On-hill Evaluation
Next weekend February 22nd & 23rd kicks off Northern Michigan Region’s “Evaluation Season”. NMR Section 3’s Alpine Patroller Evaluation is Saturday at Schuss Mountain followed by the NMR Senior Evaluation at Boyne Highlands on Sunday. In addition, Eastern Michigan Region will be conducting a Senior Evaluation at Boyne Mountain on Saturday. Continuing a long standing cooperative relationship between EMR and NMR both evaluations will include candidates from the other region. In total approximately 40 alpine and senior candidates will take the hill at this weekend’s evaluations.
Evaluators will barely have time to catch their breath before gathering at Nubs Nob Sunday March 2nd with another 15 – 20 candidates for NMR Section 1s Alpine Patroller Evaluation.
Congratulations and thank you to the training staffs that have worked with these candidates to bring them to this place in the season. Congratulations to the Candidates, you have already passed the biggest test by being certified by your patrol trainers. Now it’s time to go have some fun and show the Section, Region and Division what you have learned.
Please note that the NMR Senior On-hill Evaluation has been moved form Boyne Mountain to Boyne Highlands on Sunday February 23rd.
Procedural Change
The Region will present successful Alpine Patroller (Basic) Candidates with a Certificate of Achievement at the evaluation event. Each patrol will be responsible for presenting pins and patches to new Alpine Patrollers at their end of the year function when candidates have completed OEC, Patroller 101 and/or any other local requirements.
Senior OEC Clinic
Thank you to OEC Instructors Rod Kivell, Don Desautels, Pete Toundaian, Wendy Sinkus, Lynne Smetzer, Tena Lechtanski, Mary Gaffney, Tim Gaffney, Megan Thompson, Pat Throop, Jerry Rodeman and Virginia Rodeman for giving our three Senior OEC Candidate a great preparation clinic February 9th. Candidates, Howard Bates, Chris Vogelheim & Scott Lucy each led five and assisted with another three senior level scenarios during the clinic. The event was a great confidence builder, helped the candidates get the nerves under control and learn that Senior OEC is simply applying our training in situations we rarely see.
The Senior OEC Final Evaluation will be conducted at Boyne Highlands on Sunday March 9th. ROA Rod Kivell will be contacting Senior OEC Evaluators with details.
Hanson Hills
Patrol Director, Dianne Knapp and four other patrollers from Hanson Hills visited Schuss Mountain for toboggan training last week. None of the current patrollers had been trained or even seen a rescue sled in operation. All rescue transportation is conducted with a snowmobile attached sled. Thanks to Larry and Tom Murton, the Hanson Hills patrollers made several runs mastering the basics of sled operation ready to go back and practice on their own hill.
Awards
Virginia Rodeman reminds everyone that the deadline for individual award applications is this week. She has received several applications which are starting the region review process. If you are working on nominations for National Appointments, Leadership Commendation Awards, Merit Stars or Patroller Crosses please get them to Virginia this week.
The deadline for Outstanding Awards is less than two weeks away. Awards are available in several categories including Outstanding Patrol, Patroller, OEC Instructor and Instructor. There is no magic to preparing an award application. It takes a little digging and time filling in the blanks on the application form. But at the Region level does not need to be “perfect”. The Region Awards Staff can help “polish” a winning application for submission to Division but they need your application as a start.
Note there are two separate Outstanding Instructor Awards. Instructional activity in any NSP discipline except OEC counts toward the Outstanding Instructor Award and OEC instructor activity only counts toward the Outstanding OEC Instructor award.
Season End Reports
PD’s, Section Chiefs, ARD’s, advisors and other region staff, we are rapidly approaching the end of the season (did he really say that?). It doesn’t seem possible but we are only five weeks from the Central Division Spring Meeting. You have all accomplished a lot this season and I will have a brief opportunity to “toot our collective horn” at that meeting, but only if you tell me of all the great things that have been accomplished. Please send me a brief report of activities by March 8th so I can consolidate them and submit a recap to Division. (Rod I’ll hold space for the OEC update until after the Senior Evaluation.) I’ll also use these reports (with any post season updates) for the spring Board Meeting Update).
Spring Meeting
Please mark your calendars now. The NMR Spring Board Meeting and Awards Banquet will be held Saturday May 3rd at the Cedar River Hotel, Schuss Mountain, Shanty Creek Resorts. We have a lot to celebrate this year, please make plans to attend both events.
