“IN TUNE” WITH FORC

August / September 2013
“IN TUNE” WITH FORC
Did you visit the hummingbirds at the Lodge?
Don’t miss
Sep 7th
Sept 14th
Sept 29th
GranFondo Whistler (Check your travel route)
Whistler Village Beer Festival
Whistler Spirit Run
Whistler Farmers Market (Every Sunday and Wednesday)
Whistler Concert Series
Until Oct 6th
Until Sep 2nd
Check Whistler Blackcomb website for more…
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“IN TUNE” WITH FORC
August / September 2013
Dates to remember in August…
Aug 01, 1952 –Tilly Rolston, the first female BC Cabinet Minister with
Portfolio
Aug 14, 1918 – Amiens, Canadian’s Army great achievement
Aug 15, 1971 – Hurricane Beth soaks NS with 300mm of rain
Aug 15-17, 1969 – Woodstock Festival
Aug 24-25, 1927 – Gale kills 56 at sea in Newfoundland
Aug 26, 1939 – First televised Major League Baseball game
Aug 1866 – An Imperial Act was passed, uniting Vancouver Island and
British Columbia, formerly separate colonies, with New Westminster
as capital. The Rocky Mountains were designated as BC's eastern
boundary, following the Continental Divide
Sep 1987 to Aug 1988 – Hottest summer and longest prairies drought
Dates to remember in September..
AUGUST NEWSLETTER
Due to intense summer
activities the August
Newsletter was skipped.
Telephone, Telephone…
Today people have cellphone
and/or regular phone usually
cordless at their house.
Remember that in case of a
power failure, you won’t be
able to charge your cell
phone or use your cordless
phone.
Sept 02, 1969 – First ATM opens for business in New York
Sept 02, 1858 – First Governor of BC was James Douglas
Sept 02, 2013– Labour Day
Sept 03, 1962– Trans Canada Highway opened
Sept 06, 1952 – First Canadian TV station on air
Sept 07, 1927– First television
Sept 07, 1991 – Freak 30 minutes hailstorm hit Calgary with 10cm hail
The most destructive hailstorm
Sept 10, 1897 – First arrest for impaired driving in London UK
Sept 07, 1991 – QE2 ocean liner was struck by a 30 metre wave
during an Hurricane off Newfoundland. Canada’s only world-weather
record….
Sept 08, 1954 – Percy Saltzman. a weatherman, was the first
Canadian on Canadian Television.
th
Sept 13, 2013 – Well it is Friday the 13 isn’t it!!!
Sept 28, 1867 – Toronto became Ontario’s capital and had been
working to be the center of the universe ever since… (Editor’s
comment)
Have a regular phone
available at your residence.
You will be able to use it
during a power failure.
FORC 2013 AGM and Work Party
The 2013 FORC AGM is October 17th
The 2013 Fall Work Party is Oct 19th / 20th
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“IN TUNE” WITH FORC
August / September 2013
Jim’s Corner – Our President
Thanks to all 50 members who completed the FORC 2013 Survey. The information provided is a big help
to your board as it identifies Action Items.
There was an even split on the number of people who would like to see more organized social activities,
but 23 people said they would participate in hiking in the summer followed by a BBQ at the lodge and 31
said they would participate in a Wine and Cheese social. It was very encouraging to see that 19 people
would participate in organizing a social event; that means a lot of people are willing to pitch in and we
don’t need to rely on Ken Brodie to the extent we have in the past few years. The board has asked Ken
to encourage these members to come forward and set up appropriate dates for both the hiking and a
Wine & Cheese social.
Board members were encouraged to see that 32 of the 50 responders feel the current membership dues
provide good value to members. Thirty Six of us did not favour increased membership dues or increased
member room and dorm rates, if we restricted use by non members during the busy Winter season.
The response to the question on whether the quality of housekeeping meets your standards was 43 yes
compared with 7 no and that is very encouraging to our Lodge Director, Bryon Karren and our staff. A
very strong 49 to 1 response favoured the question whether room rates provide good value.
Thirty two responders said they would use an on line reservation system that would involve pre-paying.
Research is underway to determine if a system is available that will provide such a service at a
reasonable cost.
Thirty one members were not in favour of having the flexibility to sell their membership for less than the
face value.
From the several questions that invited a written response, there was a lot of support for the current
lodge policies and procedures, however we can see that a minority of members believe the booking
system is not fair for their personal situation. It is clear that we need to help these members understand
how the system is intended to work to their benefit and that is now an Action item for the Board.
It was a surprise to see that some of us believe that members are subsidizing non member rates. The
opposite is true! We do our best to provide accurate financial information at the AGM and I would
encourage members to participate in that event annually to see exactly how the dorm and room revenue
is derived.
We received several comments that additional secure bike storage is required. Research is underway to
determine if there is a way to build secure storage underneath the lodge at a reasonable cost.
We will further review the results of the survey at the next board meeting and with the membership at the
AGM.
Again, we appreciate the responses to the survey which we will all benefit from. Here’s hoping you are
all enjoying our wonderful Summer.
I suggest you mark your calendar for the AGM on Oct. 17 and Work Party October 19.
