Ski Update

If you are going skiing, you should have received an e-mail from me (Andrea) 2 days ago. I have not heard back from everyone yet and I need the information requested. So if you haven't received the e-mail and you are still wanting to go skiing or if you told me you were and have now changed your mind, please e-mail me immediately (agordon-smith@shaw.ca). The details about the prices, etc. can still be found here.

Following is a copy of the letter I sent out with the names removed.

Hello Everyone,

Skiing/boarding time is coming up fast. Please read this e-mail very carefully to make sure you (and I) have all the information you need. First of all, I just wanted to say that this has become much, much bigger than originally anticipated. When I have organized this in the past we have had a very small group made up mostly of friends and acquaintances. However, this year, as Anchor Academy is not organizing skiing, I am it. And I am just a person whose kids like to ski. I am not paid to do this and there is no advantage to me in any way except that my kids get to ski. So I hope that we can pull this off as smoothly as possible. Mary Sue Nichols has agreed to organize the finances. This means that all cheques should be made payable to her. However, I know that some of you have to request them from your school and they are already made out to me - no worries, Mary Sue and I will work that all out. I must admit that I am feeling a little overwhelmed with all this responsibility. I hope you will all be gentle with me! Please e-mail me to confirm receipt of this e-mail and the accuracy of my information. I don't have a lot of time to be trying to get in touch with people so I hope you will all cooperate so I can make sure there are no disappointments.

Some people phoned me about details. I requested that they e-mail me to confirm their intentions and to check out the website (www.northokanaganhomelearners.blogspot.com) for the details. Some of these people I never heard from again. Please check the following lists carefully to make sure you and/or your children are on it in the confirmed category. If you are in the unconfirmed category it means that I heard from you by e-mail once to ask for details but you never got back to me to let me know you were going to do it. Just e-mail me to confirm if you wish to be involved with the ski program. If you know of people who wish to be on this list and are not, please forward this e-mail and have them get in touch with me as soon as possible and we will work it out. It is not too late for someone to sign up. By the 20th we had more than enough to run a full program so it is no problem to continue to add people. And drop-ins are also welcome.

Forms: I really, really wish I could e-mail all of the forms to everyone. But I can't. The forms they sent to me were infected with a virus and so were useless. They ended up snail mailing me forms. I will be photocopying them tomorrow and then you can come to my house to fill them out. I live at 9005 Rendell Dr in Coldstream. That is off of Aberdeen Rd. I am at the very end of the road in the big white house down a long driveway. Please call before you come to make sure I am home (503-5416). I will not be mailing out any forms and I am unable to scan and e-mail them to you, too. It is going to have to be in person. I don't hand in any of these forms until January 10 so if you live out of town, you can make arrangements with me to come early and fill them out before lessons start. (arrangements means e-mailing or calling me with your details and we will correspond until we have it all worked out - PLEASE no one plan on showing up the day of without contacting me first) And if you live around here, please don't count on registering at the hill or we will have to be up there by 6am.... Some of you have e-mailed me simply requesting me to send you forms. Consider this your official notice that I will not be doing that and I hope you are clear on what you do need to do to take advantage of this opportunity. If not, e-mail me again and we will work it out. If there are alot of you from out of town, maybe one or two of you could volunteer to help me to distribute and collect the forms on that first morning, January 10.

Our lessons are at 9am. I know that is early. Sorry to all you homeschoolers who like to sleep in. I tried for earlier, I really did. That means that we have to be up there by 8am to get your gear and lift pass. I will be there by 7:45. Come to the basement of the main building - the one with the office in it and the cafeteria. I will be downstairs in the lunch room. Come and check in with me. When EVERYONE is there and accounted for, I can get our passes. They won't give them to me ahead of time. And it makes it complicated to get passes after they have finished printing them and handing it out and makes all the money figuring that much more complicated. This keeps us from having to pay for those who don't show up for whatever reason. So please, please, please be kind to me and remember that I am not on salary with any school and be there on time (by 8am) - even early would be great. If you can't show up for whatever reason, please phone me if possible. This makes my life so much simpler. Call before 7am on the day of. You can even leave a message in the middle of the night. I don't have a phone in my bedroom so you won't be waking anyone up. I understand that you might not know how sick your kids are until that morning. Just call me if you can.

Please check the following list for accuracy. Do I have it right what you are doing? skiing? boarding? ages of your kids? What level are they? Complete beginners? Some experience but still beginners? Intermediate? Advanced? Check the silver star website if you need a better definition of these levels. The list is in alphabetical order, last name first.

Looking forward to meeting all of you and enjoying some ski time up at Silver Star.

Most sincerely,

Andrea Clarke

503-5416