Ski Club Chronicles

Hard to believe we are at the half way point through the ski club season!!!  We had a great night with temps in the 20’s with some light wind & snow and a few icy spots but thankfully we have no injuries to report!

The high school bus watched Daddy’s Home 2 which seemed to hold their attention better this week although our 7th graders are a chatty bunch.  I believe the girls were putting make-up on some of the boys and someone definitely was over using the body spray but other than a few reminders to stay seated it was typical middle school behavior.  Wish I had gotten a chance to take a pic of the beauty contest though!!!

At the lodge everyone seemed to be ready to go & it was pretty quiet inside until dinner time naturally.  Please remember to keep those COW cards full if your not sending food.  Keep in mind the food is expensive, my son spent $12 on chicken fingers, fries, & mozzarella sticks then forgot to bring a water so that was another $3.50.  COW cards never expire either so if they end up  with a balance it is good anytime & for anything on the mountain.

From the feedback from our awesome chaperones the kids are really enjoying ski club & are have really become comfortable getting to rentals & lessons but also asking us for help when needed.

I can not stress to everyone how AWESOME our group of volunteer chaperones have been this season!!!!  They are having as much fun as the kids are and have made this season flow so smoothly, we are so grateful for all of them!!!!

I am praying we have a Super Bowl win Sunday & if we do would encourage everyone to wear there Patriots gear on Tuesday!   The jersey’s over the jackets is always a good look!!!

Finally a  few lost items were picked up, see the attached pics & we decided to leave the unclaimed ski bag & gear at the High School this week so that mystery continues!!!

That is all for this week!

See You Next Tuesday,

Shelley, Eli, Jim

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Uxbridge Ski & Snowboard Club

 

Morning drop-off was a bit icy this morning especially for the kids at Whitin thanks to mother nature dropping off 4″ of cement-like snow but if you made into the building without injury I would say it was a good sign. Kids are definitely learning the ropes of drop off procedure & dismissal & we have been successful 2 weeks in a row of timely departures. Remember to make sure the kids boards & skis are in bags, we still have a few without.

As you know by now the theme of the Chronicles is to give you useful info about the adventure in a funny way & often at someones else’s expense. This is all in good fun & hopefully makes for a good read. Our own Teddy has made it a point to find his way into the chronicles yet again by boarding the bus at the High School & leaving his bag in the storage closet. Luckily for him I checked the closet before we left, saw the bag & brought it to him on the bus. When asked what were you thinking boarding the bus empty handed his reply was, I thought you got our bags! Love this kid, I am starting to think he is just out to entertain us:)

Upon arrival we unload the bus & the phantom skier from UHS’s bag is still there taunting us all….We just can’t figure out who’s bag it is because naturally it’s not LABELED & nobody has claimed it. The mystery continues for now!

It was a chilly night & Gabe said he forgot his ski pants. In my 15 minute search to see if I could find him a pair he located them in a side pocket of his bag, good thing because lost & found was of no help. Isaac forgot his gloves, thanks to Kayleigh for lending him a pair. Bryce was in need of a neck warmer that Mom apparently did not put in his bag after washing it from last week. I was able to lend him a spare which he tried to give back to me at the end of the night. Luckily Eli intervened & explained that nobody wants a snotty ski mask that someone else has worn all night, hopefully next week it comes back clean & will be available for the next kid who’s Mom forgot to pack his bag. Seriously kids, your responsibility to make sure you have your stuff together, stop blaming your Mom! Please make sure your kids pack extra ski socks, WARM SKI GLOVES OR MITTENS, a few packs of hand warmers, & a face mask. Some kids were not adequately prepared for single digits. Layers are a must & fleece gloves offer zero protection. We love your kids but prefer them outside skiing instead of lounging in the lodge so make sure their bags have extras.  Also check to make sure things are still labeled please.

The chaperones enjoyed a few runs tonight & posed for a really nice picture, Eli thought I would really appreciate it. Thanks buddy, it’s ok. I was dealing with – lost ski passes, misplaced skis, someone took my skis, frozen hands, my boots are too small, I need a new lanyard, my stomach hurts, & I have no money for dinner – complaints in the lodge just fine!!! HAAHAHAHA I was warm & toasty all night!

Unfortunately, our weeks-without-an-injury count gets reset back to zero. As the injury train made a stop for 1 of our 7th grade snowboarders with a broken wrist.  He was tough though & luckily his Mom was there at the mountain and able to monitor that situation!  We all wish you a speedy recovery Ashton!!!

