SEPTEMBER 2012
“You don't stop playing because you grow old; you grow old because you stop playing”
MESSAGE FROM THE PREZ - Janet Rensmeyer
Fall is just around the corner! State Fair! Halloween! Holidays and....more news will be coming about another great year of skiing.
I hope we have a leader for the bicycle ride through White Rock, Swiss Avenue andall the way to West End; that was a lot of fun last year. Count me in.
In preparation for the upcoming skiseason, I couldn't resist going to the St. Bernard Sports annual sale and picked up some warm mittens. So I'm getting ready....how about you?
We had a fabulous time at Marlow & Joyce Muldoon's pool party in August. The burgers were hot,the beer was cold and the pool was wet...what else could be better.
The group was smaller than last year but many of our members are traveling the world, so that's a good thing.
Charles Chapman and I will be attending the TSC delegate meeting Sept 8th. Any news we'll share with younext month.
Enjoy the rest of the summer and see you at the next event in October at Uncle Buck's Brewery in Grapevine.
Hope to see you all soon at another YAHS event! ………………………………………………………. Janet
NOTES FROM THE VP – Maggie Phillips www.dfwyoungatheartskiers.org
Texas Ski Council Trips for the Next Year
Fall Roundup--Dec. 15-22, 2012--Vail, Colorado
Traditional--Jan. 12-19, 2013--Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Winter Expedition--Jan. 25-Feb. 2, 2013-- Granada and Torremolinos, Spain
Winter Shootout--Feb. 9-16, 2013--Telluride, Colorado
Final Showdown—March 9-16, 2013—Big Ski Montana
Summer Expedition--Dates TBD--late August 23-31, 2013--Limerick and Dublin, Ireland
***See your e-mail from Greg dated 4/20/2012 for a more detailed description of each trip.
*At the annual meeting on Sunday, Pam agreed to be trip leader for Telluride, and there were around 18 people who expressed interest in going.
*Charles agreed to be trip leader for the Ireland trip, and several people expressed interest.
*No one else has shown an interest to leading one of the other trips, although several folks were interested in Steamboat Springs.
*If you are interested in being a trip leader for Steamboat or any of the other trips, please let me know. If no one steps forward, we will refer interested skiers or travelers to one of the other TSC clubs. Thanks! Maggie
MEMBERSHIP/Publicity – Mike Crupi
“It takes a whole club to raise a new member skier”
Thanks to the Muldoons for a wonderful pool party. Hundreds were there, but some missed out.Joyce & Marlow prepared a wonderful poolside BBQ andCindy won the diving competition. The garden butterflies were a big hit. I understand they even survived the aerial spraying. A good time was had by all!.
Brochures and calling cards are available for Member’s use as handouts to prospective new members, local libraries, health clubs, sport shops, hair dresser, nail gal or spa. Need each of you to spread the word.
Member referrals are the most frequent way that we gain new members. If you know someone that might be interested in joining, please forward me their email address and I willsend them information about our ski club. Thanks Mike
Texas Ski Council Update – Charles Chapman
UPDATE ON THE IRELAND TRIP #1
As noted in the August newsletter, the dates have changed for the trip to Ireland. The new dates are September 6 – 14, 2013. The change was made to avail the Tex Ski Council of non-peak rates for the trip. It was also changed to accommodate anyone wishing to participate in the pre-trips.
It appears that the cost of the trip has been reduced about $100 per person due to the change in dates. If
that is the case, the new cost would be approximately $2,000 per person based on double occupancy. Friends and relatives are always welcome. They would have to join YAHS, but that is only $20. per year. A bargain at any price.
There are several pre and post trips offered to the people traveling to Ireland. The pre trips include either London or Northern Ireland. They include a three night stay in a 3 or 4 star hotel with breakfast included and at least one tour. Other tours could be booked with help from Holidaze ( our tour company). The cost of the pre-trip will range between $485 to $755 double occupancy. The difference in cost relates to the location of the hotel.
