Aspiring Birchleggers! Please Read This Letter from Birchleggings Club President Gale Otterholdt!

Birchleggings Club Annual Meeting and Board of Directors Election - September 28, 2018

Birchleggings Club Annual Meeting and Board of Directors Election

The Birchleggings Club Inc annual meeting with election of Board of Directors will be held in Hayward on Friday, Sep 28, 2018 at the Birchleggings Club Hut at Mosquito Brook at 3 pm. All members are welcome to attend. 

Timetable for upcoming Annual Meeting and Board of Directors Election

1. Aug 25, 2018 Non-incumbent nominations for Board of Directors due (to Tom Rowley)

    2. Aug 31, 2018 Ballots mailed / emailed to all members

    3. Sep 18, 2018 Deadline for returning ballots if voting by mail / email

    4. Sep 28, 2018 Annual Birchleggings Club Inc Meeting in Hayward, WI

The Birchleggings Club has been incorporated as a 501(3)(c) since 2013.  The election of Board of Directors members takes place at the annual meeting.   As per our Bylaws, Board members are elected to three-year terms, with one-third of the nine Board positions up for election each year. The Board terms of current Directors Jim Tenorio, Tom Rowley, and Gale Otterholt will end this year. All three incumbent Board members are running for re-election. However, nominations of other Birchlegger members to run for our Board are welcome.  Or if you know a Birchlegger member whom you think would be an asset to our organization, encourage them to be nominated.

Nomination process for non-incumbent members to be elected to the Board of Directors

All non-incumbent nominations for the Board of Directors must be presented in writing to the Nominating Committee by Aug 25, 2017.  The nomination must be signed by the nominator and the nominee, both of whom must be members, and five (5) other members.  The current list of Birchleggings Club members is posted on our website – birchleggings.com. 

To avoid having to send a chain letter around to all the signature members, all 5 signatures need not be on the same piece of paper.  Rather, a member can print their name and sign a piece of paper.   Include on the top of the page, the nominator name and the nominee’s name.  Mail to Tom Rowley.  If you are having trouble completing the process by Aug 25, please let us know.

Questions to Tom Rowley or Dave Balsiger.

Mail the nominations to:

Tom Rowley

13384N Red Birch Lane

Hayward WI 85432

tomrowley_efr@yahoo.com         dbalsiger@aol.com

Ballots will be mailed / emailed to all members on Aug 31. Ballots must be returned by Sep 18,  or you can vote in person at the annual meeting.  No proxy voting.

Jack Moin is our 2018 Tony Wise Birkie Spirit Award Recipient and More Birchleggings Club Lists Updated!

Jack Moin is our 2018 Tony Wise Birkie Spirit Award Recipient. Below is the introduction of Jack that Birchleggings Club Board Member, Steve Carmazon, gave at the Birchleggings Club Awards Breakfast on February 25, 2018.

"The Tony Wise Birkie Spirit Award is given out by the Birchleggings Club to those our Board has deemed have made an outstanding contribution to the growth and development of the American Birkebeiner and the sport of cross country skiing.

It's named after the American Birkebeiner founder, Tony Wise, for his vision in starting both the Birkie, Korte, Worldloppet, and developing the Birkie trail.

Tony may have paid for the building of the Birkie trail, but he didn't design it. He, (if you'll pardon the pun), wisely hired two great trail designers over time, who gave us what we know today as the skate trail. Those designers are Sven Wiik, and Marty Hall, both who received this award in 2010, and, as far as I know, were paid for their trail design work.

Fast forward thru history, as skiing technique evolved, what started out as a classic race, soon became a skating race, forcing classic skiers to share the trail, and, overtime, the numbers of classic skiers dropped. That didn't sit very well with former ABSF Executive Director Ned Zuelsdorff, who began asking for a separate parallel classic trail. He was, as you might guess, met with considerable opposition, but, fortunately found two like minded supporters, caught his vision.

The first, was one of our own, fellow Birchlegger, David G. Nelson, who had thirty years experience in the woods with Topo Maps, compass, and eventually GPS, as a Forester. He was joined by today's recipient, and these three, quickly became like the Three Amigos, spending countless hours in the woods. They used Topo Maps, etc., flagging, and reflagging 3-4 times, in their efforts to get it perfect, for what would be the first 9km section of what would be three sections of the classic trail, over a period of three years, to get the classic trail flagged and built from the start to County road OO. I should add that Ned did this in his spare time, apart from his job as ABSF executive director.

