Why would somebody want to post a trip report about a meeting? So that our Members can find out what happens in the realm of the Exec, in case somebody wants to be Exec next year. The meeting is typically held at somebody’s house, and this year Birgit offered her house. It’s a wonderful house, full of happy people and musical instruments.
So, what was the purpose of this meeting? So that the newly elected Exec could find out the challenges and opportunities discovered by the previous Exec, so they could do their jobs even better.
The joint Exec potluck is traditionally the best potluck you will ever see in VOC, because these people are all very keen and competent. There is always way too much good food and the house hosting the meeting gets to keep the leftovers, which somewhat compensates them for the chaos of having thirty people drop by.
So what was discussed? I tend to listen to things that I might be able to contribute to, or have been involved in, and I may have gotten it wrong occasionally.
There was a lot of discussion around poop, how the Brew outhouse has suddenly become full and unusable, and how MEC was asked for a pile of money for a helicopter, a steel door, and material to make a magical machine that will somehow make the poop all go away. The option of simply moving the outhouse does not work at Brew because it is mostly built on bedrock and digging a hole in bedrock is very hard. We look forward to this money arriving and considerable work being done at Brew over the summer, including hauling firewood up there. There was some discussion regarding mitigating the ever-increasing poop pile before the big thaw, but I don’t remember any conclusions.
There was a big discussion about installing canoes at Garibaldi Lake. Concerns included whether VOC Members alone should have access to these and whether the Club’s liability was adequately covered, should an accident occur, particularly one involving non-Members. It was pointed out that Garibaldi Lake is very cold and potentially fatal. The plan is to ask FMCBC for a pile of money to pay for canoes and material to build a shed to store them. The discussion evolved into further liability release documents, where the pfd equipment would be stored, and other unresolved issues. It was mentioned that if the FMCBC is footing the costs for the canoes, maybe they should be allowed to use them. The idea of VOC-only canoes seemed a little unfair to some.
I did not hear anybody ask what would be done if the above piles of money did not happen, but maybe that’s unlikely, or maybe we’ll deal with that, as necessary.
The poop topic was re-visited, in the context of Sphinx. It was explained that the outhouse at Sphinx is not full, and the pillar of poop up there would diminish once it thawed, that digging up there is relatively easy, and that the Sphinx outhouse was not built by VOC and has never been maintained by VOC, so probably a word to Parks should set it right.
Phelix was not mentioned AFAIK. The heating of Phelix and the installing of lights up there seem to have been forgotten or moved down in priority, though I hear our Huts Person is working on it.
Harrison didn’t receive any attention. Nobody mentioned whether the Authorities would be installing locked gates on the roads to stop interactions between skinny dippers and logging trucks and if this was likely to interfere with our hut access.
In other news, the big events, Rock Party, Son of Rock, Glacier School seem to be receiving the sort of attention they need. We discussed how to restrict Glacier School #1 to fewer people than want to attend, but still more than we can provide instructors for.
The newly-elected Exec were reminded that they are supposed to lead two trips per year and that more would be nice, and anybody can lead a trip and we need more trips. I don’t remember hearing of any specific trips other than Brew firewood.
Finding out who will be around for the summer, indicated that hardly any quarter-persons (gear persons) would be around. Others offered to fill the void.
So, looking forward to a good year, thanks to a keen sturdy Exec.
If you didn’t like this trip report, read the one about oreos. It’s really good!