December 2022 Update Letter from the President!

Download the Letter in PDF Format with Active Links: December 2022 Update Letter from the President!

Birchleggings Club Supports Birkie Green!

 

The Birchleggings Club is committed to the Birkie Green initiative. The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation community, the care for the Birkie trail and the health of winter itself are all essential elements of that commitment. See our Birkie Green Page on the menu or at this link:

https://www.birchleggings.com/p/birkie-green.html

New Birchlegger Awards for 20, 30, and 40 Year Finishers!

The new Birchleggings Club Awards have been completed and will be ready for those receiving awards in 2022!

The new awards were requested by the board of directors. Working with Louise Droessler, Birkie Enterprises Retail Manager, the board relayed their desire for a crystal-look award that would grow progressively larger from 20 to 30 to 40 years. Louise worked with Apple Awards of Hayward and these designs were approved by the board after some input. Thanks to board member, Jim Tenorio for his assistance in coordinating these beautiful new awards. Note: Bob Bennett's name on the award was used for showing how the name plate would look.

New Birchleggings Logo and Banners!

We have a new Birchleggings Logo and Banner to use. A big thanks to the following on both projects!

Logo:

Kate Barido, Marketing and Communications Director at ABSF, initiated the design revisions for our logo. Jim Tenorio provided about 20 idea sketches to assist in the development. The creation of the working design files was done by Blair Flickinger, ABSF Marketing and Communications Coordinator. Each of several renditions made by Blair were reviewed by Gale Otterholt, Jim Tenorio, and Paul Thompson of Birchleggings Club before going to the club board of directors for final approval.

 

 

 

Banner:

Using the existing Birchleggings Club banner as a starting point, Jim Tenorio updated the design with the new club logo and a fresh photo of the newly-stained Mosquito Brook Hut. The wording on the banner was also updated with input from the club board of directors and from Kate Barido at the ABSF. The new banners will be used for the Birchleggings Club booth at the Birkie Expo and will be displayed on the Mosquito Brook Hut during the Birkie-week races. We have both small and large versions.

Thank You to Gale Otterholt!

A huge thanks to Gale Otterholt, who has served as the President of the Birchleggings Club since 2012. Gale stepped down at the January 14, 2022, board meeting but will remain on the board through September 2024. Paul Thompson was elected the new president, and he will be joined by Bob Britz, as Vice President, Jim Tenorio, as Secretary, and Dave Balsiger, as our continuing Treasurer.

Gale has served as the President since the club was incorporated and has been the guiding force through a number of exciting new projects for the club, as well as serving as the liaison with the American Birkebeiner Foundation! Thank you, Gale!

Birchleggings Club Mosquito Brook Hut Receives New Exterior Stain!

 

A huge thanks to Birchleggings Board Member, Connie Meek, for staining the exterior of the Birchlegging Club Mosquito Brook Hut this October! Great job Connie, and the hut has never looked better and ready for the American Birkebeiner in February 2022!

Birchleggings Club Annual Meeting and New Board Members!

The Annual Meeting of the Birchleggings Club was held at the Birchleggings Mosquito Brook Warming Hut on September 24, 2021, on the Birkie Trail. Before the Meeting Jim Tenorio, with help from Steve Carmazon, Edward Eroe, and Paul Thompson installed three sets of cross country skis in the ceiling and wall. Two of the pairs of skis were from our deceased board member Cheryl Hiltibran to honor her memory. The third pair was from current board member Paul Thompson, in honor of his recent 40th Birkie. Also, before the meeting started, much admiration and appreciation was extended to board member Connie Meek, for her incredible solo progress in staining the exterior walls of the hut a beautiful light blue again. Thank you, Connie!

Those present were President Gale Otterholt, newly elected Vice President James Tenorio, Webmaster & Social Media Coordinator Edward Eroe, Secretary Steve Carmazon, Connie Meek, and Paul Thompson. Missing was newly elected board member Ralph Bovard. Treasurer Dave Balsiger, and newly appointed replacement for the last year of Cheryl Hiltibran tenure, was Bob Britz, both of whom attended virtually. Special guests were Birchleggings Club Founder John Kotar, and American Birkebeiner Foundation COO Joe Vadeboncoeur and Development Director Andrew Wall.

