Last but not least I wish to

thank David Schue for all the

time he has devoted in mak-

ing our Friday Happy Hours

the resounding success story

they have become. Dave has

resigned from this job to take

a position with Donald

Trump as his Social Secretary.

Good luck with that!

David will be replaced (if that

is possible) by Evie Houston,

who will schedule the North

end Happy Hours and Abbe

Tessler who will handle the

South end.

Lastly, I recently returned

from the Gator trip of a life-

time traveling some 190 miles

down the great Colorado

river through the Grand Can-

yon with 15 other Gators led

by the one and only Lin Lam-

bert.

That is enough talky talk for

now. See you next month. It

is good to be a Gator!

Warmest regards;

Rich Wennet

President

Hey, Gators!

Happy 237th BirthDay!

Yes, on July 4th it will be 237

years since the founding of

our country. In addition to

the parades, picnics and fire-

works we should all remem-

ber that freedom isn't free.

We did not become a coun-

try until a great revolutionary

war was fought and won at

great sacrifice by what many

consider to be the first and

foremost generation of

Americans.

Well, June 1st started a new

Gator year with a relatively

new Board of Directors. I

again wish to thank the out-

going Board for their service,

and welcome the incoming

Board.

It will be a great year!

You probably aren't thinking

about snow and skiing in July.

But if you are, why don't you

check out the news from

your new VP of Ski Trips,

Sheri Agnew, to see where

we will be going when it gets

cold.

Some of those trips are going

to be available for sale very

shortly, so it wouldn't hurt to

start thinking about them

now.

I want to welcome Harry

Patat, our new Membership

Director; and yes, Harry was

selected for his charm, grace,

wit, and his dazzling personal-

ity.

I also want to welcome Estela

Basso who is your new Com-

munications Director and to

thank her for accepting a

thankless job. Sharon Gian-

notti will be assisting Estela in

designing a new Website.

Thank you Sharon!

HAPPY 237th YEAR

President’s Message

GATOR TALES J U L Y 2 0 1 3

B O A R D M E M B E R S PRESIDENT Richard Wennet 561.776.7729 rwennet@gmail.com

VP SKI TRIPS Sheri Agnew 561.371.1153 gatroskivp@gmail.com VP SPECIAL ACTIVITIES Connie Flow 561.329.0122 conniemenagh@yahoo.com VP SOCIALS Betty Williams 561.389.8353 msbet-tywilliams@att.net TREASURER Walter Marussich 561.626.0406 gsscmem@comcast.net SECRETARY Tammy Walkoff 772.237.5562 nuwithu@aol.com PAST PRESIDENT Bruce Holtzman 305.206.1200 gatorprez@att.net MEMBER AT LARGE Pam Strickland 561.346.6855 pamilou254@aol.com PAST PRESIDENT LIAISON Paul LaChance 561.775.9848 thegeneral1940@aol.com COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Estela Basso 561.214.1603 webmaster @gatorsnowskiclub.com MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR Harry Patat 772.341.9613 hpatat@earthlink.net PUBLIC RELATIONS AMBASSADOR Evie Houston 561.762.2628 sgjewelers@aol.com

T H E O F F I C I A L M O N T H L Y P U B L I C A T I O N O F T H E

G A T O R S N O W S K I & A C T I V I T I E S C L U B

Next General Membership Meeting: July 11 North Palm Beach Country Club 7pm Social Hour 8 pm Business Meeting

Next Board of Directors Meeting: Wednesday, July 31 7 pm at the Strickland’s home: 3939 N. Ocean Drive, Singer Island

P A G E 2

We want to

attract a new

generation of

skiers and

snowboarders to

insure

sustainability for

our Club.

Do you know a skier or snowboarder 40 or under?

Our new Website is coming along... We have made good progress

in preparing our new website!

Thank you to all that are

providing help and input, and

special THANKS to Sharon

Giannotti for partnering with

me on this project.

It will come online very soon!

Do you have suggestions on its

structure or functionality?

Items that you would like to

see included?

COME FORWARD! Estela Basso

Communications Director

SOME FEATURES OF OUR NEW SITE

FORUM: Where members can discuss topics of interest, with other members

BLOGS: Each of your Board Members can keep you up-to-date on the news from their area of responsibility.

REGISTER FOR EVENTS online and pay as well.

JOIN AND RENEW your mem-bership online.

MEMBERS AREA ONLY pass-word protected area with a searchable Directory and other content.

SURVEYS where members can vote on preferences.

Check us out on Facebook It is a fun place to visit.