Next weekend February 22nd & 23rd kicks off Northern Michigan Region’s “Evaluation Season”. NMR Section 3’s Alpine Patroller Evaluation is Saturday at Schuss Mountain followed by the NMR Senior Evaluation at Boyne Highlands on Sunday. In addition, Eastern Michigan Region will be conducting a Senior Evaluation at Boyne Mountain on Saturday. Continuing a long standing cooperative relationship between EMR and NMR both evaluations will include candidates from the other region. In total approximately 40 alpine and senior candidates will take the hill at this weekend’s evaluations.
Evaluators will barely have time to catch their breath before gathering at Nubs Nob Sunday March 2nd with another 15 – 20 candidates for NMR Section 1s Alpine Patroller Evaluation.
Congratulations and thank you to the training staffs that have worked with these candidates to bring them to this place in the season. Congratulations to the Candidates, you have already passed the biggest test by being certified by your patrol trainers. Now it’s time to go have some fun and show the Section, Region and Division what you have learned.
Please note that the NMR Senior On-hill Evaluation has been moved form Boyne Mountain to Boyne Highlands on Sunday February 23rd.
Procedural Change
The Region will present successful Alpine Patroller (Basic) Candidates with a Certificate of Achievement at the evaluation event. Each patrol will be responsible for presenting pins and patches to new Alpine Patrollers at their end of the year function when candidates have completed OEC, Patroller 101 and/or any other local requirements.
Senior OEC Clinic
Thank you to OEC Instructors Rod Kivell, Don Desautels, Pete Toundaian, Wendy Sinkus, Lynne Smetzer, Tena Lechtanski, Mary Gaffney, Tim Gaffney, Megan Thompson, Pat Throop, Jerry Rodeman and Virginia Rodeman for giving our three Senior OEC Candidate a great preparation clinic February 9th. Candidates, Howard Bates, Chris Vogelheim & Scott Lucy each led five and assisted with another three senior level scenarios during the clinic. The event was a great confidence builder, helped the candidates get the nerves under control and learn that Senior OEC is simply applying our training in situations we rarely see.
The Senior OEC Final Evaluation will be conducted at Boyne Highlands on Sunday March 9th. ROA Rod Kivell will be contacting Senior OEC Evaluators with details.
Hanson Hills
Patrol Director, Dianne Knapp and four other patrollers from Hanson Hills visited Schuss Mountain for toboggan training last week. None of the current patrollers had been trained or even seen a rescue sled in operation. All rescue transportation is conducted with a snowmobile attached sled. Thanks to Larry and Tom Murton, the Hanson Hills patrollers made several runs mastering the basics of sled operation ready to go back and practice on their own hill.
Awards
Virginia Rodeman reminds everyone that the deadline for individual award applications is this week. She has received several applications which are starting the region review process. If you are working on nominations for National Appointments, Leadership Commendation Awards, Merit Stars or Patroller Crosses please get them to Virginia this week.
The deadline for Outstanding Awards is less than two weeks away. Awards are available in several categories including Outstanding Patrol, Patroller, OEC Instructor and Instructor. There is no magic to preparing an award application. It takes a little digging and time filling in the blanks on the application form. But at the Region level does not need to be “perfect”. The Region Awards Staff can help “polish” a winning application for submission to Division but they need your application as a start.
Note there are two separate Outstanding Instructor Awards. Instructional activity in any NSP discipline except OEC counts toward the Outstanding Instructor Award and OEC instructor activity only counts toward the Outstanding OEC Instructor award.
Season End Reports
PD’s, Section Chiefs, ARD’s, advisors and other region staff, we are rapidly approaching the end of the season (did he really say that?). It doesn’t seem possible but we are only five weeks from the Central Division Spring Meeting. You have all accomplished a lot this season and I will have a brief opportunity to “toot our collective horn” at that meeting, but only if you tell me of all the great things that have been accomplished. Please send me a brief report of activities by March 8th so I can consolidate them and submit a recap to Division. (Rod I’ll hold space for the OEC update until after the Senior Evaluation.) I’ll also use these reports (with any post season updates) for the spring Board Meeting Update).
Spring Meeting
Please mark your calendars now. The NMR Spring Board Meeting and Awards Banquet will be held Saturday May 3rd at the Cedar River Hotel, Schuss Mountain, Shanty Creek Resorts. We have a lot to celebrate this year, please make plans to attend both events.