Prairie's Edge Nordic
Skiers
October 2007
Newsletter
Well, the
upcoming ski season is soon upon us so it is nearly time to dust off the
skis. Let's hope for a winter with good snowfall! Here are a few
informational items to get the year started:
- We are planning a fall meeting but have not yet selected a
date. Last year we had a trail cleanup at Edgewood along with a ski swap after
the course closed. Stay tuned for an announcement of a fall get
together.
- PENS has
incorporated as a not-for-profit club! We now have a bank
account, can accept donations, and use those funds to support the goals of
the club. We will be trying to finalize bylaws and elect officers
this year. We look forward to everyone's input as we take these
steps to create the infrastructure to sustain and grow the club and xc
skiing in the area. Thanks to Jeff Quam and Rebecca Smith for
spearheading this effort!
- PENS is again teaching youth and adult Cross Country ski lessons
through the Fargo Parks in January. The class offerings have expanded
this year with the addition of a skate ski class. PENS members lead
by course director Erik Berg will be providing the instruction. See
the Fargo Parks University of
the Great Outdoors page for more information and on-line registration.
- Congratulations to PENS member Dan Thureen who took 2nd
in his age group in the North Shore Inline Marathon from Two Harbors to
Duluth in September! While on the inline topic, there will be
meeting to organize the inline skaters in the area on October 8th, 6 pm at the Gander Mountain meeting room. All inline
aficionados are encouraged to attend! Contact fm_sk8rz@yahoo.com for more
information.
- There have been some nice changes at Edgewood GC with the
completion of the new clubhouse.
- The new clubhouse has a
restaurant managed by Divots, who managed the old clubhouse and chalet
last year. The restaurant has a full bar and menu and is quite
nice. Check out the menu at the Divots
website. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner from 7am to 10pm, with the bar open to 1am. They hope to be open
year around. I had lunch there one afternoon and the food was very
good. I would encourage everyone to come out and support them,
especially you fellow North Siders! It would be nice if they can
continue to stay open through the winters as this will be a great place
to get together during the ski season. If they don't have enough
business, they might have to shut down once the golf season is over.
- The old clubhouse is currently
being renovated according to Dave Klundt from Fargo Parks. The
northeast side of the building had to be torn off due to the shifting
riverbank. This was the part that contained the restrooms and
ski/sled storage area. This clubhouse will still serve as the Winter
Chalet. It will again house the ski and snowshoe rental along
with the sleds for the sliding hill. It is great that this historic
building will continue to be "home base" for skiers at Edgewood.
- There are some great XC ski events this fall and winter at
nearby Rainbow Resort and
Maplelag Resort.
The Rainbow event calendar is attached along with the flyer for the
upcoming Maplelag Trail Run.
- As always, check out skinnyski.com
for the latest in Midwest XC skiing news.
That's all
for now! Please let me if you have any more information items for the
club membership and we'll put them into the next email to the
group. I have not had a chance to update the PENS Website for the
upcoming season, but will let the group know when I do.
Anyone
on the list should feel free to "reply to
all" if you have a question for the group, or are looking for
someone to train or ski with! For those who rollerski,
there is a nice 3 mile stretch of asphalt trail along University Ave starting
at 52nd Street South. If anyone is interested in a group "ski",
I am going to try to ski this trail on Sundays at about 11am this fall.
If that works for anyone let me know!