None of these three were paid for their countless hours of very hard flagging and design work!
Their work done, before the loggers could come in to remove the trees, the stump removal crew to do their job, the excavators to do the bulldozer work, and finally many hours of rock picking, final discing and grading to have a trail suitable for skiing. All three of them are truly perfectionists!

For his efforts, David G. Nelson, who acted as the "Classic Trail Evangelist", in his fervor to get the classic trail done to OO, and his further trail design way past that, was awarded the Tony Wise Birkie Spirit Award in 2012, two years before his passing. I want to contrast David to today's recipient, the "Silent behind the scenes partner".

A number of people that attended Davids Hayward memorial service are in the audience today.
They can attest that among Davids trophies was his Tony Wise Birkie Spirit Award, and he was so proud of his 31 Birkies that his truck license plate was "31 Birkie".

Today's recipient told me a story at that memorial service that gives a snapshot of the efforts these two volunteers put into their classic trail flagging design work. It was on the 3rd section of the trail on a hot spring day, the mosquitoes were attacking, Dave and today's recipient were soaked with sweat, worse, covered with ticks, and even worse, out of water, deep in the woods about a mile north of OO, one looked at the other and said, "who is going to carry who to OO?!

It's been 6 years since David Nelson received this award, and today it's his "silent partners" turn.
On behalf of the Birchleggings Club Board of Directors, it's my honor to announce the recipient of the 2018 Tony Wise Birkie Spirit Award as Jack Moin!"

The Birchleggings Club Alpha Roster, Demographics, and Rank Roster have been updated! See Birchleggers List menu item on the left or go to this link http://www.birchleggings.com/p/membership-lists.html.

Photographs from the 2018 Birkie and Lists Updated!

Photos from the 2018 Birkie have been posted at this link http://ow.ly/EE0x30iMmjF. The following lists have also been updated. Birchleggings Club Members; 20, 30, and 40 Year Awards; and Birchleggers in Memoriam. See Birchleggers List menu item from the left or go to this link http://www.birchleggings.com/p/membership-lists.html.

Birchleggings Club Breakfast - Sunday, February 25, 2018

The Birchleggings Club Breakfast will be on Sunday, February 25, 2018 from 09:00am to 11:00am at The Steakhouse & Lodge located off of Route 27 just south of Hayward.







The Breakfast Buffet is $12 and includes:

Scrambled Eggs
Sausage & Ham
Biscuits & Gravy
Waffles
Mini Danish
Orange Juice - Cranberry Juice - Milk - Coffee

The address, telephone number, and GPS Coordinates of The Steakhouse & Lodge are:

15860 T Bone Lane
Hayward, Wisconsin 54843
715-934-4411
GPS: 46.002553, -91.486228

Questions?
Tom Rowley -
Tomrowley_efr@yahoo.com
 612-889-7222

See you there!

Membership Drive 2018 Winners Announced!

2018 Birchlegger Membership Drive Winners

The following Birchleggings Club members have won prizes in our random drawing:

2019 Birkie Registration - Erik Johanson

2018 Race Day Parking Permit - Matt Bratager
2018 Race Day Parking Permit - Sam Moore



Choice of T-shirt, Ski Hat, or Ball Cap:

Daniel Anderson
Mark Berens
Joan Cervenka
Jim DeRoma
Paul Erickson
Marvin Franson
Mark Gherty
Mary Menk
Mark Ogren
Jeff Patterson
Kurt Schroeder
Ralph Thornton
Peter Vorhes
David Wedl
Scott Williams

Congratulations !

Birchleggings Club endorses Climate Action and Sponsors the Saving Snow Documentary

At our annual Birchleggings Club meeting this past October 2017 the board voted to endorse climate action and to sponsor the 53 minutes documentary Saving Snow filmed last year at the cancelled Birkie 2017. Any skier, club, organization or business can endorse either of the actions by filling out the form and joining over 1,500 other endorsors.

After last year’s Birkie cancellation many skiers realized that healthy winters can’t be taken for granted anymore. Ben Popp said it best with his statement about why he is concerned and encourages skiers to attend the screenings of Saving Snow.

