2009 Meeting Highlights from the Programs Committee
November 11
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Looking back to the November 2009 Chapter Meeting - Photos by Jackson
Photos by Jackson
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Click any thumbnail to open a slideshow with additional images.
Could you feel your chair shaking from all of the toe-tapping and
foot-stomping around you? Was your view periodically obscured by a sea of
heads or bodies bobbing to the music in front of you? If you were affected by
either or both of these situations during Carl's, Casey's and the Dans'
sensational program, you know what a superb evening of visual beauty and
auditory delight was enjoyed by a crowd of about 320 people.
Carl Heilman, one of the finest landscape photographers in the Northeast,
showed his award-winning, multi-media presentation titled "I Am the
Adirondacks." Dan Berggren and Dan Duggan, two of folk music's nationally
acclaimed and award-winning musicians and songwriters, sang and played some of
the music from their CDs with Casey Filiaci, a nationally acclaimed and
Emmy-nominated composer and pianist who happens to be from Rochester. One
needn't look any further than this evening's program to understand why our
passion for the Adirondacks continues to grow.
Thank you, Carl, Dan, Casey and Dan, for sharing your love of these
mountains with us, and all of us look forward to your next visit!
If you wish to purchase merchandise from Carl or the Dans, here are the
URLs to their web sites: http://www.carlheilman.com/, http://www.berggrenfolk.com/ and http://esperanceproductions.com/index.html.
Casey does not sell merchandise, but here is the URL to his web site if you
wish to learn more about him: http://caseyfiliaci.com/home.htm.
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October 14
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Looking back to the October 2009 Chapter Meeting
Photos by Steve
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Click any thumbnail to open a slideshow with additional images.
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September 9
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Looking back to the September 2009 Chapter Meeting - Photos by Steve
At the September 9th chapter meeting, the following members were inducted into the High Summit Honor Society: Judy Immesoete, Dave Harrison, and Margaret Reek.
The HSHS exists to honor those distinguished members who have
contributed to the continued growth and development of the Genesee
Valley Chapter over an extended period of time. This year we honored
three exceptional individuals who have more than met those criteria.
Each person was awarded a certificate after a presentation of their
outstanding contributions to the chapter. Judy, Dave, and Margaret
graciously shared with us their feelings on being recognized in this
manner by the chapter and on the benefits of being active participants
in ADK-GVC.
I would like to give a special thanks to Bruce Tehan and Jim Bird
for their presentations; to Sylvia Harrison for organizing the cake and
hospitality; to Steve Tryon for photography; and to Rich Sensenbach for
designing and producing the plaques received by each new HSHS member.
Deni Charpentier, HSHS Selection Committee Chair
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June 13, 2009
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ADK Outdoor Expo
Floyd
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Carol
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Sally
– Steve –
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June 10
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Looking back to the June 2009 Chapter Meeting
The following slate of candidates
was approved at the June 10, 2009 meeting:
- Chair - Dave Harrison
- Vice Chair - Deni Charpentier
- Secretary - Bruce Tehan
- Treasurer - Bob Krenzer
- Director - Judy Immesoete
- Director - Tom Wallenhorst
Continuing in office are:
- Alternate Director - Shirley Thomas
- Alternate Director - Gail Soucy
- Alternate Director - Steve Tryon
- Alternate Director - Jackson Thomas
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May 13
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Looking back to the May 2009 Chapter Meeting
By Joanne Mitchell
For our May program Ken and Margaret Reek showed still photos and videos of
their trip to Africa last year, when they visited Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana and
Victoria Falls. They had amazing close-ups of lions, rhinos, hippos, giraffes,
hyenas, antelopes, and a wide variety of birds. They had a video of a black
heron hunting by spreading its wings to make a shady spot and then snatching
the fish that came to enjoy the shade. One impressive photo showed a
slightly blurred image of their van and then the camera pulled back to show
that the van was a reflection in the eye of an antelope. They also discussed
their accommodations and the food on their trip, and the options available,
like hot air balloon rides and trip extensions.
Thank you, Ken and
Margaret, for a superb program.
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April 8
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Looking back to the April 2009 Chapter Meeting
By Bill Schweinfurth
Ken Atlfather gave program that was both informative and entertaining. He
started with a brief history of the origins of kayaking - first developed in
the northern hemisphere by Inuit peoples as a madder of survival and the
surfski was developed in the southern hemisphere in Australia for fitness and
fun.
