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January - March, 2023
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
EXECUTIVE ORGANIZATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
– Toby Kravet – 808-224-1065
Vice
President - Anita Hodges
Treasurer - Jonathan Carr
Secretary - Stewart Taggart
Michiro Iwanaga
Alan Teramura
Caroline Sluyter
Mike Tsutsui
Karl See
Nelson Dang
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Newsletter Editor
Toby Kravet
(Click on Contacts for e mail addresses)
CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
Every Monday evening (except on holidays and, of course, during Hawaii Ski Week), at 4:30 PM, a group of ski club members and their friends play tennis at Keehi Lagoon Courts, off Lagoon Drive. Stay in shape and enjoy a "careful social hour" afterwards.
December 21 (Wednesday) (6:00 PM) Pau Hana at Champ's Sports Bar in Kaimuki.
January 7 (Saturday) (5:00 PM) Pre-Trip Party for Big Sky at the home of Judy (Sobin) and Jeff (Lilley), 748 Kalanipuu St., Hawaii Kai. This is sort of just down the street from the Esplanade where we had our Christmas Party. Although a Pre-Trip Party for Big Sky, the entire club is invited. Since the Club is providing the main course, please RSVP to me, pres@hawaiisnowskiclub.com if you are coming so we know how much food to supply. (See more information below)
January 13 (Friday) O-F-F T-O B-I-G S-K-Y (HAWAII SKI WEEK)
February 4 (Saturday) (5:00 PM) Pre-Trip Party for both Japan ski trips at the Esplanade in Hawaii Kai and, as with the Big Sky Pre-Trip Party, the entire club is invited. (See below)
February 11(Saturday) OFF TO NISEKO
February 18 (Saturday) OFF TO RUSUTSU
March 2 (Thursday) General Membership Meeting at Mangiamo, Navy Marine Golf Course.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE:
HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all of you and may 2023 be a major improvement on 2022 (I may have said this last year). I would especially like to thank the Board for all their work this last calendar year and going forward into the first third of 2023, especially to Alan and his Trip Committee, for making things happen in spite of all the COVID-related "detours." Remember, we are all volunteers, some of us still have day jobs which can take up to 60 hours a week, yet the Club still meets it's mission to provide you with reasonably priced ski trips, most details taken care of, and ski-in/ski out accommodations which you probably would not care to pay for were you to book on your own. Of course, the Japan trips this year are not as detail free (understatement) as in the past (see "Update on Ski Trips - - " below), but that "ain't our fault." Also, I'd like to thank members John Scheleski and Marian Conroy for "grabbing the bull by the horns" and suggesting a venue for a last minute Pau Hana with which to end the year. I've asked this before, but if any of you have suggestions of activities for the club (before or after the ski season please), and are willing to lead it, please let me know. Finally, as you can see from the dates under the header, there won't be another edition of the Newsletter until April. The Newsletter is going skiing. See you next spring.
TOBY
UPCOMING SKI CLUB ACTIVITIES:
PAU HANA
at
CHAMPS SPORTS BAR
3457 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, Hawaii
December 21, 2022, 6:00 PM
Come to Champs Sports Bar on the ewa/ocean corner of Waialae and 10th Avenues, in beautiful downtown Kaimuki, for the last ski club pau hana of 2022. Although Google Earth shows parking in the back, street parking might be3 necessary. We are told that Tito Berinobis will be playing music to keep your feet tapping if not getting you out on the floor dancing or- - - as usual, you can just eat, drink, and talk story.
