friday): 5:30 PM Pau Hana at Pearl Ultralounge, Ala Moana Center.

October 2, (Thursday): 5:30 P.M. Annual General Membership "Kick-Off-Meeting" at Sam Snead's Tavern. Food, for this grand occasion, is "on the Club." Please R.S.V.P. to Anita, (see Contacts) so that we can get a headcount for the food order.

October 16, (Thursday) : 5:30 P.M. Board Meeting. (Note that this is the third rather than the second Thursday) Location TBA.

October 18 (Saturday): 8:30 AM. Hike on upper Tantalus trails. Meet at the "top parking lot," the confluence of Tantalus and Round Top Drives. Details below.

October 31 (Friday--Halloween): 7:00 P.M. Costume party, pot luck, and wine bottling at Wine, The Experience, 1016 Kapahulu Avenue. Details below.

November 23, (Sunday): The Ski Club's traditional, pot luck, Pre-Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner. Location TBA.

As summer winds down and fall begins we have a few events that yearly bring out members. Our Annual Pool Party/Wine Contest @ The Hodges at the end of August and Super Ferry Trip mark the end of summer and the start of another UH Football Season.

The Board has done some minor housekeeping on the club By-Laws and the revisions will be distributed to the membership prior to the September General Meeting. The revisions will be voted on at the meeting.

Membership has swelled this year partly due to those of you who joined in order to participate in Ski Week 2009 in Japan. The club has a lot to offer other than Ski Week, and your dues subsidize prizes and refreshments for many other events. Therefore, I hope to see you all at future events. If not, the club says MAHALO.

Aloha,

HAWAII SKI CLUB'S ANNUAL END-OF-SUMMER CELEBRATION AND POOL PARTY
August 23 (Saturday) 4:30 PM

Enjoy the final days of summer AND lots of great food and WINE- Share time with old and new friends - Swim in the pool - Relax in the hot tub

This is one of the club's best-attended and most enjoyable activities each year, so make sure you and friends join these festivities!. Guests are welcome.

WINE TASTING EVENT: Prizes awarded to the winners of the best white and best red wines. Everyone can taste the wines and vote on their favorite. However, if you wish to qualify for a prize for the best red and/or best white wine, you must bring a bottle of wine for the tasting. The red and white wines with the most votes both win a prize for the person who brought that wine.

RETURN OF A CROWD FAVORITE: Wanda's chocolate dessert fountain. More chocolate was consumed last year than anything else (except wine) !!!!!

TIME: 4:30 - 8:30 Wine Tasting begins at 5:30 so have your wine there at the beginning of this event

Directions from town: take the Aiea/Pearlridge exit on either H1 or Moanalua Freeway; turn right on Ka’onohi Street; right on Iho Place; and left on Palula Way)

WHAT TO BRING: a potluck dish, drinks, a lawn chair, bathing suit, towel, and of course, a bottle of red or white wine for the wine tasting event.

The Ski Club supports responsible drinking and driving: PLEASE DESIGNATE A DRIVER WHO WILL NOT BE CONSUMING ALCOHOL DURING THIS EVENT. If not, we will be happy to call a taxi for you at the end of this event.

Join us for a pau hana at the Pearl Ultralounge on Friday, September 12th. Enjoy the fabulous decor, built at a cost over $2 million, and tasty $5 martinis and other hand-crafted cocktails. Other happy hour prices are $2 Steinlagers, $3 well drinks, $3 domestic or imported beers, $2 off wines by the glass, and $5 pupus. We'll be there from 5:30 on (happy hour is from 4:30 - 8:00). The Pearl is located at Ala Moana Shopping Center, Ho'okipa Terrace, 3rd floor, downstairs from Macaroni Grill. Plenty of parking: go up to the 3rd level parking, Macy's/Shirokiya end, and park down at the Ewa end (Nordstroms). The Pearl is at the base of the escalators.

There's still time to take advantage of the Superferry's low summer promotional fare and join us for a weekend on Maui, Sept. 20-21. So far, over ten members have signed up for the trip. With the cost of inter-island airfare rising, the Superferry's promotional fare of $49 one way for Adults and $65 one way for passenger vehicles, with no fuel surcharge, can't be beat! For children (2-12yrs), seniors (62yrs+), and retired military, the fare is only $39 one way. And with free use of Geof Chu's condos in Kahului and car pooling to and from the departure pier, there will never be a better opportunity to enjoy an inexpensive weekend on the Valley Isle. A visit to Ali'i lavender farm in Kula, exploring Haleakala National Park, and eating at some of the tastiest restaurants on Maui are just some of the activities planned. Email Aaron, (see Contacts), by August 18th if you want to join us.