The post trips include trips to either Scotland or Northern Ireland. The trips include 3 nights’ accommodations in 4 star hotels located near the center of Edinburgh for the Scotland trip or accommodations in Belfast and Dublin for the extension of the Ireland trip. Cost is approximately $759 per person for Scotland and $645 for the Northern Ireland trip. As always, these and estimated costs and are subject to change until air and hotel are booked.
This is shaping up to be a truly extraordinary trip. I hope each of you will consider this trip and maybe invite a friend. I’ll be giving you updates as they are available.
I need a more accurate count of interested people at this time. The club has to place a $500 deposit by October 1st. Those that have a sincere interest in the trip need to place a $50, fully refundable deposit , with the club by that date. You may mail the check to the Treasurer, Beach Aten, or to me.
Let’s go to the “Emerald Isle”. The Texas Ski Council has planned a great trip for us all. Please let me hear from you.
WE NEED YOUR HELP www.dfwyoungatheartskiers.org
Pictures are worth a thousand words but two hundred words are just as good!! Email your travel/adventure/fun stuff, written words or photos to Greg Jones our Webmaster and you’ll be featured on YAHS website!!! Beat the rush!
Calling all volunteers to plan and host one monthly event- Happy Hour, Dinner, Day Trip, House party, sporting event, hike/bike outing (early a.m. please). Your suggestions and ideas are more than welcome.
If each of us does the planning/hosting of just one monthly event it is fun for all and not that much effort on anyone. Won’t you please come forward and let a Board Member know you want to contribute as well?????
LET’S PLAY TOGETHER- Save the Dates
Mimosa Morning – September 15, 2012 – 9:00 AM
Come join the Muldoons for a bike or walk on the Campian trail, Saturday, September 15 starting at 9:00 AM. Mimosas will be served along with other refreshments. Of course the outing depends on the weather but it should have cooled off by then and we NEVER get any rain. Please let us know if you plan to come. For more information contact the Muldoons at 972-255-5944.
COME JOIN THE END OFTHE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER BY WALKING THE DOG! Actually you can bike, hike, skate, etc. down the Katy Trail, Sunday, September 30th 9:30 A.M. sharp, we'll meet upat the Katy Ice House (3136B Routh St., phone 214-468-0600 on the trail), determine which direction we want to go, and meet back at the Ice House for lunch around 11:00. It is very casual and dog friendly, often as many dogs as people.Casual food and attire. Costs are around $10.00 pp. and I requested separate checks so don't need any money in advance. I made reservations for 20 but can add to it if necessary. Please let me know by Sept. 15th so there won't be any problems with securing enough room. Make reservations with Billye Summers by calling # 972-291-7990, or email summersatty @hotmail.com . Look forward to seeing everyone on hopefully a cooler day!
September 15, 2012 – Campian Trail 9 a.m. RSVP Muldoons 972-255-5944
September 30, 2012- Walk/ride The Katy Trail then meet for breakfast a.m Katy Ice House, Dog Friendly Trail. RSVP- Billye Summers Host 972-291-7990
October 2012-Beer Tasting Happy Hour atUncle Buck's Brewery & Steakhouse in Grapevine (near the Bass Pro Shops), October 11, 6:00 PM. Contact the Greg or Selma Jones to RSVP
November 2012-
December 2012- Annual Christmas Potluck & Chinese Gift Exchange
January 2013-
February 2013- Ski Telluride
Monthly Calendar- watch email for updates! Contact HOST of individual activities with any questions. –refer to your Club Roster for Email addresses and phone numbers (available on our website, “Members Only” section)..
WE’VE BEEN PLAYING
Greek Glory……………………………………………………………………….Kathy Aten
Beach and I returned to the cooler Dallas temperatures in mid-August after a two week trip. We spent 2 nights in Istanbul seeing many of the popular sites like the Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar (Beach’s all time favorite), Haijia Sophia, and the Topkapi Palace. We stayed in a very small, modern hotel called the Sirkeci Konak Hotel in old town Istanbul. We then boarded the Oceania Riviera for a cruise from Istanbul to Venice.