“Saving Snow brings to life the reality’s we face if we don’t start to take climate change seriously at the policy level.  I love snow, I love what it enables, I hope it is here like it should be for my grandkids!”

The 53 minute documentary that focuses on the economic impact of warming winters in NW Wisconsin and 7 other states will be shown  3 times during Birkie week at the Park Center on Main St in Harvard. (15791 Hwy 163). Following the film there will be a panel discussion with Birkie skiers, business owners and concerned citizens discussing action steps that skiers and their community can take.

Tickets for the film are $5 and can be purchased at the theater before the show or on line.

As a special treat this year Diogo Castro Frerie, the director of Saving Snow, will be coming to the Birkie to introduce his film, to ski the Prince Haakon and to speak at the Birchlegging breakfast on Sunday morning. As of this writing Saving Snow is scheduled to be screened in over 170 locations around the country. You and your community can host your own screening and discussion by signing up at this link.

Other skiers and organizations  connected to the Birkie that have endorsed action on climate include:

American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation

Ben Popp- Executive Director ABSF

Dennis Kruse- Board Member ABSF

Caitlin Gregg- US Olympic Team 2014 and 4 time Women’s Birkie Champ

Brian Gregg- US Olympic Team 2014

New Moon Ski and Bike Shop

Cool Planet Skiers- Member ABSF

Current Olympic Team member Jessie Diggins has endorsed taking action to solve the problem by endorsing a Carbon Fee and Dividend Policy recommended by the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. This policy enacted by Congress would place a fee on carbon pollution at the source (mine, well, port of entry) and return the collected fees to American households as a monthly dividend.

Birchleggings Club Membership List Has Been Updated!

The Birchleggings Club Membership List has been updated as of January 17, 2018! See the Birchlegger Lists Menu to the left or go directly to the list by clicking on this link Birchleggings Member List as of January 17, 2018.

Show Off Your Seasoned Skis by Donating Them to Decorate the Mosquito Brook Warming Hut!

Show Off Your Seasoned Skis

Our rest hut at Mosquito Brook will be getting some finishing touches.

The Birchleggings Club is funding the construction of the cabin. Now through the generosity of the Tony Wise Museum of the American Birkebeiner, and our club, posters, photos, and awards have been donated to furnish the hut.

You can also leave your mark on the décor and inspire future Birchleggers. 

The Birchleggings Club invites members to help decorate the cabin. There is space in the hut to display up to 24 pairs of Birkie-worn skis, donated exclusively from our members. We are looking for your veteran skis, especially skis with lots of Birkie-race stickers. Skis will be mounted securely and permanently in the cabin rafters. First come, first mounted!

How to donate your skis:

Dig out those old skis that carried you through your first, or second, or even third decades of Birkebeiner ski races. We hope the skis will have at least one set of Birkie-race stickers, but multiple-race-sticker skis are encouraged and will have a powerful impact on display.

Contact Jim Tenorio, board member, at: tenorioj@uwstout.edu to make arrangements for sending/delivering the skis for display.

Help us preserve your legacy of races and make our rest cabin a warm, friendly, and inspiring showpiece on the trail!

Crew Installs Ski Rack, Coat Hangers, and Mounted Pictures at the Mosquito Brook Warming Hut!

President Gale, Steve, and Jim in Front of the new Ski Rack

Birchleggings Board Members, Gale Otterholt, Steve Carmazon, and Jim Tenorio installed the new Birchleggings Ski Rack, Coat Hangers, and mounted pictures at the Mosquito Brook Warming Hut on January 2, 2018. Special thanks to Jon Malkerson, a friend of Steve for assisting with all the work.

A big thanks to Gale, Steve, Jim, and Jon for all the work to make the Birchleggings Club gift of the Mosquito Brook Warming Hut to the American Birkebeiner Foundation even more special!

Jon, Jim, and Steve Hard at Work

Steve Trying out the new Ski Coat Hangers

Steve, Jim, and Gale in Front of the Mosquito Brook Warming Hut

The Birchleggings Club also sends a big THANK YOU to the Tony Wise Museum of the American Birkebeiner for providing the posters and the photos that now decorate the warming cabin.