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Posted by MaineNSP 05/12/08

Maine Region Meeting : Saturday, May 17, 2008

Where: Ground Round, 110 Community Drive, Augusta, ME

Time: 9:00 AM - 1:30 PM

Notes: Snacks will be provided

Contact: John Kane at jkane@faeboston.com or by phone: 617-224-2824 (cell)

Notes from the Region Director - John Kane

Posted by MaineNSP 03/10/08

If all I had to do was to promise you the best snow season ever to win your vote, I would have gone with that. Instead, I promised that I would have to earn your trust by listening to what each of you was asking of your leadership team. I have also promised to deliver meaningful programs to all of our members in the Maine region. Lastly, to arrange a dedicated group of individuals to carry out these promises state wide. This, by far, has been the more challenging option, but the most rewarding.

Congratulations to all Maine NSP members for your thoughtful consideration of the election process and the candidates at your respective refreshers. Maine had the largest turnout over any other region with over 70% of the members participating in the elections process. A special thanks to Wayne Arsenault for putting in the time to generate the ballots and personally taking charge of this most important task. For Gerry Desjardins and I (your candidates), it was a rewarding experience for both of us. It was also a chance to meet most of you for the first time. We have gathered a lot of information from the patrols as a group and private meetings with members who had thoughtful suggestions for us to undertake. While I am grateful to have earned your vote, I want to thank Gerry for his commitment to the process and his continued service for the Maine region.

We did not waste any time in getting things organized. In fact, a lot of the groundwork for program delivery had already been underway before the final results of the election was known. I would like to thank our program advisors for getting the programs on the calendar and keeping to the schedule. To date, we have not canceled any event. In fact, all events have had excellent attendance!

As I made known to all of you that I visited at your OEC refreshers, I was going to invest money into the Maine Region for the purpose of updating equipment and to bring us to current standards with the requirements of the NSP programs. To date, we invested in 6 completely outfitted bags for the OEC program with everything that most (if not all) patrols require. These bags travel with the OEC team for EMM, Student, Certified, and OEC Enhancement programs. Additionally, we have purchased a moulage kit to give a very "real feel" to the scenarios presented. Please check in with Dan Pascucci and his team for more information. The Ski & Toboggan Group headed up by Wayne Arsenault will receive 4 new toboggans complete with sled carriers ready to go for next year's clinics and exams. We have also purchased Lift Evac gear, Avalanche equipment (including Ortovox M2 transponders), and Low Angle Rescue gear for those intereted in exploring Mountain Travel and Rescue and more. In short, your region leadership will make every reasonable effort to give our members access to the equipment that will allow the best possible training for the best possible result as they work to develop higher skill sets. An added benefit of these purchases is that your program advisors will bring resources to the mountain rather than the mountain having to provide what limited resources they have. We are excited about the opportunities to deliver meaningful programs with quality equipment. This combination is working because our program attendance is increasing in interest and participation.

March is a very busy month with many evaluations and events scheduled. I will check back with all of you with the results of our student and adult members as they strive for their respective goals at the Student Seminar, Senior, and Certified events.

Lastly, I want to thank my wife Debbie for taking on the job of keeping our website up and running! This is an important way to keep the information current and flowing. Please let us know your thoughts on the quality of information posted and ways for us to improve the site.

On behalf of the region staff, thank you for your continued input and support. Keep on skiing and riding!

Best regards,

JK