FW: Bike Doc's this Thursday + update

[Daniel E. Goldberg]

Nordics

 

Please see the attached email from Birkie board member Charlie Dee.  The first section describes the upcoming fundraising event at the Bike Doc.  The second section provides a Birkie update.

 

Feel free to contact Charlie if you want to be added to his distribution list.

 

DEG

 

From: Charlie Dee [mailto:ctd...@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2015 11:38 AM
To: phil johnsrud
Subject: Bike Doc's this Thursday + update

 

Dear Friends and Fellow Skiers,

 

Please feel free to share this with you own contact lists.

 

First, Happy New Year!  It finally looks like winter in Milwaukee.  And so it should, since the Bike Doc's in Dousman (105 North Main Street, Dousman, WI 53118) is hosting a fundraiser for the Birkie Capital Campaign this Thursday night, 6;00 - 9:00. Complimentary beer, wine, food and Doc's soulfully wry lyrics put to music will entertain you.  Plus, there will be a silent auction with an opportunity to win a lifetime VIP parking pass for the Birkie, lifetime free registration, and all kinds of other goodies.

 

Ben Popp will be there to answer any questions you have about the race, its finances or logistics, and your tax-deductible $50 to get in (we hope you end giving more, of course) will go towards the Birkie Capital Campaign to achieve a permanent starting area, improvements at the finish, and insure the continuation of this great race.

 

Here's all the info: http://www.birkie.com/2015/01/12-reasons-why-you-should-catch-birkie-fever-with-the-bike-doc/

 

The Doc can only fit 100 people into the store, so register ahead of time on the above website, and you'll be eligible for a special drawing.  Full disclosure: the event was planned after I had bought a ticket to visit my son in California, so I will  only be there in spirit.  As a result, there will be more beer available for Jeff and Matt Loss.

 

UPDATE

 

There's not a whole lot to report that you don't already know: there's great snow right now on the Birkie Trail, and you need a trail pass to ski on it other than at race times. You can purchase one at the Birkie office in Hayward.

 

Here are some short updates:

 

1. There's still no paper -- either an easement or sale -- of land from the family that purchased Telemark Lodge.  We hope to have one or the other by May 1 so we can start construction of the permanent start with a building that will serve the dual purpose of housing equipment most of the year and serving as a heated oasis for skiers waiting for their wave start.  Allegedly the delay is because there are still potential purchasers of the lodge, something I find hard to believe.

 

2. Director of Race Operations Shellie Milford will be retiring after the 2015 Birkie, as will a number of other long-time employees, so there will be a significant staff turnover in 2015.  Some of the replacement staff has already been hired, and these folks are working in the office now so the transition will be as painless as possible.  If you get Silent Sports Magazine, I've written a profile on Shellie's career with the Birkie that will appear in the February issue. if you don't, please subscribe. 

 

3. You may have volunteered to take the Mayo Clinic health survey sent to Birkie skiers. The results will be released on race weekend.  

 

4. While the Birkie Website has been re-done, it is still a work in progress.  For example, the searchable results options are very limited.  Ben Popp assures me that this will be fixed.  

 

5. Please pay attention to the Birch Scroll description of the changes in parking and traffic for this year's race.  The problems some people had getting to the start last year prompted the staff to re-evaluate, and so some significant changes were made.  

 

Thanks again for electing me to the board.  I'll leave you with a final thought.  I got to attend a Race Chiefs meeting in December at the Sawmill in Seeley.  These are the unpaid volunteers who each have primary responsibility for some aspect of the race, such as a food station, medical care, finish line... I can't convey what a privilege it was to be around these folks.  They get Birkie Fever as strongly as you and I do, but they don't ski the race; they simply make it possible for us to.  

 

Please take the time to thank them whenever you can.  

 

As always, if you have any questions are complaints, please email or call me: 414-559-4667.

 

See you on snow, I hope.

 

Charlie