Jim
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“IN TUNE” WITH FORC
August / September 2013
Bryon’s Corner – Our Lodge Director
So far this year we have not been able to generate the number of bookings that we did for the same
period last year. In June our room & dorm revenues were 60% of what they were the previous year.
However the dorm was shut down for 3 weeks for renovations which we thought explained the downturn.
However in July when we had the dorm back in service results were even poorer. Excluding groups,
stays at the lodge were only 46% of the July last year and revenue was only 51%.
There were a number of comments in the survey regarding our booking policy and its affect on members.
Recently the board approved a number of principles that I need to turn into a booking policy that will be
published when ready. But to address some of the concerns expressed in the survey I would like to
outline a bit of the thinking behind the new policy.
First a few facts regarding the make-up of last year’s total revenue:
1) Non member stays contributed 69% of the revenue
2) Member stays contributed 14%
3) Member dues contributed 14%
It should be clear from these numbers that the club as we know is very dependent on non member stays,
so any policy will take that into account. To get non member bookings it is necessary that we allow them
to book well in advance. Given that, it is not possible to go back to the old policy of letting members only
make 3 bookings in advance. Even if we limit the number of non members, under that policy it is quite
likely that there will be times when the member portion of the lodge is over booked. If we allow member
pre-booking ahead of non member we can black out busy times at the lodge and limit non members, but
the key to that is having members pre-book.
So the future policy will still involve pre-planning of your stays to guarantee you get what dates you want.
We will hold back a limited number of beds for members but we can not hold them for same-day
reservations. We will release any of these held-back rooms to the general public 2 weeks before the
occupancy date. As a club, we can not afford to hold rooms for members who might come when they can
be rented. To make the club work with its present cost structure we need to keep the beds occupied the
best we can. The results so far this year are indicating that we will under perform last year as it is.
Bryon
Ken’s Corner – Our Social Director
Hello all
Hope everyone is enjoying their fabulously unseasonable summer. I have been told it has been hot as
Hades in Whistler for July, with Thunderstorms today (July 31), only briefly breaking the month long dry
spell.
Trying to plan a Labour Day weekend BBQ but I will not be available so I am looking for someone else
to take the lead here.
Don't forget the Ironman is in town late August so come out and cheer them in.
See you soon
Ken
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“IN TUNE” WITH FORC
August / September 2013
Facts on racks…
Riding bikes is a great way to save gas, but driving bikes isn’t…
Riding bikes is a great way to save gas, but driving
bikes isn’t. As a vehicle cruised at 100Km/h with a
pair of bicycles on a roof rack plus wind deflector,
the fuel economy plummeted by more than a third,
from a miserly 5.6L/100Km to a miserable
8.7L/100Km. The rack alone wasted .7L/100km.
Bike racks and fuel efficiency…
No roof rack
5.6L/100Km
Empty roof Rack
6.3L/100Km
Empty rack and wind deflector
6.7L/100Km
Rack with 2 bikes and wind deflector
8.7L/100Km
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“IN TUNE” WITH FORC
August / September 2013
Connie and Taryn
Although Connie Buna and Taryn Hayes only became members of the Fireside Lodge last year, Taryn
grew up coming to the lodge since she was 6 years old. Taryn’s parents, Bryan and Judy Hayes, were
members of the lodge since the mid-1980s.
Taking over Bryan and Judy’s membership, Taryn and her wife, Connie, are excited to begin the next
generation of family fun at the Fireside Lodge. They both love to ski and also enjoy the summer adventures
that Whistler has to offer.
Connie is a Realtor (and amazing cook) and Taryn is an Urban Planner working for the City of Surrey. They
live in East Vancouver.
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“IN TUNE” WITH FORC
August / September 2013
2012/13 Fireside Outdoor Recreation Club – Board of Directors
President:
Jim Deringer
Tel: 604-929-2346
Email: [email protected]
Secretary:
Diana Newton
Tel: 604-433-3183
Email: [email protected]
Lodge Director:
Bryon Karren
Tel: 604-299-4779
Email: [email protected]
Social Director:
Ken Brodie
Tel: 604-278-0292
Email: [email protected]
Vice President:
Andrew Prenty
Tel: 604-328-3735
Email: [email protected]
Treasurer:
Bruce Chadwick
Tel: 604-202-7118
Email: [email protected]
Publicity Director:
Michel Marien
Tel: 604-868-0658
Email: [email protected]
Director-At-Large:
Vacant
Tel:
Email:
Fireside Lodge
2117 Nordic Drive
Whistler, BC V0N 1B2
Reservation Phone: 604 932-4545
Toll Free: 1-866-932-3994
Fax: 604 932-3994
Member Phone: 604 932-2316
Email: [email protected]
Lodge Manager: Randy Harder
Assistant Manager: Adrian and Laura
Did you kno w…
The first documented geyser was found in Iceland. It
was call “geysir” from Icelandic verb geysa, “to gulch”.
The word geyser as we know derives from geysir.
Change of information
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City: ______________ Province/State________ Postal/Zip Code______
Telephone: W H C___________________ W H C _____________________
W H C___________________ W H C _____________________
Name:
Circle the proper letter
Email:
W = Work
H = Home C = Cell
_________________________________________________
Print and faxed to Fireside Lodge – 604-932-3994 or Email the changes to [email protected]