Create your own free

Facebook account, then

search for Gator Snow Ski

Club. You can join the group

or just "like us". It has very

nice features to share photos

and comments. Share with

your friends, spread the

word! (and with your

kids...they may be impressed

with you!)

Important Note from Our Treasurer We started our new fiscal year by posting a $5019 loss in reve-nue from last year’s activities. The negative balance was mostly due to an unbudgeted media blitz prior to our annual member-ship picnic and a $3,000 non-refundable deposit from unsold spots on last year’s Danube trip.

Smartours, the vendor the Danube trip, has agreed to hold this $3,000 as a credit. This is credit for the Gator Snow Ski Club and our treasury will be reimbursed if you decide to book a trip with them this year (even if this is a private trip). They have a lot of neat, inexpensive destinations. If you are thinking of booking a trip, please let one of our officers know and we will contact Smar-tours. Our thanks to Smartours for making it possible to miti-gate this loss.

Your new Board has taken positive steps towards insuring a sus-tainable membership: Policy 23, adopted at the June Board meeting, offers a membership discount targeted to a new genera-tion of skiers and snowboarders.

Your new Board also approved policy 24, which deals with tax reporting for service contracts, benefits, and unincorporated ven-dors. This formalizes what should be standard practice.

A new budget for the fiscal year 2013-2014 was also ap-proved. Besides Board benefits, our biggest source of outlays will be CPA expenses needed to correct some inconsistent filing from previous years.

You can request a copy of the Board minutes and attachments for detailed information. Our goal, consistent with our bylaws, is full disclosure.

Walter Marussich, Treasurer

By resolution of your new

Board, Single and Family

Members whose principal

applicant has a documented

age 40 & younger shall be

entitled to a non- transfera-

ble rebate coupon. The val-

ue of the rebate will be ½

the cost of a general mem-

bership.

The rebate coupon may

be applied to any availa-

ble club trip.

G A T O R T A L E S

From your VP Ski Trips, Sheri Agnew

P A G E 3 J U L Y 2 0 1 3

Hello Gators!

Our Trip Leader Application meeting was successfully held before the June’s Gen-eral Meeting. A BIG thank you goes out to all the Gators who came, applied and are stepping up to serve YOU and their club, in giving all of us another Great Gator Ski Season, including our sea-soned Trip Leaders that are offering to mentor new trip leaders in our program.

We still need an Assistant for our FSC-Garmisch trip to Germany, and a Trip Leader for our Trip to Keystone, Col-orado, so if you have been considering helping your Club ~ now is your turn!

The following trips ARE ON SALE now, and taking appli-cations and deposits (you must, of course, be a current Gator Snow Ski Club mem-ber in good standing):

First up is our Early Sea-son Luxury Trip to Vail Colorado, December 7-

14, 2013. 36 Gators will be staying at the Lodge At Vail (a favorite from last season). This package currently in-cludes round trip air from Fort Lauderdale to Denver, round trip transfers from the airport to the resort, a 5 Day lift ticket (with a 6

th available)

and a party package. Your Trip Leader is John Pagli-alungo. For more infor-

mation on pricing and availability contact John at (561) 891-0009 or email him at pagli-alg@comcast.net to reserve your spot now!

Next is FSC-Snowmass, Colorado, January 25-February 1, 2014, Janu-

ary 25-Feburary 1, 2014. Join the Gators & The Florida Ski Council in Snowmass, Colorado. This trip includes round trip air from PBIA into Eagle, ski in/ski out lodging at the Crestwood, round trip transfers, 5 day lift ticket, with a 6

th day available, and

both the FSC & Gator party package! Your Trip Leader is Everett Barber. For more information on pricing & availability contact or email Everett at (561) 215-8704;

email: barbever@msn.com to re-serve your spot today!

Followed by FSC-Park City, Utah, February 22-March 1, 2014. Another

fun-filled trip with the Gators & Florida Ski Council! This trip is going with an exciting “Skier’s Choice” package, that will include round trip air currently out of PBIA into Salt Lake, just a 30 minute trans-fer to the resort and lodging at the Shadow Ridge. The “Skier’s Choice will give you the opportunity to ski Park City, Deer Valley & the Can-yons!! Your Trip Leader is Marie York and her assistant is Kathy Salata. For more information on pricing & availability on this “not the average FSC trip”, contact Marie at (561) 222.1478, or

email:

lifecoach@yorksolutionsllc.com, or Kathy at (561) 346-8461, or email: kathymsalata@gmail.com to reserve your spot today!

