by Rick Casey
The Boulder CMC Annual Dinner was held, as usual, on the first Saturday of November at the Avalon Ballroom, which this year was November 3rd. By all accounts, it went smoothly, and was well presented. Apparently, the Annual Dinner Committee, chaired for a second year in a row by Monica DeWitt, is getting pretty good at this! (Though, unfortunately, no one took any pictures, which several of us have since regretted.)
Total attendance was about 123, most of whom arrived during the social hour from 5 to 6 pm. After this, the pot luck self-serve dinner began in earnest, dutifully announced by the master of ceremonies, Don Walker. During the social hour and dinner, everyone enjoyed the running slideshow. It was projected up on the main stage using Avalon’s built-in ceiling projector, consisting of pictures volunteered by CMC members of trips taken in the previous year. I heard several people exclaiming when they saw their photos appear, which was rewarding to see. I organized the slideshow using my laptop and Google Picasa.
The official annual meeting came next, which was special this year as it began with a tribute to Brenda Leach. She will be retiring as the co-chair of Boulder Mountain Schools in charge of summer sessions. Having served also as director of Basic Rock School for several years, years on the Club Council, past editor of the GPS, and a past Council Chair, the tribute was well deserved, and was recognized by awarding her a large bouquet of flowers, and a hearty round of applause.
Once the perfunctory annual meeting tasks of recognizing longtime members, acknowledging the volunteer help with the dinner, then all other volunteers, including trip leaders, the current chair, Roger Drake, performed his last official duty, which is welcoming the new incoming Chair, Roger Hedrick. The traditional ritual of handing over the “branding iron” (an actual tool that was used to brand tools at the CMC Cabin) was done, and then the current president asked for all the Council members to come up and take a bow, so the crowd could see the people “who get things done.”
Then, the star event of the evening was ready to take place: hearing from the invited speaker Roger Briggs. (It should be mentioned it was Roger Drake who can be credited for recruiting Mr. Briggs to make his presentation.) For those not aware of Boulder’s climbing history, Mr. Briggs is a local living legend, having contributed many difficult first ascents, particularly during the early history of rock climbing in the Boulder area. A native of Boulder, Roger spent his career as an instructor in physics at Boulder’s Fairview High School, as well as coaching the track team. Now retired for some years, he still climbs actively at a high standard. Beyond Boulder, Roger climbed extensively in Rocky Mountain National Park and put up several notable climbs on the Diamond, the sheer east face of Long’s Peak. (more…)