All in all week 3 went very well, the chaperones that are skiing with the kids said the are all progressing nicely & having a blast. Eli said the newbies are making great progress & he is super impressed with all of them. For us that is the best thing to see and hear & is the reason we love coordinating this program. Watching the independence develop, the skills improve, & the confidence gained week to week is really an awesome thing to see. We are very lucky to have such a great group of kids & an amazing crew of dedicated volunteers helping us each week.

In honor of our mentor & past ski club coordinator Mark Francis, Eli took a run down Roper’s Road for you. We would so love for you to make a special appearance, we have a lift pass with your name on it anytime! He is the one that set the bar so high for us to follow & we hope we are doing a good job continuing what he passed on. Having fun, not stressing out, teasing the kids & chaperones & sometimes parents and making ski club something that is like no other group activity run by a few crazy kids at heart!

Lastly, Wonder was an absolute smash hit on the little kids bus!!! Ask them about the kissing scene!!! “Censored!!!!” Apparently the movie hadn’t ended upon arrival & the kids did not want to get off the bus! It’s all Ben talked about when he got home. We are struggling on the 7th-11th grade bus. If anyone has some movies send them along…They requested Ted but I am thinking some parents may not be cool with that! PG13 kids!!!

That’s all for this week. Remember to check the balance on your kids COW cards, let me tell you, they like the food!!! The kids are definitely not going hungry! Also remember to let us know if your child is absent.

See You Next Tuesday!!!

Shelley, Eli, & Jim

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Uxbridge Ski & Snowboard Club

 

Here it is, the long-awaited 2019 Uxbridge Ski and Snowboard Club Chronicles for week 2, special edition. This is from the writer that never writes. So, pour yourself a warm drink and read on to see if your kid made the Chronicles this week. Actually, the kids were all great, and it’s a few of the adults getting chronicled this week.

The Ferrage family has a streak going. They’ve successfully had one person miss each of the first two weeks. We really do hope you feel better soon Shelley. But, by the way, Ben was able to do everything himself tonight (no hand holding). Ok back to the business.

The most important streak: We made it through another week without any injuries. Let’s keep this streak going for the whole season! It was quiet in the lodge most of the night with everyone out enjoying the “warmer” temps and great conditions on the slopes. Can 28 degrees really be considered warm? Well, after this past weekend I say yes.

Another great week on the buses. Pick was smooth once again. On Bus 1 “the older bus” they watched Night School and it sounded like it was a hit for a movie and a well-behaved bus ride. Bus 2 “the younger bus” watched Small Foot was a big hit also.

It was a quiet ride home. Almost too quiet. And just as I was reflecting on how uneventful the night had been the phones started ringing. No, we didn’t leave anyone behind. But one of the parents, who was parked at Wachusett, put their car keys in their child’s bag. Well that child, their bag and the car keys were on a bus ride back to Uxbridge, somewhere about 10 minutes south of Wachusett at this point.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll just let this picture of keys sitting on a post outside of some route 140 roadside tavern fill in what happened next. Thank you Dawn for coming to the rescue and bringing the keys back to the mountain. Next week, Bino will be assigned a special chaperone to make sure he has his keys with him at all times.

Jim and Eli got into trouble with the mountain this week and got yelled at for someone using someone else’s season pass last week. I guess they really do check that sort of thing. It was a man using a woman’s pass who evidently didn’t pass for a woman. Might have been the beard. So don’t share season passes because they have file photos and they really do monitor the users.

Things that got left behind: 1) A New England Patriots beany hat that Rebecca will be happy to keep if no one claims it. See photos on the website. (Also, Go Pats!)

2) A set of skis poles and helmet in nice orange camo ski bag. I’m sure that someone will want this back and Eric Lowrey, who had room for them in his truck, is holding onto them.

Well everything went well without Shelley. So next week you will only be seeing Shelley in the lodge while Jim and I will be skiing.

Great job everyone and see you next Tuesday!!

Eli, Jim & Shelley

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Uxbridge Ski & Snowboard Club

Hi All,

I would like to officially welcome you and your kids to the 2019 USSC Season!!!  As you have probably already heard from your kids, they had a great time!  So much so that 1 unnamed ski clubber just didn’t wan’t the night to end and decided to stay a little longer.  Buses were loaded, attendance was taking, passes collected when we realized he was not on the bus.  So I called his cell & he answered!  That was the best part!!!  Ahh boys, gotta love them!!!

Rest assure we never leave the mountain until we have EVERYONE accounted for!

The bus ride up was flawless! The kids were quick in getting to the buses & were very well behaved.  Eli may have put the fear of God in the 4th-6th grade bus but it worked!  His bus was perfectly behaved!  (Last year we heard it was pretty rowdy but he laid down the law.)

The High School bus was also great & even once the 28 7th graders joined us they weren’t loud like I feared and all was smooth.  All us chaperones & bus drivers appreciate a quiet bus ride, especially when the buses are full.

