Sweetwater Creek State Park - Aug 15, 2004
Canoe-O, Picnic, and Annual General Meeting
Cool temperatures and overcast skies paid a
brief visit to Sweetwater Creek State Park for the canoe-o and
annual general meeting -- typically the hottest event of the
season.
Rick Shane and Chris Kyriakov were first to
launch their boats and first to return with an impressive 285
points in 76 minutes, but two other groups beat them out. Guido
Nordmann and Mark Pittman won the event scoring 290 points in 85
minutes, closely followed by Jay Mads with 290 points in 90
minutes. In canoe-o the winning time is determined by the
highest points followed by the fastest time.
Others look at the canoe-o through less
competitive eyes. The Neher family enjoyed paddling at a
leisurely pace and then catching up with old friends at the
picnic. Charlie Siler's group from the Unitarian Universalist
Church took this opportunity to introduce orienteering to some
of their youth. And Dana Richard Freeman didn't orienteer
at all -- he volunteered to help with start/finish instead.
No matter how people look at canoe-o one
thing's for sure -- everyone looks forward to the wonderful pot
luck picnic once they come off the course. This year, Steve
Shannonhouse did the grilling on his gas grill (dare I say the
"official" GAOC grill?) while Robin set out the side dishes and
arranged the food table.
With tummies full and the desert table empty,
folks turned their attention to Bob and Linda as they called
their last business meeting to order. The first item on the
agenda was to nominate and vote in our new president, Martha
Carr. We kidded that we voted her in because she wasn't at the
meeting, but Bob assured us that he'd been talking with Martha
about the presidency since early January and she was ready to
take charge.
The meeting lasted several hours and the full
minutes will be posted soon, but highlights of the meeting
include:
