Birchleggings Club 2024 Annual Meeting a Celebration and a Milestone

On September 27, 2024, the Birchleggings Club (BLC) held its 2024 Annual Meeting at the Johnson Family Outdoor Center at the OO Birkie Trailhead.

Along with the BLC board members, approximately 20 additional persons attended.

Special guests for the day included John and Nina Kotar. John is a co-founder of the BLC. Louise Droessler, American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (ABSF) Development Director and the BLC’s liaison with the ABSF represented the Birkie Foundation.

A pre-meeting picnic lunch was prepared by Tom Rowley, Grillmeister, and other board members. Because of the very-unseasonably warm conditions in the sun, the pre-meeting festivities were moved from the patio to inside the Johnson Center. 

 

The BLC Strummers, consisting of Dave Balsiger, Tim Burke, Edward Eroe, and Jim Tenorio (JT) performed several songs, including Birkie Fever, two songs written by Tim Burke—Double O and Born in the Jackpine, and one song with lyrics by JT—Let Me Go Home Klister. Dave Balsiger ushered in the formal opening of the annual meeting by performing his Birkebeiner Morning song.

 

The meeting itself began with President Paul Thompson giving a warm welcome to all attendees and to Kortelopet 20+ Skiløpers and Birke+Korte 20-year-combination race finishers who are now eligible to join the Birchleggings Club (BLC).

A report was given on each of the 2024 BLC summer events that had taken place. The organizer of each event gave a summary of their event. Slides provided by Paul Thompson & Mindy Ahler illustrated each of the events.

 

Gus Virkus encouraged persons to attend our final summer event, the Fall Foliage Hike and Cornhole Tournament, to be held on October 10, 2024.

 

 

 

 

 

Louise Droessler gave an overview of the Birkie One Initiative and the different events/programs that are ongoing and planned. Birkie One is the ABSF’s effort, along with the support of the BLC to encourage and help persons of traditionally underrepresented persons/groups to become involved in Birkie-sponsored events and in outdoor-active physical activities in general here in the Northwoods. Louise also gave an update on the progress and the grand opening of Telemark Village and the Telemark Basecamp Building.

One of the regular agenda items at the annual meeting is the election of our board of directors. Two members, Dave Balsiger and Kim Ruud, were stepping down from the board.

Formal nominations were made for the following persons to join or continue on the BLC Board of Directors. A slate of candidates was recommended by the board as follows:

-       To renew their three-year terms on the board were Paul Thompson, Connie Meek, and Jim Tenorio (JT)

-       To join the board as treasurer: Tom Rowley

-       To join the board: Nona Goertz

The candidates above were elected by the members present to the board of directors.

 

The highlight of the day was a celebration to recognize Dave Balsiger for his many years of service to the BLC. Dave has been instrumental in founding and running the club since its inception 32 years ago, although he himself places his years of service at 26. Dave’s wife Linda was also recognized for the help she provided during all those years. Dave’s “retirement” from the board sets a milestone for the club as Tom Rowley steps in to assume the responsibilities as club treasurer.

Dave reminisced for the audience some of his experiences skiing, forming the club, and serving as treasurer and membership manager over the years. John Kotar, the co-founder of the BLC with Dave, expressed his appreciation and shared some of his memories of their involvement. He stressed several times that one of the most important benefits of the BLC is to develop and nurture the many friendships developed among skiers and club members over the years.

Paul Thompson presented Dave with gifts of appreciation for his service—a restaurant gift card and a gift certificate to Farm & Fleet, one of Dave’s favorite stores.

The tribute to Dave concluded with JT and the audience singing, With a Lot of Help from Our Dave. Sung to the melody of the Beatles’ With a Little Help from My Friends, JT wrote the lyrics, which were displayed on the screen, so folks could join along in the singing. See lyrics below.

 

With a Lot of Help from Our Dave Sung to the tune of, With a Little Help from My Friends September 27, 2024 Lyrics by Jim Tenorio, with apologies to Paul McCartney & John Lennon
 

1) What will we do in the Birchleggings Club
Since our treasurer has “turned in his keys?”
For 32 years Dave has managed the books,
And kept the membership records for free.
 

Chorus 1:
Oh, we got by with a little help from our Dave.
No, we thrived with a little help from our Dave.
No, we thrived with a lot of help from our Dave.
 

2) Dave paid the bills, and he took in the cash
At our breakfast with Tom at his side.
He’d maintain the lists from the ABSF
So you knew at what rank you reside.
 

Chorus 2:
Oh, we got by with a little help from our Dave.
Mmm, we thrived with a little help from our Dave.
Mmm, we would fly with a lot of help from our Dave.
 

Bridge 1:
(Do you need anybody?)
We need a new treasur-er.
(Could it be anybody?)
Tom has stepped in to serve.
 

