Message from the CRW President
Happy Holidays! I wish all our club members a glorious holiday season and hope that you spend it with loved ones. On December 7th, about 100 members attended our Holiday Party. Our new venue was festive and the food and beverages delicious. Many thanks to Linda Nelson for her planning and for the many volunteers who helped us pull it off.
CRW Volunteer Awards
Traditionally, CRW uses the Holiday Party as a forum to announce our Volunteer awards for the year. The club’s highest award is the Ralph Galen Service Award.
Ralph Galen Service Award In 2013 Ralph Galen, one of the original founders of CRW, passed away and named CRW as a beneficiary in his will. Ralph was a driving force in the Boston bicycling community as well as CRW. To perpetuate Ralph's name the Board of Directors initiated the Ralph Galen Service Award to be presented from time to time as appropriate to an individual who has worked tirelessly for CRW over many years. |
Charles River Wheelers has awarded the Galen Award only three times in the past - to Jack Donohue, Connie Farb and Eli Post. This year we awarded two of them, one to David Cooper and one to Bob Wolf.
David Cooper has been the recipient of CRW Volunteer Awards in 2002, 2003, 2011 and 2012. For 20 years, David produced the WheelPeople Newsletter without fail. He designed the original PDF layout and, every month for those 20 years, embarked on the tedious task of designing the pages so that all of the articles fit. At the same time, David updated the design of the club logo as needed and was responsible for adding a woman to the trio of cyclists. Club kits and volunteer t-shirts? Yes, that was David too. He willingly took on whatever graphical design projects the club threw at him.
Bob Wolf’s distinguised service to the club is also impressive. He previously received a volunteer award in 2012 for his work on the club’s helmet policy. Bob served as a Director for two terms from 2013 through 2018. He founded and organized the Jack’s Abby Rides – a fantastic fixture on our summer calendar which accomodates riders of all speeds and abilities and creates a great opportunity for all to socialize. Bob has coordinated the club’s use of Ride with GPS and taught both Ride Leaders and members how to use the tool. As if that isn’t enough, Bob steps up when needed working on the website redesign and the recent Bylaws and E-Bike Committees.
CRW is proud to recognize the tremendous contributions that these gentlemen have made to the club. In addition to receiving a plaque commemorating their award, Bob and David will each be given a CRW jersey when they are available next spring.
Climb to the Clouds
Mark your calendars now! Climb to the Clouds returns in 2020 on Saturday, June 6th. Though we can’t promise you better weather than last year, be assured you’ll have a great ride, great volunteers and great food.
Arrowing Policy
After a lengthy discussion, the Board has decided that Sunday Rides and Centuries will no longer be arrowed. Arrowing may be done at the discretion of ride leaders. As the use of Ride with GPS has broadened, the technology has supplanted the need for extensive volunteer hours to arrow. We’ll continue to offer group rides for those who prefer a more social atmosphere or are not yet ready to give total faith to an electronic device. Cue sheets continue to be available. Please see the Arrowing Policy article in this WheelPeople for more details.
Communications Committee
Last Spring, the Board created an ad hoc Communications Committee to review CRW's communications policy. Lisa Najavits headed this committee and was joined by Kristi Carlson, Robyn Betts, Jac Donohue and Brandon Milardo. The Committee made a number of recommendations to the Board including the transition to an email format for WheelPeople and social media prioritization. Foremost among the recommendations was that CRW should have a Vice President of Communiciations to oversee this crucial aspect for our Club. Rami Haddad has stepped forward as our Vice President of Communications and goes before the Board in January for approval. Rami is very active in other cycling organizations and is an energetic leader with the Appalachian Mountain Club. He also serves as a Director of Adventure Cycling Association, a national organization promoting cycle touring and advocating for better cycling infrastructure.
Rami is seeking several volunteers to work with him to set the strategy for all club communications – including website, newsletter, email, social media and other platforms.Please contact mcccxxv [at] gmail.com (Rami) if you are interested or have questions or suggestions.
Lisa Najavits is moving on to be our new Vice President of Volunteers. More to come on that new post in a future issue.
2020
Even in the off-season, club volunteers are busy getting ready for 2020. The Board is in the midst of planning and budgeting, the Century Committee has started setting up events, the Rides Committee has a full slate of activities planned and you’ll see social and educational events scheduled throughout the winter. I wish you all a wonderful New Year!