The Riviera is the newest of the Oceania ships and had it’s inaugural sailing earlier this summer. The ship was a smallish ship holding only 1200 passengers and was the prettiest ship of any of our cruises. It was well run, had excellent food, and most of the cabins boast a verandah or balcony.
We left Istanbul for a stop at Mitilini on the Greek Island of Lesvos. We rented a car and drove around the island which was mostly arid and mountainous but has beautiful, blue water surrounding the island. The drive was mainly along the coast. That night, we made our way to Kusadasi, Turkey which is the port city for Ephesus.
Ephesus is the site of ancient ruins dating to 10 BC. The area has already been extensively excavated, but work on the site continues, and is expected to continue for many years to come. It has ties to early Roman architecture and to very early Christianity. The order of the day was extreme heat and loads of people. It was still quite fascinating to see all the old ruins and to see how well planned the city was with many “modern” features for that time in history.
We left Kusadasi and stopped at Mykonos, another Greek island. The city was charming – all white stucco buildings, narrow cobble stone streets, and lots of jewelry shops. Again beautiful blue water surrounded the island.
Then we were on our way to Athens where we met up with some friends from Dallas who spend their summers in Athens. We had a private tour guide of the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the Acropolis museum, and some other touristy sites in Athens. The theme of the entire trip was heat and lots of people. For those of you that know me, you know that “I’m hot” is not something that I utter frequently. I can honestly say, I have never been hotter than I was on this trip. It was over 100 the day we were in Athens!
From Athens, we stopped at Cephalonia and Corfu, two more Greek islands. Cephalonia had a grotto and underground lake that was quite interesting. We hired a taxi with some other couples to take us around the island. We rented a car with another couple on Corfu and managed to get lost even with a GPS! We did finally manage to find the Achilleon Palace after we stopped back at the car rental facility to have our GPS reset. Again the water was so clear and blue and beautiful.
After that we made our way to Dubrovnik, Croatia. That was one of my favorite stops. The city is mainly an old walled city with yellow stucco building with red tile roofs. We walked the wall that surrounds the city and took a cable car to the top of the mountain to see the sights. Then on to Split, Croatia. We were pleasantly surprised by Split. As with Dubrovnik, the old city portion has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The central part was founded by the Roman emperor Diocletian as retirement home, and parts of his palace walls remain. Like Dubrovnik, there is no traffic other than pedestrian traffic within the city walls. They did have a huge farmers market with lots of fresh produce within the city walls.
Our last stop was in Venice. Finally we had some nice temperatures (80 degrees). The ship sailed up a wide canal past the city of Venice to dock. It was quite impressive to get a view of the city from up high. We left the ship early for St. Mark’s Square where we saw the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica. The inside of the basilica was beautiful with gilt mosaics. I really wanted to take pictures but they were not allowed. It was quite impressive inside and out. We took a water bus up the Grand Canal and had pizza for lunch at an outdoor café. Then on to the famous Rialto Bridge and back to the ship.
We had an early departure and had to be off the ship at 4 AM to head to the airport and back to reality.
It was a wonderful trip. I would highly recommend the trip and the cruise line to anyone. I’d love to go back someday. I will forward a sampling of some pictures to Greg to be placed on the website for any one who is interested.
Visit to National Boy Scout Museum
On fairly short notice, Marlow Muldoon arranged a visit to the National Boy Scout Museum in Irving. Several members were able to join us and all were very impressed. We had a guide who led us through the Norman Rockwell art exhibit which was an amazing glimpse of American. The Boy Scouts have one of the largest collections of his works and the exhibit changes monthly. We were on our own for the rest of the museum with several interactive exhibits – firing guns, boxcar derby car races, etc. It’s a perfect place to take a grandchild (ages 6-11) and it is free on Sunday and Monday afternoons. The Muldoons
Empty Nest-egger and Happy to Be One