Nisei Ski Club

Armand Gutierrez, NSC President

Summer has officially arrived and we can now expect warm-to-hot temperatures for the next three months. Our wet winter is behind us and drought conditions are not as much as a concern as last year. However, one year of above-average rains is not going to alleviate the drought problem. Yes, El Niño brought us a good rainy season, but now La Niña is expected to impact our weather system and that could bring us another dry winter season.

Mt. View Obon Festival – July 16th and 17th

This is an annual volunteer event that NSC participates in and is always a fun event. After all, there’s a variety of food, carnival-style games, cultural events, lots of people, lots of food, and the famous Beer Booth. There’s room for a few more volunteers to work the Beer Booth and the new Chicken Teriyaki so look for information in the newsletter or contact Karen Soo tripdirector@niseiskiclub.org.

NSC Annual Membership Meeting and Luau Picnic, June 11th

Once again we had a great turnout for our annual membership meeting and Luau picnic, and the weather was most cooperative. And once again I didn’t win the Left-Center-Right game that Karen sponsored. Congratulations to Rick Dumlao for being the big winner. Even if he had lost, it would have been to his wife Patt because they were the only two left. Thanks to everyone that showed up and had a great time.

Snowmass Ski Week 2017

Applications have been coming in for the Snowmass ski week so if you haven’t signed up yet then what are you waiting for? There are quite a few from Hawaii coming on this trip and I expect it to fill up quickly. Link to the flyer: Snowmass 2017 week trip.

It’s not too late to consider getting the Mountain Collective Season Pass https://mountaincollective.com, which will be good for two days skiing at Aspen Snowmass, plus a third resort of your choice. The Mountain Collective is also good for Mammoth, Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows.

The Mountain View Obon Festival is July 16 and 17. NSC provides volunteers for beer booth at the Mountain View Obon Festival every year. We need 2 more volunteers for the Sunday noon-3pm shift. If you’re interested in signing up for this slot, please email Karen Soo.

If you want to volunteer for other activities, you can sign-up on the Mountain View Obon volunteer site. Here are links to the various activities that need support:

Pre-bazaar activities (during the week preceding the 16th and 17th)

• preconstruction staging and booth assembly
• manju making
• chicken, vegetable, and beef preparation

Bazaar weekend (July 16th & 17th)

• tempura booth
• udon concession in dining hall
• take out booth
• chicken teriyaki booth

Post-bazaar clean-up (during week following obon and bazaar

• post bazaar deconstruction

The Obon is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one’s ancestors. The festival has been celebrated at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple’s current location since the temple was completed in 1957. The Obon is the Mountain View Buddhist Temple’s biggest event of the year.

Link to Obon information: Mountain View Obon 2016

Rick Dumlao

We had the annual Nisei Ski Club picnic at Las Palmas Park in Sunnyvale. Thanks to the Board members and organizers for picking a perfect warm sunny day. As usual I arrived late for the event. Hawaiian fashions was the theme to wear. I got some flack for not wearing a Hawaiian shirt but the bantering was all in good fun. There was lots of good food to be had on the tables. People brought tasty dishes like couscous salad, grilled asparagus, veggies, and fruit salads. I can’t forget desserts like lemon poppy seed cake, mango cake, fruit cake, banana bread, and on and on. Curtis’ master chef skills at the BBQ rewarded us with great ribs and hot dogs. We had about 33 people which included a few new faces. Everyone enjoying each other catching up in conversations with the upcoming Snowmass trip, a big topic.

The usual highlight of the picnic is the “Left-Right-Center” game, played with 3 lively dice and a few $$$. You never know which way the ebb and flow of money will go. At the end with only two out of twenty one players are left, Patt had 3 dollars in her hand and I had a measly $1 bill — barely surviving. Surely she would out last me. She throws the dice into the pan and everyone peers in to see how it landed. Wh-a-a-a-t . . . no . . . couldn’t be . . . 3 C’s are showing in the pan with a pile of dollar bills! She throws her bills into the pan and I throw my fists into the air with a victorious smile, yes!

The Nisei Ski Club again shows its great sense of community and camaraderie as a club having events like this. Looking forward to other events.

Armand Gutierrez, NSC President
June has arrived and that signifies the start of the 2016-2017 NSC season. Since there were no new nominations and all board members agreed to serve once again, then this season will be a continuation of last season. Thanks to all of you that took the time to vote.

Election Results
The 2016-2017 election results are as follows:

• President – Armand Gutierrez
• Vice President – Hoyt Nelson
• Treasurer – Frank Chang
• Trip Director – Karen Soo
• Membership – Greg Wong
• Newsletter Editor – Judy Hom
• Board Member – Brian Hess
• Board Member – Allen Hu
• Board Member – Sandy Kiyomura
• Board Member – Curtis Otaguro
• Board Member – Dave Schultz

Upcoming Events

The Mt. View Obon Festival is on July 16th and 17th. This is an annual volunteer event that NSC participates in and is always a fun event. After all, there’s a variety of food, carnival-style games, cultural events, lots of people, and the famous Beer Booth. There’s room for a few more volunteers to work the Beer Booth so look for the flyer in the newsletter or contact Karen Soo tripdirector@niseiskiclub.org).

NSC Annual Membership Meeting and Luau Picnic, June 11th
Mark this down in your calendar for the NSC Annual Picnic on June 11th at Las Palmas park in Sunnyvale (same place as last year). See the flyer in the newsletter and the Evite invitations have already been sent out. If you didn’t get an Evite in the mail then please let me know (president@niseiskiclub.org).