3) Dave did big mailings and set up our booth,
Linda helped him with all the work!
He could tell you just when your membership will expire
And sold all of our hats and T-shirts.
 

Chorus 3:
Oh, we got by with a little help from our Dave.
Mmm, we thrived with a little help from our Dave.
Mmm, we would fly with a lot of help from our Dave.
 

Bridge 2:
(Will we miss anybody?)
We’ll miss Dave after he goes.
(Will we miss anybody?)
We thank him more than he knows.
 

Final Chorus:
Oh, we got by with a little help from our Dave.
Mmm, we thrived with a little help from our Dave.
Mmm, we would fly with a lot of help from our Dave.
Yes we would fly… with a lot of help from our Dave…
With a lot of help from our Daa-aav

 

In spite of formal adjournment, socializing continued well after the meeting ended. The conversations and fellowship are a common theme of Birchleggings Club get-togethers, and they are one of the joys and benefits of membership.

Birchleggings Club Fall Foliage Hike and Cornhole Classic Wrap-Up

On a sunny Thursday afternoon, October 10, 2024, at beautiful Hyland Park Reserve in Bloomington, Minnesota, the Birchleggings Club had the final event in its inaugural year round of activities. Twelve people attended the Fall Foliage Hike And Cornhole Classic.

Three pits were available for cornhole, and the contestants were “Pitchin’ for Pumpkin Pies”, as six pies were raffled off and another consumed on site. A good time was had by all.

A big thanks to Gus and Julie Virkus for arranging for this fun event!

Stay tuned for next year’s calendar and hope to see you all at the Turkey Birkie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLC Annual Meeting • September 27, 2024 • Double OO Johnson Center

 

The Birchleggings Club will hold their annual business meeting and picnic:

Friday, September 27, 2024

11:00am to 02:00pm 

Samuel C. Johnson Family Outdoor Center at OO Trailhead near Seeley.

 

All BLC members, Birchleggers and Korteloppet 20-year finishers, family and friends are invited to this gathering.

 

The event will begin with a picnic at the Johnson Center with veggie and non-veggie grill items, potato salad, garden salad, loads of condiments and “Birkie Bars” from Bob Britz for a sweet finish. 

Birkie brews and non-alcoholic beverages will be served. This will be a zero-waste event, and participants are encouraged to bring their own picnic utensils and beverage cups as part of our commitment to the values of Birkie Green.

 

Background music will be performed by the BLC Strummers and potential performance by our guest of honor. Following the picnic on the patio, we will move inside the Johnson Center for our Annual Meeting. If you are coming, please register at the link below!

Register for the Meeting Here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe8UfnsbQ5hdR8_FjJekf82RY6IddQnuHH-OL814rAYkX8S-w/viewform

Agenda Here: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:f3311e8a-8a0c-4ec8-8f36-edb5eb4c2612?mc_cid=f81395cb39&mc_eid=aba22f36c1

If you are not a Member, Join Now at this link: https://runsignup.com/Race/WI/Hayward/BirchleggingsClubMembership?mc_cid=f81395cb39&mc_eid=aba22f36c1

Finally, don't miss reading the September Birchleggings Club Newsletter at this link: https://mailchi.mp/d2e510750d36/birchleggings-club-newsletter-8873778?e=aba22f36c1

 

See You on September 27th, from 11:00am to 02:00pm, at Double OO!

Birchleggings Club Disc Golf and Dinner Wrap-Up

Following the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation Annual meeting on August 10, 2024, with 60 people, Birchleggings president, Paul Thompson, toured the existing disc golf course at Telemark Village, which needs to be re-designed and improved. The move to include a new course is off to a slow start, however, Paul did receive interest and support from Dave Twork, co-owner of Home Base, the on site lodging location on the Telemark Village property.

There is much more to come as the mountain bike and roller ski trails are completed which allows for a new design of the disc golf course, removing safety concerns.

Thanks to Birchlegger Scott Smith for his interest in developing this new addition to the Telemark Village design.

If you are a disc golfer and would like to help with this project, please contact Paul Thompson at paul@coolplanetmn.org

Have you never played this fun sport? If not, here’s a primer on the game of disc golf:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7Buk1Hn8jM

Birchleggings Club Dakota Trail Bicycle Ride Wrap-Up

A rainy morning turned into a mostly sunny and comfortable day for the 1st Annual Birchleggings Club Dakota Trail Bicycle Ride on August 15, 2024. We had seven riders, with six doing the 57-Mile Wayzata to Lester Prairie Route and back and one rider that did the 38-Mile option from Mound and back. Two riders turned it into a 100-Mile Century ride, by riding to and from Wayzata and Minneapolis. Things were iffy since there was lots of rain the night before the ride, but the clouds opened up, and we had mostly sunshine for the ride.

