The year has flown by and this is my last Presidents Message. So I am calling it the State of the Club address. (warning, It may contain some of my own personal thoughts and opinions, so no one get there shorts in a knot).

1.The economy of the club is healthy. Over the last several years we have slowly brought up the financial health through the hard work of club members helping put on events and fundraisers. This effort will always need to be taking place as it cost money to run a club and put on events, and without them the bank account can empty pretty fast. I encourage everyone to be a participant.

2. The environment: I know we are in the throws of global warming but this year has been like no other I can remember in the amount of snow fall. Races were actually canceled due to too much snow! Because of the excessive amounts of snow and lack of trails there of, grooming became a huge issue. The efforts to keep trails opened and groomed on Mt. Hood falls in the hands of a few hardy volunteers. This year their efforts were never enough, as Mother Nature just kept laying down the white stuff. Since we as dog mushers are dependent on trails getting groomed, I feel this club in the future will need to be proactive with grooming issues.

3. Population (ie:membership). With the prices of living (including gas) going up, it is going to be harder and harder for people to own big kennels. Therefore I think the focus of education and membership needs to be geared toward those folks with just one or two dogs. I believe scootering and skijoring are going to be the mainstay of people entering this sport. Once hooked, we all now what happens, 1 or 2 dogs suddenly become 3,4,5,6, etc. We need to continue to be involved in community events and volunteer time to go speak to schools to educate and promote this wonderful sport. Getting young people involved with mushing is the only way this sport will continue to grow.

4.Foreign Affairs: The pressures on the mountain for multi-use are ever growing and each user group feels their sport is the most important. At the same time the trend of the Forest Service is to close areas to use (due to lack of funds and other issues). It is going to be incresingly important that this club stay abreast of changes to policy and forest uses that might affect our ability to run dogs. Its a big job and very time consuming but if we do not continue to be a voice when policies are being formed we may find we know longer have a place to play.

Well thats about it. Thank you for letting me be your president this past year. I look forward to many years of involvment with this club.

-Kim