And onto FSC-Garmisch, Germany, March 8-14, 2013, for our lovers of Euro-

pean travel. This trip also offers a three day extension to Munich, and is led by Trip Leader: Don Chalaire. Ga-tors will be staying at the 4 star Mecure Hotel, which includes daily breakfast. You can reach Don at (561) 714-3528 or donchal@comcast.net for ALL the specifics on what is going to be a fabulous trip to Germany! Don’t delay….reserve today!

Also upcoming as soon as Trip Leaders are in place, will

be our Budget Trip to Keystone, Colorado, February 2-7, 2014 starting at $799.00!! and our “Adventure Trip” to

the beautiful Schweitzer, Idaho & Red Mountain, British Columbia re-sorts, February 8-16, 2013, for some exciting cat skiing! Stay tuned for up-coming details!

Be sure to check us out on our Gator Snow Ski Club Facebook page for updates on these trips! Comments & suggestions are always wel-come, so please contact me any time!

Until next time, Gator Mates,

Sheri Agnew

VP Ski Trips

Our early

season Vail

trip is

ready for

you to sign

up!

Why ski with a

group, versus on

your own? One

side of the story is

that you might be

able to book a trip a

lot cheaper as an

individual. In

certain

circumstances that

might be true…but

with a group, you

enjoy the

experience of

staying in some of

the best properties

at a resort because

of the discounts,

the group rates for

lift tickets are more

economical and if

that is not reason

enough….there is

the experience of

meeting new

people and making

long lasting

friendships that will

have many great

memories

P A G E 4

Some of our

2013-2014

Ski Season

trips are

already

available

for you to

sign up

Park City, Utah - Ski Trip

Snowmass, Colorado – Ski Trip

The price of this trip is $1,698.00…

includes a 5 out of 6 day lift

ticket; Gator pre-trip party;

Gator dinner; and Gator apres’

skis!

We are ready to sign up now…

Contact John Paglialungo…ho…

561/965-6935; cell..561/891-

0009…paglialg@comcast.net

Hello Gators!! It’s that time

again! We’re going to Vail, Co…Dec

7th-14th…we’re staying at the 4 star

rated Lodge at Vail…

Great accommodations…just steps

to the Village Gondola…rentals close

by…restaurants and shopping a short

walk away…and courtesy transporta-

tion to nearby activities.

We’ll be offering 2BR/2BA units, or

3BR/3BA units….

Mountain Glades! Lots of “après ski” places and live music! Sound familiar to our seasoned skiers? Sound exciting to new skiers? And that is just Snowmass. There is also Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk ski areas close by. Ski in/ski out lodging at the Crest-wood Condos, 2 BR/2 BA units. Five day lift ticket with an option for another ski day! Dinner party just for the Gators. Fly from PBI to Eagle with ground transfer to Snowmass Village.

Jan 25 to Feb 1, 2014

This is the big Florida Ski Council Trip and that means parties, ski racing, hundreds of Florida skiers at one of the Gator’s fa-vorite ski areas! Over 4000’ of vertical with 21 lifts to get you up the mountain and 94 trails spread out over 3300 acres to get you down! Elk Camp! High Alpine! Big Burn! Sam’s Knob! And a new area called Burnt

All the above included for our full trip price of $1990 (subject to change)! More information to fol-low! Fill out your applications and get them to us at the next Club meeting or mail your application and $200 deposit to our Trip Leader, Everett Barber at 8236 So. Elizabeth Ave., Palm Beach Gardens FL 33418. If you have questions, contact Ever-ett at 561-215-8704 or e-mail to barbever@msn.com .

AND Canyons—all within a

few miles of each other. You

can upgrade your lift ticket

to 5 out of 6 for another $53,

and even a 6 out of 6 for an

additional $111. Your expe-

rienced, fun, well-

organized, and savvy trip

leaders are: Marie York

(lifecoach@yorksolutionsllc.c

om) & Kathy Salata

(kathymsalata@gmail.com).

A Florida Ski Council Trip

Feb 22 – Mar 1 $1759 (4

day lift ticket)

The Park City trip includes 7

nights lodging at Shadow Ridge

Condos (just across from the lift),

roundtrip air from PBI to Salt Lake

City, transfers to the resort (a

short 35 minute ride), two FSC

dinners/parties (great fun) plus a

Gator dinner in Park City. This is a

Skier’s Choice package, meaning

you can ski Park City, Deer Valley

G A T O R T A L E S

Vail, Colorado - Ski Trip

Ski Trip to Garmisch, Germany From Trip Leader, Don Chalaire P A G E 5 J U L Y 2 0 1 3

Join the Gators

FSC European Trip

GARMISCH, GERMANY

March 8-14, 2014

Garmisch is a fabulous

European destination for

the GATORS. There is

plenty of skiing and great

day trips with sightseeing

with an abundance of res-

taurants and pubs mixed

in. After visiting

Garmisch, we are doing an

optional 3 day extension

trip to Munich or Ber-

lin. What a great trip this

will be for skiers and non-

skiers alike.