All riders are now Founders of the Birchleggings Club Dakota Trail Bicycle Ride in the tradition of Tony Wise and the American Birkebeiner Ski Race!

The riders had lunch at the famous Central Cafe at the end of the Dakota Trail in Lester Prairie. "Mary Kate's Bitchin' Kitchen" did not disappoint the riders with her delicious sandwiches on homemade bread!

The photographs are all from the Central Cafe. The owner Mary Kate took the photographs. The one outside, from R to L, include Edward Eroe, Greg Fields, Ed Hasselman, Adam Smith, Julia Virkus, Gus Virkus, and Sophia Beal.

A big thanks to all the riders that have completed several Birkie and / or Korte races and one, Sophia, who now wants to do one of the races in the future, after listening to all of our stories!

Birchleggings Club / Birkie Green Race-Bib Recycling and Landfill Tour Wrap-Up

 

One of the positive efforts of the Birkie Green initiative of the American Birkebeiner has been to source the thousands of race bibs used every year from recycled material. Borah Teamwear produces the bibs in Wisconsin using recycled fiber made from plastic water bottles. Unfortunately, every year after Birkie week concludes, the ABSF is left with a good number of unused race bibs. The Birchleggings Club has taken some of those bibs and crafted them into reusable shopping bags. Some folks have returned their used race bibs so they can be repurposed or recycled, but the Birkie Bib Bags only make a small dent into the number of leftover bibs that would be destined for a landfill.

 

On July 19 the Birchleggings Club collaborated with the ABSF to take the next major step in reducing bib waste by preparing over 2800+ bibs for recycling. In a day-long environmental-action event, volunteers not only ushered the bibs on their way to a new life, but learned what happens to everyday trash when it gets thrown “away.”

 

The day began with a tour of the Republic Services Lake Area Landfill near Sarona, WI, about 45 minutes south of Hayward. Jason Eraquam, Operations Manager of the facility gave the group an overview of the facility, its history and operation, and then guided them around the 300+acre site. While visiting a landfill might not seem very attractive or exciting, Jason’s excellent presentation opened our eyes to the complexity and long-term considerations that go into creating, operating, and maintaining a landfill. Site selection, site preparation, remediation/cleanup of old landfill sections, watershed design and protection, leachate collection and treatment, water monitoring, methane capture and reuse, windblown refuse collection, pest prevention, recycling, restoring the vegetation when done, local road maintenance, educating the public, using new technology, and more go into operating the site beyond just burying trash in the ground. The care that is taken to manage the site responsibly was impressive.

 

After the tour, more volunteers joined the group to “strip the chips” from thousands of Birkie, Korte, and Prince Haakon race bibs. The timing chips and year stickers on the bibs needed to be removed before they would be acceptable for recycling by Terracycle, the company doing the reclamation. The nineteen volunteers completed the work in a few short hours.

 

Some of the bibs were given to Julie Virkus and Nancy Bauer, who created “The Bib Boutique” where they use their sewing and quilting skills to transform the bibs into an array of colorful quilts, mittens, ski bags and apparel. Be sure to look for their creations, as well as Birkie Bib Bags, at the Birchleggings Club booth during next year’s Birkie Expo. The proceeds from the sales are donated to local ski organizations such as Emily Foundation, Spooner Nordic Ski Team, Hayward Nordic Ski Team and Nordic Kids.

 

The Birchleggings Club sends its thanks to Jason Eraquam of Republic Services, Rachel Frydenlund, ABSF Event Logistics Manager, Paul Thompson, BLC President, and the volunteers who made the event a success.

1st Annual Birchleggings Club Golf Classic Highlights

The 1st Annual Birchleggings golf classic was held at Creeks Bend Golf Course in New Prague, MN on July 18, 2024. In addition to supporting the Birkie experience, participants enjoyed a great day of golf on a bluebird morning with temperatures in the high 70s. There were 67 golfers on the course, plus 10 additional persons who did not golf but donated directly to the event. So in effect, we had 77 paid participants. The goal for next year is 100 + golfers! Mark your calendars for next year’s golf scramble scheduled for the third week in July on Thursday, July 17, 2025.

 

Ben Popp, Executive Director of the American Birkebeiner Foundation, joined forces with the two new Birchlegger board members Kim Rudd and Kitty Earl-Torniainen for a fantastic foursome golf squad. Team members discovered that Ben’s second career may be in professional golfing! "It was great to spend the day with a group of amazing, passionate people supporting the lifestyle we all love! Getting people out, enjoying new friendships while raising money for the Birchleggings Club was awesome - the start of a new summer tradition", said Ben after the event.