Only 3 absences total today!  One naturally was my youngest, and 2 high schoolers!  Pretty impressive!!! Please remember to text me if your child is absent so I can add extra chaperones to the buses otherwise they would have to drive! They would much rather ride up than have to take their own car so as a general curiosity please let me know in the morning when you call your student out of school.  Just a quick text is all I need, it will be super helpful!

Naturally the 1st week is a little chaotic trying to get kids to rentals & lessons for 3:50 especially when we don’t arrive to Wachusett until 3:15.   Remember last year we had 2 arrival times so not everyone went to lessons at the same time like we do now.  I am sure next week will go smoother.  If your student rents equipment next week they will get off the bus & go with chaperones directly to rentals. Then straight to lessons.  After lessons they are free to ski with a buddy or chaperone or go inside to get dinner.  Remember to send food, money or a COW Card, you all know my preference by now.  Perfect example, we arrived and with in minutes we saw a COW card on the floor by our table, no name on it.  When we had a minute we went to costumer service, had them run the number & realized it was a $50 card belonging to one of our boys, (not a rookie either)  So I let some time pass to see if this student will inquire about the missing card but he doesn’t.  I go over to  Zach R, who has been doing ski club for years & ask him how its going & if he has had dinner yet.  He says he is having a great time but needs to get dinner.  So messing with him a bit I say, oh & how are you going to pay for it? (Laughing a little to myself).  He says, I have a Cow Card!

I reply, are you sure? Laughing now as he is searching his pockets not even realizing it was gone.  This is why Cow cards are the safest option.  If you have one, write your students name on it & TUXB.  You can even hole punch it and put it on a lanyard.  Zach was a good sport & new after his mistake of not labeling his stuff he was going to make this weeks Chronicles:)

The newbies did amazing!!!!  They seemed to really enjoy it & I am sure by week 3 will be completely comfortable with the mountain.

Everyone was polite, listened & cleaned up after themselves!!!  We only had 1 minor meltdown upon arrival when this students boot bag & our coordinator bag which are identical were mixed up.  Now I know I mentioned a few times to label everything but part of the mix up was on the chaperone (Eli) that brought said bag unlabeled & the other chaperone ( Eric) that took the poor girls bag that looked like ours and moved it to our table.  I think we all learned a valuable lesson again.  LABEL YOUR STUFF, ALL OF IT!!!!!

Lastly our record of weekly injuries continues! We are hoping it is a minor head injury for 1 of our 8th grade boys & thankfully ski patrol cleared him to ride home with us so that is promising!  We all hope you feel better & will be ready to go up next week Jack!!!  Thank God everyone wears helmets now.  Back when we were kids helmets were not a thing, but those wild crazy hats sure were! Not sure how those would of helped us in a fall but they sure looked cool!

Special thanks to Eli’s bus chaperones, Matt, Jamie, Julie, & John!!! He couldn’t stop bragging to me how well behaved “his” bus was!!!!  I guess he wins round 1 seeing as how my bus had  one chaperone show up late to the high school & I had the student that decided to extend ski club hours tonight!  Hahaha….Next week we are bringing it!

Seriously though special thanks to my bus chaperones, Eric, Kayleigh, & Heather!!! ZYou guys were great!!!

Also to all that helped at the mountain, THANK YOU!!!  What a great group of volunteers that were willing to do just about anything I asked of them with the exception of our co-coordinator Jim.  He was not amused with me when I asked him to find all the kids he could that were wearing the USSC apparel from Think Local and  take a group pic!!!  Come on Jim that would have been a great Pic!  LOL….Next week!!!!

January 15th is the deadline to order apparel from Think Local.  The link is on our website so if you wanted anything order now before its too late.  I saw lots of kids with sweatshirts & the sweatpants on today & they looked awesome!  Even the Wachusett staff commented on how nice it looked!  Remember a small portion of your orders comes back to the club to help with the end of season pizza party!!!

A few kids forgot to hand in their student passes at the end of the night.  I am missing the following:  Teddy Rigney, Jon Dow, Carlee Veinotte, Logan Grabowski, Finn Cove, & John Grabowski has my season pass:)  Remember to bring them with you next week!

I noticed a few more members on Uxbridge Ski Bums (our FaceBook Group)  If you haven’t already joined please do so.  We will post when we leave the mountain on that page.  From that moment its roughly 45 minutes so plan to be at the High School based off of that post.

I have pics from tonight that I will share tomorrow.  Need to locate my cable to upload but its midnight & I am tired!!!

Week 1 officially in the books!

See You Next Tuesday!!!

Shelley, Eli, & Jim

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Uxbridge Ski & Snowboard Club

 

 

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