Upon arrival into Munich,

we will bus directly to

Garmisch for an orienta-

tion tour of the two villag-

es. We will visit the Clas-

sic Ski Area, where we can

also take care of the ski

rentals and pass by each of

the FSC hotels so that eve-

ryone will have a better

idea of where they are in

proximity to the village,

their hotel and the ski areas.

Many of us are doing a

post trip extension to Mu-

nich. If not doing the post

trip extension, we can do a

day tour there from

Garmisch.

Skiing: Access to skiing

is within 15-20 minutes of

our hotel using the ski bus

or train. There are two

different ski areas. The

‘Classic’ area will provide

adequate skiing for two

full days. Garmisch’s big-

gest ski draw is the Zug-

spitze, the highest point in

Germany. It is accessed

by a scenic cogwheel train

or cable car and enjoyable

in itself. The top views

are fabulous.

Ski area Garmisch-Classic

- Scene of FIS Ski World

Championships 2011 and

annual FIS Ski World Cup

Race with famous Kanda-

har Slope

- 3 connected ski moun-

tains with about 25 miles

(40 km) of slopes

- 3 cable cars, 13 lifts, 5

snow-covered ski runs into

the valley

Ski area Glacier Zugspitze

- Highest mountain of Ger-

many with about 10,000

feet (almost 3,000 m)

- Glacier ski area with

about 15 miles (22 km) of

slopes

- 2 cable cars – 1 cogwheel

train, 5 lifts

Hotel: Our lodging is a 4

star hotel with ample Ba-

varian flavor, an experi-

ence of genuine Bavarian

ambiance. Bring your

220V adapters. A full

breakfast at the hotel every

day is included.

Day Trips: Tour and

hike to the top of the

Olympic Ski Jump. Walk

through the Partnach

Gorge, very impres-

sive. The path is cut down

inside the gorge and is

very narrow in places. It

is possible to arrive by

horse drawn carriage and a

nice restaurant is nearby

for lunch. Both these are

right in Garmisch. Other

day trips by bus include

Oberammergau, the Pas-

sion Play Theater, Ettal

Monastery, King Ludwig’s

Linderhof Castle,

Neuschwanstein, Munich

and more. Non-skiers

would have plenty to do

with multiple options.

The Base Trip price is

about $2500, with the Mu-

nich extension for $450

extra. Let

me know.

Don

Chalaire-

Garmisch

Trip Leader

561-714-

3528

donchal@comcast.net

Our early

season Vail

trip is

ready for

you to sign

up!

View from the Zugspitze

Garmisch’s

biggest ski

draw is the

Zugspitze,

the highest

point in

Germany. It

is accessed

by a scenic

cogwheel

train or cable

car and

enjoyable in

itself. The

top views are

fabulous!.

Social Activities From VP of Socials, Betty Williams

P A G E 6 J U L Y 2 0 1 3

Get ready for the fourth with the Gators at Roger Dean Ballpark, on Wednesday July 3rd. Join us for the ballgame, tribute to Billy Joel and some great fireworks. Thank you Rick Pahl for organizing it. Next get ready to bowl at Verdes Tropicana Bowling Lanes, Friday July 12th 6-10 pm. Thanks to our wonderful new Gators, Nina and Doro-thy who did a wonderful job of putting it together. Last but not least is our Raft Up at Peanut Island on July 13th. Come join us with or without a raft. Enjoy all your Happy Gators swim, snorkel or check out some of our Gator Boats. It is a fun time for everyone. Bring your sunscreen. See you there! Betty Williams VP Social Activities

July 3rd

Baseball - Fireworks - Live Music Billy Joel Tribute

Band

Roger Dean Stadium

Jupiter Game Jupiter Hammerheads

vs St. Lucie Mets at 6 pm, Fireworks at approx. 9 pm. All the while listen to live

Billy Joel tribute band. $5.50

Organizer:

Rick Pahl 7690 Hoffy Circle

Lake Worth, FL 33467 561.667.0515

miamo777@comcast.net

July 12

Let the good times roll... Have a fun night of bowling with the Gators!