Around $6,000 was raised by the golf event which will be used to keep improving the Birkie trail system, grooming equipment, bridges, outhouses, skating pond, and the development of Telemark Village.

 

 

Many event participants went home with raffle and silent auction prizes donated by over 35 vendors. Team and individual prizes were awarded to the following golf participants:

 

      The Golf Tournament Championship Team was awarded to the foursome team of Paul Thompson, Ted Johnson, Dan Riukin, and Jim Tenorio.

      

      The 150-yard target course winner was Paul Tate. John Kapsner and Sam Mohs shared the win for the closest to the pin contest. The longest golf putt was awarded to Steve Hughes and the accuracy drive closest to the line was John Canny.

 

The Birchlegger board would like to thank all the volunteers, Birkie Foundation staff especially Louise Droessler, and vendor sponsors for making the 2024 Bircheggings Club Golf Classic a huge success.

 

All the photographs from the event can be seen on the Birchleggings Club Facebook Page. You do not have to be a member of Facebook to view the photos!

 

Special thanks Bob Britz and Jim Haubrich for the overall coordination of the event, Louise Droessler for assisting us with RunSignUp, Gina Fadden for the photographs, and to Kim Rudd for the wrap-up of the event!

Birchleggings Club Summer Solstice Stroll Wrap-Up

 

 

On a soggy solstice morning, the clouds parted just long enough for a few of us to kick off the Birchleggings Club Year Round Activities with the Summer Solstice Stroll on June 20, 2024. The activity was coordinated by Birchleggings Club Board Member, Gus Virkus.

Gus reported that their group hiked for several miles on the trails at Theodore Park in Minneapolis. There are a variety of paths to choose from, ranging from asphalt to multi use single track. It is interesting and nicely shaded. Of course, the obligatory snacks and beverages followed the hike.

Please consider joining us on our next event, July 18, 2024, for the Birchleggings Club Golf Classic. After the golf, there are other activities that you can find on the Birchleggings Club Year Round Activities Page! Sign up today!

Birchleggings Club Year Round Activities!

 

Come join the Birchleggings Club for several Year Round Activities this summer and fall. Keep in touch with your skiing friends while enjoying, Hiking, Golf, Birkie Green Race Bib Recycling, Disc Golf, Bicycling, and Corn Hole. See all the details on our Year Round Activities webpage!

Sign up now and don't miss these special ways of spending time with friends and keeping in shape for the American Birkebeiner Ski Races in 2025!

Jessie Diggins Autographed Bib To Be Auctioned During Birkie Week

At the American Birkebeiner in 2024, the Birchleggings Club (BLC) will offer at silent auction one of the commemorative 50^th Anniversary Birkie bibs autographed by Jessie Diggins. A limited number of bibs were produced and autographed by Jessie for the milestone 50^th Birkie.

Jessie Diggins has autographed specially-prepared Birkie Bibs to help raise funds in support of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation (ABSF). The BLC is fortunate to have obtained one of the bibs. Our thanks go to Ben Popp, Executive Director of the ABSF for providing the BLC with a bib. Proceeds from our auction will go to BLC projects that will benefit the American Birkebeiner and the Birkie Trail.

 

 

 

 

 

Silent Auction Schedule

 

Birchleggings Club Booth at the Birkie Expo

Thursday, February 22 & Friday, February 23, 2024

Hayward High School, Hayward, WI

 

and at the

 

Birchleggings Club Annual Breakfast

Sunday, February 25, 2024, 8:30 am

Steakhouse & Lodge, Hayward, WI

 
Jessie Diggins, X-C Ski Legend

 

Jessie Diggins is the USA’s most-decorated world-class cross-country skier of all time. She is the first US Nordic racer ever to win an Olympic gold medal, obtained in the team sprint with Kikkan Randall, at PyeongChang in 2018. She won individual silver and bronze medals at Beijing in 2022. Her FIS Nordic World Ski Championship record includes four medals from 2013 to 2017. Jessie was the first American to take the top spot in the women’s overall standings of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup for the 2020-21 season. She has been making multiple podium appearances during this 2023-24 World Cup season. She took top honors in the 2008 and 2009 Kortelopet skate races. The Kortelopet wins and coming from her home in Afton, Minnesota make her accomplishments even more heartwarming for Birkie enthusiasts.

 

Jessie was instrumental in helping the BLC raise the funds to purchase for the Birkie trail an all-electric Taiga “Nomad” snowmobile in 2023. She autographed and donated four of her World Cup race bibs and several Birkie and Korte bibs to the BLC for the 2023 auction.

 

In Jessie’s own words:

“As an athlete, following a gas-powered vehicle filming the lead pack is harmful to both my lungs and to the planet. I highly encourage EV snow machines to be used at race venues whenever possible to reduce the breathing issues for the athletes and to cut down emissions.”