The discussion with Joe and Andrew was centered around a Trademark Licensing Agreement between the American Birkebeiner Foundation and the Birchleggings Club spelling out the use of the American Birkebeiner name on the Birchlegger Awards and other duties and responsibilities of both parties. After much discussion the document was formally signed by Joe on behalf of the American Birkebeiner Foundation and Gale on behalf of the Birchleggings Club. Joe and Andrew also updated some initiatives of the Foundation. They include Telemark Development, extending the Birkie Brand for Ski, Bike, Run, and Live, the Birkie One initiative around equity, diversity, inclusivity, gender, race, and underserved populations, Birkie Green initiatives including new Birkie Bibs made of recycled plastic bottles and new solar arrays.

The recent Birchleggings Club Board of Directors election was officially announced, as well as a special appointment to the board, which has resulted in a change of membership on the board. Per the bylaws of the club, one third of the nine directors are elected each year. This year, re-elected to the board were two incumbent board members - Jim Tenoria and Gale Otterhold, and also a non-incumbent member - Ralph Bovard. Ralph is a veteran of 24 Birkies and was our first lifetime member. A big thanks to Tom Rowley, who is leaving the board after having served as a board member, and vice president, since 2013. In a special appointment, Bob Britz will join the board left vacant by the passing of Cheryl Hiltebran last March. Cheryl was first elected in 2019.
 

 

Birchleggers at Becker Law Link Bridge Dedication on August 14, 2021

 

Birchleggers Dave Balsiger, Paul Thompson, and Steve Carmazon attended the new Becker Law Link Bridge Dedication and ribbon cutting on August 14, 2021. Dave, Paul, and Steve are pictured at the Capstone Rock that has the Birchleggings Club Name on it as a contributor. The new bridge over Highway 77 is in the background.

It was reported by Ben Popp, the American Birkebeiner Foundation Executive Director, that over one hundred people were in attendance for not only the ribbon cutting but also to hear the vision for the Mt. Telemark Village and Nordic Center and for the foundation's annual meeting in the Great Hall at the American Birkebeiner start area.

The Celebration of Cheryl Hiltibran's Life held on July 11, 2021 in Maple Plain, Minnesota

On Sunday July 11th friends and family of Cheryl Hiltibran, Birchleggings Club board member, gathered at a gazebo at Baker Park in Maple Plain, Minnesota to remember Cheryl and celebrate her life. 

Steve Carmazon and Paul Thompson, Birchleggings Club board members, attended. Cheryl’s magical Birkie Bib quilt was prominently displayed in addition to remembrances from ski trips, race suits and other paraphernalia. Cheryl’s life was so much more. She was deeply involved in a women’s writing and healing group and enjoyed many adventures into the North American wilderness in her solo canoe. We learn so much about people after they are gone.

Paul reported that he was left with a desire to learn more about this Cheryl and had the chance to chat with Stacy Laufer her step daughter and meet her neighbor Julie while picking up her skis to display on the ceiling of our Mosquito Brook Hut on the Birkie trail. Cheryl contributed so much to our board in the short time she was with us. My learning from her leaving is that we all have the opportunity  to learn and appreciate the stories and the people of our special community of lifelong skiers. Long live Cheryl’s memory.

Thank you to Paul for providing these photographs and these words.

Congratulations to the Founder of the Birchleggings Club, John Kotar who was named as the UW-Stevens Point College of Natural Resources’ Conservation Leader!

 

John Kotar of Eau Claire was named the UW-Stevens Point College of Natural Resources’ Conservation Leader for supporting the college and conservation practices.

Kotar, an emeritus professor of the Department of Forest Ecology and Management at UW-Madison, owns Terra Silva Forest Ecology and Management in Eau Claire.

Kotar has spent much of his career specializing in the classification of forest vegetation into habitat types based on relationships between soils, the environment, and groupings of understory plant species.

This classification system allows natural resource professionals to make management decisions without resorting to complex, long-term studies.

As his process of “habitat typing” is a staple of the college’s Summer Field Experience, Kotar has equipped countless UW-Stevens Point students through the years with this ecologically-based tool used in sustainable management.

This story was published in the Around Town Briefs in the Leader-Telegram newspaper from Eau Claire, Wisconsin on July 31, 2021. The story was by Dan Holtz.