Prizes will be awarded for the Winning Team, Most Creative Handicap Excuse and Best Costume Including Hats! Costumes are encouraged but not required. $16 per person if bowling

(includes 3 games, shoes, balls and 1 free drink)

FREE if you are just coming to hang out with us! Verdes Tropicana Bowling Lanes 2500 N Florida Mango Rd West Palm Beach FL 33409 Organizers: Nina 561.202.4399 namodia @related.com Dorothy 561.964.0243 drettay@yahoo.com

July 13th

Peanut Island Raft-Up

From NOON on Peanut Is-land. If you do not have a boat, there is a water taxi. Fellow gators with boats will be shuttling back and forth as well.

Come and join us with or without a raft. Swim, snor-kel, bring your kayaks, check out your fellow Gator boats. Bring your food, drinks, mu-sic and do not forget your-sunscreen! Contact:

Ray Flow

561.358.3285

mrduderancher@yahoo.com

UPCOMING HAPPY HOURS

July 5th - The Grumpy Grouper, Lantana

224 N 3rd St #5, Lantana, FL 33462

July 12th - VerdesTropicana Bowling Lanes, West Palm Beach

2500 N Florida Mango Rd West Palm Beach

July 19th - Carmine's Ocean Grill, Palm Beach Gardens

2401 PGA Blvd Ste 160 Palm Beach Gardens

July 26th - Carrabba's Italian Restaurant, North Palm Beach

11201 US Hwy 1 North Palm Beach

Come to our Social and Special Activities Planning Meeting:

Always the first Monday of the month at 7 pm at Tall Tales (inside Gander Mountain)

Bring your ideas and we will make them happen! Next meeting: August 5, 2013

Special Activities From VP of Special Activities, Connie Flow

P A G E 7 J U L Y 2 0 1 3

Please come to our next Social and Special Activities Planning Meeting at Tall Tales (inside Gander Mountain in North Palm Beach) on August 5 at 7 pm.

This meeting is always the 1st Monday of each month, at the same location and time. All are invited! Share your ideas with us. We will try to make it happen! Tall Tales offers good food at reasonable prices. We munch while we plan.

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES in the plan-ning :

RIVER RANCH Nov 14-15

FANTASY FEST Oct 26

SPRING LAKE GOLF Labor Day weekend

BASEBALL: MARLINS GAME trip

HARD ROCK CAFÉ trip

DISNEY VISITS for HALLOWEEN AND CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS PAGEANT FORT LAUDERDALE

DAYTONA 500 trip

Please sign up as “interested” at our Next General Meeting, so we can better plan!

Thanks

Connie Flow

VP Special Activities

Grand Canyon Rafting Report from Trip Leader Lin Lambert

An adventure we will reflect upon for the rest of our lives!

Our days were filled with expe-riencing a natural wonder of the world, the Grand Canyon, from the bottom up. Awesome hikes, over rocks and along ledges, scenic swimming holes, magnificent water falls, beauti-ful unbelievable scenery, amaz-ing stars and constellations in the night sky, and the thrill of the sound of the next approaching rapid.

A 12 - 16 foot drop into the whitewater and a ride of your life.

Our skilled guides, JP and Chel-sea were the best and will al-ways be in our hearts when we reminisce about this trip in the years to come. I want to thank all “River Rats” for being part of this trip as it will always be one of my most treasured adven-tures. Is this trip on your buck-et list? To view our pictures/videos go to www.flickr.com

Sign in under yahoo, user name: grandcanyon13

password dammit13

Upper left click "you" photos/videos will appear.

Life is a GREAT adventure.

Lin Lambert, Trip Leader

Come to our Social and Special Activities Planning Meeting:

Always the first Monday of the month at 7 pm at Tall Tales (inside Gander Mountain)

Bring your ideas and we will make them happen! Next meeting: August 5, 2013

Some of the possible names dis-

cussed were (no particular order):

Palm Beach Ski Club

Palm Beach Gator Ski Club

Gator Snow Ski and Activities

Club of the Palm Beaches

and many more…

Some of you may have other won-

derful name ideas, some of you

may want to keep our

name as it is.

In our new Website, there will be

a forum where all members can

At our last General Meeting, I

presented the initiative originated

by various members, for a possi-

ble name change for our Club.

Most other Ski Clubs have in-

cluded their geographical affilia-

tion in their names. Are we miss-

ing out by keeping the prestigious

Palm Beach name out of ours?

discuss this topic.

There will also be a Sur-

vey area where you will

be able to vote on which

name you prefer. You will

be able to vote only once.

Do let us know... Pam Strickland Member at Large

A Gator By Any Other Name...

July 2013 Calendar