Ken continued on the theme of how events like the Open Water Challenge
promote the benefits of paddling for fitness – it's challenging, physically
demanding, motivational, and most of all fun. There are only about 50 people
in the Rochester area who train for racing – a very small number compared to
other countries who would love to have similar water resources at their back
door. Ken reviewed highlights of last year's race as well as a preview into
this year's June 27th race that will have both a 10 mile and 3 mile course.
Ken
invited people to come out to Baycreek on Wednesday nights where they set up a
2 mile course and run individual time trials with the goal to have fun and
introduce people to the sport. This is for paddlers of all abilities - boats
(both canoes and kayaks) can be provided if you don't have one.
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March 11
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Looking back to the March 2009 Chapter Meeting
Jim and Carol May described their 2000 mile self-supported bicycle journey
tracing one of the Underground Railroad routes from Mobile, Alabama to Owens
Sound, Ontario last Spring. They talked about how their experience differed
from the slaves who took that same route to freedom and how much easier it is
for today's travelers to know the way and what is ahead for them. They also
described how, as in the past, the kindness of many strangers (their
modern-day conductors) helped them on their journey. Following an overview of
their trip, the Mays showed us a slide show of their trip
accompanied by songs that told the story of the underground railroad travelers.
Jim and Carol are writing a book about their trip which will be available at
Lulu.com this summer. Currently available through Lulu.com is a book about
their cross-country bicycle trip titled "Bicycle Odyssey: A Pilgrimage to
Discover the Real America". They can also be contacted directly at c4js17@yahoo.com as they have some copies
on hand.
At the beginning of the meeting, Chapter Chair Gary DeWitt thanked Joanne
Mitchell for her many years of service as Geneseean editor. Joanne is stepping
down after the June issue.
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February 11
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Looking back to the February 2009 Chapter Meeting
Mike Allen, Senior Wildlife Technician of the NYS DEC is a man who is
passionate about his job. This was evident in his presentation on Wed
eve highlighting New York State's Bald Eagle Restoration Project. This
33+ year project has reached the incredible goal of restoring the
breeding population of eagles in NYS by importing young birds from other
states and hand rearing them to independence and release. This process
is known as hacking. Mike was joined by Paul Schnell, an educator
from the Institute for Environmental Learning, and Liberty, a rescued,
non-releasable, bald eagle. The moment Liberty was taken out of her
hood the audience was entranced by her majestic presence. This
amazing raptor was both gentle and intimidating.
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January 14
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Looking back to the January 2009 Chapter Meeting
By Shae Hanford
Most of us had some vague idea of how the more familiar physical features
arrived on the NY landscape, without any real understanding of the overall
forces or sequence of events. Tim McDonnell, (a geographer and board member of
the NY Geographic Alliance who teaches at MCC and the OSHER Lifelong Institute
for Learning at RIT), put the pieces altogether for us at the January program.
He led us on a geological journey through time, compressing millions of years
into a 1-hour program, aided with diagrams, maps, photos, and a good dose of
humor. We saw the dynamic interplay of plate tectonics, the Ice Ages, and
erosion over the ages producing the present day Adirondacks, Catskills, Finger
Lakes, Lake Ontario, Genesee and Hudson Rivers, along with the countless
eskers, drumlins, streams, and hanging waterfalls strewn across the State. We
also learned why the Adirondacks are "new" old mountains, and they continue
to get higher.
Tim pointed out how it was its u-NY-que geography which led to the State's
economic and population boom. As the glaciers receded to the north in the
waning days of the Ice Age, the northern glacial blockage caused NY's newly
created glacial melt lakes to backup to the point where the force of their
spillover waters, having nowhere else to go, blasted a water route E and S
through the surrounding highlands, creating the Mohawk Valley and the Hudson
River - the only opening through the unbroken chain of mountains along the East
Coast; and hence, the only economically feasible route on the East Coast for a
canal connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the "West", (ie., the Great Lakes).
From the applause Tim received at the conclusion of his presentation, and
the questions swarming him before departing, I think it fair to say that it was
a topic of genuine interest to the audience, and delivered in a remarkably
informative, comprehensive, and fascinating way.
The proposed revision to the Articles of Association of the Genesee
Valley Chapter were accepted by the membership at the January meeting.
Read them here (400 kb pdf).
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