Snowmass Ski Week 2017

Plans are moving smoothly for the Snowmass ski week trip for 2017. Take a look at the flyer and make that all-important decision to be on this trip. You might also consider getting the Mountain Collective Season Pass (https://mountaincollective.com), which will be good for two days skiing at Aspen Snowmass, plus a third resort of your choice. The Mountain Collective is also good for Mammoth, Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows.

FWSA St. Anton am Arlberg Ski Week 2017

As a member of NSC you are eligible to participate in any of the FWSA/BAC ski trips. For 2017, FWSA is going to St. Anton am Arlberg, one of Austria’s most famous and extensive ski towns. The Arlberg area of ski resorts includes 94 cables cars and ski lifts, 210 miles of groomed pistes and 120 miles of deep snow runs.

Len Bridges and David Schultz

On May 1st, David Schultz led a happy band of twelve club members into the Pacific Heights region of San Francisco for Stairway Hike #4. This hike hadn’t been done by the club since July of 2010. Considering the beauty of this hike, it was long overdue. The weather was gorgeous and it was a very clear day.

Starting in the Marina district on Yacht Rd., we walked across the street to the Palace of Fine Arts, where the old Exploratorium used to be. The Palace of Fine Arts is always impressive. It’s like being thrown back into ancient Greece or Rome. Walking among the huge columns and rotundas, you might expect to see people wearing togas. Actually, there were some ladies in full white gowns, since the Palace is still very popular for weddings.

This photo gives you an idea of the scale of the buildings.

As we exited the park, we stopped for a group photo. Sunscreen anyone?

David had the maps and the path laid out by club member Hoyt Nelson. Of course one could conclude that David was only the titular leader, as knowledgeable ladies in the group took part in directing us in different directions. This was fine with Dave and the group was congenial, fun, and hung together as a team.

As we walked into Pacific Heights, the hike became challenging and even more fun. We traveled up some really steep steps, and plenty of steep streets as well. The hike was also educational. In the photo below, we walked past the home of Henry Casebolt, an inventor in the 1870’s who made it possible for one cable car track to cross another while maintaining control over the train car. He also invented a better grip and lever for operators to slow and accelerate the cable cars. As you can see, he obviously made a good living and built a fabulous house on Pierce Street.

We saw beautiful maintained neighborhoods, with staircases full of gardens, flowers, and expansive, exhilarating views of the marina and the bay.

We passed consulates of foreign governments as well as home of famous people. We started our descent back to the Palace of Fine Arts at the intersection of Lyon and Pacific streets. Here begins one of the most famous stairways in all of San Francisco – the Lyon Street stairs. Postcard views don’t come much better than this.

The stairways eventually drop down into a neighborhood of Italian Renaissance style homes before passing alongside the Presidio.

Before getting back to the Palace, Hoyt’s instructions had us turn left into the Presidio at Francisco Street. Within a short distance we reached the Letterman Digital Arts Center. This four-building complex, finished in 2005, is the headquarters of Lucasfilm and houses Industrial Light & Magic (the company responsible for so many movies’ special effects). In front of the complex is a pretty park with a pond, ducks, a Yoda statue, and plenty of large rocks for sitting on or hopping over. The pond was a nice spot for a nice break before the group split up.

Most people went home after leaving the Letterman Center, but five of us went to a restaurant called the Squat & Gobble that Maggie Chang recommended. We walked there via Chestnut Street, which actually has a lot of restaurants. The menu at the Squat has so many interesting items — it was difficult to choose. Len picked the fruit crepes with double scoops of ice cream (hey, it was a challenging hike and there was a need to replace calories, you know). Dave had a florentine omelet that was disguised as a salad. All in all, we had a fun time filling up on the fine food.

Armand Gutierrez, NSC President

It’s the month of May and that means it’s time to bring an end to the NSC 2015-2016 season. Like last year NSC had a pretty good season highlighted by a variety of accomplishments:

• Volunteer participation at the annual Obon Festival in Mountain View
• Volunteer participation at the annual Snowbomb Ski Shows
• Various hiking and picnic events
• Implementation of rideNSC, a ride sharing service for skiing
• An increase in membership
• First Annual Pizza Social
• A very well-attended ski week to Park City/Canyons

June marks the start of the NSC 2016-2017 season, and beginning this month you can take advantage of the $5 membership discount if you sign up and submit your membership form before May 31st. Please submit your applications to Greg Wong (Membership Chairman).

Since it’s the end of the ski season it’s time to start having our spring NSC events. Coming up we have our annual Post-Season Membership meeting and picnic on June 11th. Be sure to gander at the flyer in this month’s newsletter for details.

Nominations & Elections

The nominations process has been completed and the next step is elections. The elections chairman tells me there were no nominations therefore the slate consists of the incumbents, and we’re fortunate that everyone on the board has agreed to serve again. However, voting is important and although there were no nominations you can still vote for a write-in candidate. Whether you’re voting for the incumbents or a write-in candidate, it’s important that you do vote. You will be receiving an email informing you to vote online using SurveyMonkey.

Ski Week 2017

Plans are all ready in progress for our Snowmass ski week next year and details will be in the June newsletter. If you’re considering Snowmass for next year then you might also want to look into getting the Mountain Collective Season Pass, which will be good for two days skiing at Aspen Snowmass, plus a third resort of your choice. Snowmass date is January 28 – February 4.