Presidents Message - A Sad Day

To the members of Cascade Sled Dog Club,      This has to be the hardest letter that I have to write.  Bob Hills has lost his battle with cancer.  We have lost a piece of history.  Bob Hills had been an active member of this club for some 30+ years.  He had served as president, vice president, and board member more times than anyone could count.  He had been trail boss, at our races and was always there to help in what ever needed to be done.  We have lost an educator and mentor.  Bob and Lee have started so many people in this sport.  Without there help a lot of us would not be where we are today.  He was our education chairman for many years, he always had great subjects to talk about. I know for my own personal experience, that I never would have had the opportunity to run dogs if it wasn't for Bob.  Bob was always there to give me advice on what I needed to be doing.  I had an opportunity to borrow dogs from Bob for quite a few years.       We have lost the smile, of this club.  Bob was always well known for his jokes and good sense of humor.  He was one that you could always count on for having a good time.  I will always remember hooking Lee's team up and in the middle of hooking her team up, Bob would stop and start to tell a joke.  In the Gangline, there would periodically be cartoons that were signed ROH.  For those of you that did not know, that was Bob Hills.  He always was trying to keep people in a good mood, laughing.  At the meetings, when I would take a vote, I could always count on Bob to vote no.  He would always keep us on our toes.       At the July meeting the club voted to have the sportsmanship award named "The Bob Hills Award" in honor of his spirit and dedication to the Cascade Sled Dog Club.  As long as the Cascade Sled Dog Club exists we will have this award to remember Bob.  The members of Cascade Sled Dog Club offer their deepest sympathy to Lee in the loss of her husband.  The Club will always be there to help and support her.  I know that Bob is at a place where the snow is deep, his dogs are fast and the sun is at his shoulders.  Sincerely,     Tim Curley