To those who are reading a copy of this email from Graham to
Shawn at Blow Me Down ... Shawn makes some good points about the state of
the Reciprocity Agreement between WB and BMD. You may wish to read
his first before reading mine babble below. Or you may say ... they
all too long ... I'm outta here!
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Yes the glory of email .... sorry for the delay Shawn in my
reply ....I'm usually much quicker out of the blocks ... but I Dano
and I had a busy day .. we had to fight icy roads this
a.m. on the way to pick up the groomer in CB ... work at the ski club ...
picking up and dropping off trailer ... going to funeral homes ... the
list is long sure, I didn't even get in for a free ski at BDM today ...
shockin! When your busy, it leaves little time to devote to these
lovely emails ... I think we need a wider audience here so I have bbc: to
the entire Whaleback population because they too may want to listen in on the
RECIPROCITY AGREEMENT and the OPERATIONAL STAFF NOT CARRYING OUT THE WILL OF THE
BOARD AT BMD ..... do I have VOICE ... hope so .... unfortunately I do not
have the BMD mailing list or I would have dearly loved to include them as
well ... and maybe Bill Rowe tomorrow morning .... But I Digress!!
On to the matter at hand ... here goes!
Thanks for the note Shawn ... sorry for ruffling the
feathers at BMD (check below quote) ... my writings, as you may have
observed already might be characterized as having a cavalier,
shoot-from-the-hip style to them and are usually quite free flowing and
sprinkled with grammar and spelling errors .... the spew of sentences and
phrases, often unedited, spend little time beating around the
bush and their content can easily step on toes. While I
never mean to bruise anyone's toe, nor do I wish to offend our
cherished "Neighbours to the North", I am expressing
absolutely what I felt after
Whaleback members experienced a series of rebuffs over the past
two years at the BMD daypass counter.
Personally, I have never taken advantage of the reciprocity
agreement at BMD other than going in to review the race course when I
served as a TD for the Provincials, Atlantics or Marathon. But then again I
was donating my time to check out the course, so it was a free
ride. No that's a lie ... last February I clandestinely rallied 40 WB
skiers together to go in and steal the Loppet trophy away from BMD ... when we
arrived at the desk to register for he loppet @$2. per head, I was told that
there was NO mutual agreement between Whaleback and BMD
and that we would have to pay the day pass fee plus the loppet
fee. "Embarrassed or what!" ..... "NO! NO!" screamed the
Whalebackers ... "Not Fair!" cried the chorus from the background ...
"We're off to give the Pasadena trails a try!" shouted
another. It was hard to maintain control of the crowd
that we refer to out here and over yonder as the Happy Gang. But
then with a blast of arctic air, the double doors gushed open and in
came loppet organizer Keith Payne to our rescue and our wallets were spared the
pain. But alas, we were not spared the humiliation.
So I said to my brethren on the Corner Brook Mount,
just let me drop a letter off to Ian Hutchinson and we'll try to solve the
confusion ... and so it was discussed on high .... problem solved ..... the
board deemed that there had not been, nor would there be a change in the
reciprocity agreement ... and so it was transmitted via copious emails to
the Whaleback Membership, "Show your membership card at Blow-Me-Dow and all will
be well." We thought! But then later in the season of '07, yet
another card-carrying member of WB went up to the BMD wicket and the same
"Who's on First" conversation went on .... by the end of the season I was
frankly very tired of the trickle of criticisms coming in to me
concerning the validity of the reciprocity agreement that I was
broadcasting.
But then late last season (April) I was once again chatting
with Judy May, and she said it had been discussed at the Board and the
agreement was indeed in effect. Whaleback is on First, I
thought. So now let's roll forward to 2008 ... Graham,
with great hesitation, points out to the membership that the
reciprocity agreement is still in effect. One day in late Dec.
'08 several loyal members of Whaleback went into
Corner Brook and they stopped by for a ski at BMD. They
proceeded up to the counter and guess what? "Apparently the agreement
is under review", says the desk staff! They come back to Whaleback
and tell Graham that he should check his facts ... Graham is frustrated ...
Lisa Alexander, who works as an engineer with the Department of
Transportation in Corner Brook drives back and forth to CB daily.
She decides to go for a ski at noon hour one day ... and she receives the
same "agreement under review" commentary. Lisa brought this to my
attention at a meeting in early January.
So Shawn .. yeah, I'm a bit leery and a wee bit tired
of reintegrating that there is an agreement between us, and then
notifying Whalebackers to drop in and visit their friends at BMD
when in Corner Brook because it is embarrassing to me. It looks
like I don't know what I'm talking about. And according
to your operational staff, I don't! And what about the WB skier
who's left standing there with raggedy cap in hand at the desk looking for
a freebee. Darrell and Judy Oram, Keith and Heather Nicol, Judy May,
Keith Payne, Gord Casey, Gord Brewer, Bob Brake, Paul Boland, the
White family (all four were our trails last week) and other
families and friends from BMD come to Whaleback and we welcome them
with open arms ... no questions asked .... yes we are a smaller
operation .. and yes we can be more personal as a result; but everyone in our
entire ski community knows that we allow BMD, and for that matter all
other affiliated clubs in the province, to ski for free at our
club. Are we losing money? No, we're making friends. It
is defacto! Carved in the snow of the 7-11 trails during a boilup, at the
base of Hungary Hill just 8 km west of Gallants in 1988. For those who
were not around in "them days" that was a 77 km tour co-sponsored by
Whaleback and Blow-Me-Down and was designed to foster camaraderie amongst the
club members and to expose skiers to guided backcountry
touring.
So there you have it ... as I say in church ... "sorry for
having offended thee", but it comes from utter frustration. However, if I
read you right .... my frustration with "Who's on First"
is over. You have cleared the air ... I accept how you feel
about my remarks, but that's the way she goes and we may have to agree to have a
difference of opinion ... but hopefully this issue has been put to bed once
and for all. BMD will accept our members provided they
show a current WB membership card and BMD can do the same out
here. But if by chance BMD forget their membership
card when they come to Whaleback .. what odds ... go on boy ... and if
anyone stops you .... just ski on .... Out of
frustration, I think that's what I told the Happy Gang to do at BMD. I
will change the directive to Whaleback Members as per your protocol ...
Whaleback members will present their membership card at the day pass
desk and get the required approval ... and if someone says "the agreement
is under review" pay them your fee and we will apply in writing for a refund
....please retain your valid receipt and make sure it is dated ... sorry I'm off
on a tangent again ... and it's bedtime ... I'm outta hear ... all future
reciprocity agreements can be address to Sir John A.Mac Donald .. too fololish
to take abotu
Yours in skiing,
Graham
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