PRESIDENT'S CORNER
By Scott Caul
Let me start off by saying PAY YOUR DUES!! Oops, sorry, that belongs in the treasurers corner.
Its sounding like a bunch of members have taken the initiative to brew for competitions, to that I say HOORAY! Myself, I still haven't brewed recently, BOO! I would like to host a brewing day soon though, with relative ease, we could make a few different brews all at once and then divide up the proceeds. I'm thinking Saturday, February 15, early start. Let me know soon if you are interested.
Now for the stern lecture...
As a club of over 55 members, we have a fairly small percentage of "active" members. In the five years I've been a member (I'm also guilty of being inactive), it seems like the same group of folks is always there to work. Some new faces have shown up over the past couple years, but more would be nice. This years Festival is going to take A LOT more work than years past and we all can enjoy it more if the work is spread out. I could drone on and on, but I shan't because Joel will pick up where I left off when he starts asking for help. Suffice it to say, thank you to all who help out, organize, host meetings, pick up litter, keep the books, write and contribute to the newsletter, and love doing it. To the rest, please consider giving a little time for the club, everyone benefits.
Sorry 'bout the gripe session, I'm done, I won't do it again...unless...
LITTER CREW DOGGED BY BAD WEATHER!
by Lee Smith
For only the second time in over seven years, we had to cancel a pick-up date. Due to the holiday rush, the usual December pick-up was postponed until January 4th. While it wasn't actually raining on the 4th, it had rained so hard during the night that our stretch of Highway 20 looked like prime wetland. Litter was soaked and almost impossible to lift with our tongs......so we held off until the following weekend.
On the 11th the area looked good and there was just a light, occasional drizzle in the air. We headed out (we being DOUG AND MARE GOEGER, DAVE BENSON, SCOTT LEONARD, FRANK SPIREK, JOHN STERNER AND LEE SMITH) and, naturally, it began to rain harder. After about an hour and a half, when I was satisfied that everyone was thoroughly drenched, we called it quits. We then retired to Hyak Park, where we stood around in the rain enjoying some Oregon Trader Highland Scotch Ale and Mare's hot (both ways) bean dip. All of which proves that it may rain too hard to pick up litter but never too hard to drink beer! And, in spite of it all, we still picked up 27 bags of trash.
UPCOMING FESTIVAL DATES
All the following festivals are encouraging HOTV members to enter their homebrews and, if interested, to join in judging.
Mill Creek Classic, (THIS SATURDAY) February 8, 9:30am at the Southside Speakeasy in Salem
Slurp 'N Burp, March 29 at the Ram's Brewery in Salem
Oregon Homebrew Festival, May 16 & 17 at the Benton County Fairgrounds
