CONVENTION 2023 BOISE, IDAHO

FWSA Convention, 2023 – Boise, ID.    Not the usual deal!

Far West Ski Association’s annual convention held in Boise, Idaho June 15 – 18, 2024:   It started off with a great meal:  Wednesday evening started off with a visit to Ansots, a Basque restaurant not far from The Grove Hotel in the basque market area.   Dan Ansotegui, the owner and chef, was in the running for the 2023 James Beard award, sadly, he did not win.  Nonetheless, a wonderful chorizo and seafood paella was the main dish of the evening for our party of 20, and served with a flavorful red Spanish wine.  

Thursday brought us the infamous Pub Crawl.  A group of about 60 headed out in a few directions to a couple of the local brew pubs in downtown Boise and had a great time.  Finally ending up at the Basque Market for a nice dinner and some great drinks.  

Friday was Top Golf, in lieu of typical golf course.   It is very different though, all computerized.   You can play on a variety of courses.  The neat thing – the speed of your ball and distance are instantly calibrated, and WOW some of the drives were awesome.   Sadly, the thrill of getting that little white ball into the hole is just not there. 

Friday evening and the Silent Auction kickoffs the convention.   The Silent Auction raised over $21,000 from the attendees at the auction.   What a great event it was.   We also had a new MC for the evening, Austin Von Johnson.   A nice young man, with a big and wild imagination.   Improvisation, comedy, actor, writer, he does it all, and well.   He was a great asset for the evening.

Saturday is where the real nuts and bolts of these conventions is done:  Official opening meeting, and here we go.  Sports Leadership Academy this year had some two great speakers, “Group Travel Secrets – Details Determine Destiny”, presented by VP International Travel, Debbie Stewart, and “Preserving Ski Club History - Ease of Preparing a Digital History Book”, led by Tony Baker and John W. Lundin. 

The keynote speaker was Genia Fuller-Crews and she is a bundle of energy!  A small lady with a big happy attitude about skiing, skiing history and snow dancing from her past and was that fun to watch on video.  She is a World Freestyle Champion and Honored Member of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame inducee. 

The Los Angeles Council Volunteer of the Year, Pete Smith from Wailers Ski Club, was a great candidate, lots of experience, lots of adventure in his resume, but there was one just a bit better, so alas, Pete did not win.  LAC was proud to present such a worthy candidate for Volunteer of the Year.   Our clubs should be proud of his representation.  

Some awards for Los Angeles Council:   our website – 3rd place,  our newsletter – 1st place (thank you Gordon Cardona);  and Century City Ski Club received the award for Historic Club (for over 50 years). 

Smooth Avenue was the local band that entertained us after the Saturday night dinner, and with 70’s and 80’s rock n roll, some jazz, some slow dancing,  It was a wonderfully fun evening.  

Sunday, many attended the 7 a.m. (way to early!) traditional eye opener, then headed out to attend the FWSA Election meeting starting at 8 a.m.   Great meeting, we accomplished a lot, yet there were a few interesting developments – Debbi Kor has 1 more convention in her, at the Atlantis in Reno (maybe 2 more??).  Randy Lew, the FWSA treasurer for many, many years, did not take the position as the incumbent.  FWSA has big shoes to fill there, and luckily a few people are looking at how they can handle that board position.

All in all, with all the work, fun and pomp and circumstance of this convention, as usual, it was a great long weekend. 

Next year:  June 6 to 9, 2024 - The Atlantis in Reno, Nevada,