Work off your Friday night sins and start your blood flowing for the rest of the weekend with a little Saturday morning tune-up on the upper Tantalus trails. We will leave from the small parking lot where Tantalus Drive meets (or becomes) Round Top Drive at 8:30 A.M., hike up the Puu Ohia Trail to the top, go down the back side to the Manoa Cliffs Trail, hike out to Round Top Drive, approximately a mile down from where we started, and walk the road back to our cars. There will be some ocean views near the top and views of Manoa Valley from the Manoa Cliffs Trail. To get to the start, go one block mountain direction on Makiki St. from Nehoa St. where you will find a triangle shaped park with a Board of Water Supply pumping station. Go up the right side of the park to the intersection with Round Top Drive on the left, and take Round Top Drive 5.2 miles to the top. You can also go up the left side of the park on Makiki Heights Drive, past the Contemporary Museum to the intersection with Tantalus Drive, and turn right on Tantalus Drive to the top. This way, the distance is 4.9 miles from the park at the bottom. The top parking lot is small so I would suggest car pooling. Also there are two or three turnoffs with room for cars on Tantalus Drive just below (Ewa side of) the parking lot. The hike is 2.5 miles in length, of moderate difficulty, and should take us about 1.25 to 1.5 hours. We might hit some muddy spots so don't wear your new, white sneakers. I can't see anyone getting lost on their way to the start but, just in case, I'll have my cell phone with me: 224-1065.

Last year was so much fun we are doing it again! We will have a combination wine bottling (one white, one red), costume party, and potluck/pupu party at “Wine, The Experience: 1016 Kapahulu Avenue Suite 1, Honolulu, HI 96816 - (808) 738-0738 - http://www.winetheexperience.com . For the paltry fee of $10. 00, everyone will receive a gourmet bottle of wine and compete for best costume prizes. Afterwards, the adventurous will head to Waikiki for continued Halloween craziness that only happens once-a-year!

JAMES

Did you know?? The Niseko ski resort is located in an area rife with natural mineral hot springs and pools. There are so many that it's said to take six days to visit them all even if you bathe three times a day! The Onsen, or spa, will be an experience for us all. It's called a warm blessing from the earth, giving calmness and rest. But I don't know how "calm" you will be if you are not prepared for this experience.

Onsen Etiquette

1. Be naked. Swimsuits are inappropriate and dirty. You are supposed to clean everything, and a swimsuit implies you left the areas under it unwashed. It's a relaxing bath. Nobody is judging you.

2. Get clean. When you enter the onsen, walk to the cleaning area full of buckets. Wash the seat first and sit. Wash everything on your body, including your hair. Spend as long as you can, convincing everyone you are immaculate.

3. Be polite. If you are with a friend, talk quietly. Smiling, bowing your head, and returning conversation are normal.

4. Use of the modesty towel. This teeny face towel may make you feel better as you walk from the wash area to the pool, but it really doesn't cover much. After entering the pool, you may put it on your head and then use it to dry as you step out. Wring out water outside the pool.

5. Check out pool. Some may be for members or people who pay extra. Make sure someone lets you know. Also, the water is HOT, so enter carefully. No splashing.

Check out this web site for pictures and instructions: http://www.galenfrysinger.com/onsen_japan.htm

Approximately twelve intrepid ski club members braved tourists and traffic on what could have otherwise been a lazy Sunday afternoon to check out Rumfire at the Sheraton Waikiki. Jo started off the occasion with a trip and fall on the stairs by the bar leading into the lounge. Some suspected she had gotten an early start on the libations, but those of us who know her are sure that she was making the most of the opportunity to flirt with the manager, the assistant manager, and the risk manager who rushed to her aid, hung on and wrote down every word from her mouth describing the incident, and took numerous photographs of the scene of destruction. Yes: Jo ultimately turned out to be O.K. Then, as the rest of the party lounged on the luxurious cushioned stools and enjoyed the beach scenes through the plate glass windows, Robert and Toby temporarily disappeared to the nearby Sand Bar to, hopefully, watch Colt Brennan in his debut with Washington: Robert was on time to see one of the two touchdown passes; Toby was late and needed repeated corroboration that Robert wasn't pulling his leg about Colt's success. In all, the service, the food, the panache of the venue and, of course, the company, all lived up to expectations.

Craig Shaffer has an unused size 141 snowboard for sale. $250.00. Craig may be contacted at 261-5989.

Contributions from the membership to future newsletters are encouraged and will be greatly appreciated: Please e mail them to Toby (see Contacts) no later than 7 calendar days from the end of the month. Thanx much.