TOBY
BIG SKY PRE-TRIP PARTY
748 KALANIPUU ST.
HAWAII KAI
96825
January 7 (Saturday) Time 5:00 PM
Mahalo to Jeff (Lilley) and Judy (Sobin) for sharing their home with us for the Big Sky Pre-Trip Party. The Club will provide the main course but it's BYOD (Bring your own dessert with extra to share) and BYOB (No translation necessary). Also, although it is the Pre-Trip Party for Hawaii Ski Week, 2023, the entire club is invited. Please RSVP to me (Toby), pres@hawaiisnowskiclub.com so that we can get a headcount for the food. To get to the house, turn off Kalanianaole Highway onto Lunalillo Home Road just like you did for the Christmas Party at the Esplanade, set your mileage counter, keep going past the Esplanade and you will ultimately find Kalanipuu St. on the left exactly 1.18 miles from where you turned off the highway, follow Kalanipuu St. as it veers to the right and parallels Lunalillo Home Road, and you will find the Lilley/Sobin manse on the left at 1.48 miles past where you originally turned off the highway. If you miss the turn, onto Kalanipuu St., you can take the next left, and it will take you through to Kalanipuu. See you there.
TOBY
JAPAN PRE-SKI TRIPS PARTY
The
Esplanade, 500 Lunalillo Home Road
February 4 (Saturday) Time: 5:00 PM
Mahalos aplenty to Sam Wright for, again, making her Recreation area available to the Club for the Japan Pre-Ski Trips Party. Unlike the Pre-Trip Party for Big Sky, the Club will not be providing the food: This is like the Christmas Party: Pot Luck as well BYOB. Just like the Big Sky Party, however, it is not limited to just members going to Japan: It's for the whole Club. Everyone can come and party. For directions, just see those given above for the Christmas Party.
TOBY
PAST SKI CLUB ACTIVITIES:
TRADITIONAL THANKSGIVING VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY
SERVING AN EARLY THANKSGIVING DINNER TO THE NEEDY
AND PRE-EVENT POTLUCK
Blaisdell Center
777
Ward Ave.
November 24 (Thursday)
A special mahalo to the 15 ski club members who volunteered at the Salvation
Army’s 50 the Annual Thanksgiving Dinner at Blaisdell Center to feed the less
fortunate of our community. What a wonderful experience it was to know that
we began our Thanksgiving Day by volunteering to help others! Our morning
started with a “tailgate” brunch (exclusively for the HSC group) which
included mimosas, ribs, salmon, pastries, custard pumpkin pie, poke,
and other home-made potluck dishes. The HSC Facebook page has posted fun
photos of our group at the pre-volunteer brunch near the Blaisdell fishpond
and photos inside the exhibition hall, including one of Malia with fellow
volunteers Governor Josh Green and Honolulu
Mayor
Rick Blangiardi.
ANITA
ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY
The
Esplanade, 500 Lunalillo Home Road
December 10 (Saturday)
I would guess between 40 and 50 (I got busy and sometimes confused calling out raffle ticket numbers and forgot to count again after 39) members and guests, some attired in holiday finery, came to the Annual Christmas Party on December 10. The food was copious and ono, the drinks flowed, and after it got dark, the Hawaii Kai Christmas Boat Parade was only a few steps outside the recreation area where we had our party. Somehow, the Dirty Santa gift exchange, which we have done successfully many times before, took a bit too long this year, and it seemed that there was more frustration than laughs as the more popular gifts changed hands: Suggestions on how we might improve it next year will be gratefully accepted. Mahalo again to Sylvia "Sam" Wright for making the venue available and many mahalos to those of you who helped clean up at the end and move all the furniture back to their original locations.
TOBY
UPDATE ON SKI TRIPS FOR 2023:
The following is a summary of trip updates presented at the HSC Christmas Party on Saturday December 10, 2022.
Big Sky January 14-21, 2023.
The final payment was due to Schewe Travel on December 1 and we have 47 people who have paid to go to Big Sky next month. This year, you may have noticed that you didn’t pay a $50 Farewell Dinner charge on your registration form. Schewe Travel is paying this amount for you from their commission on this year’s Hawaii Ski Week trip. Mahalos to Linda and Ron Schewe! As announced in previous Newsletters, Big Sky requires those who purchased Ikon Passes reserve the dates they plan to ski. This can be done by logging into your Ikonpass.com account and clicking into My Account, then Make Reservation. Those who purchased lift tickets through Schewe Travel don’t need to make any reservations. Individuals who purchased group airfare will have a private shuttle bus departing at around 11.30 am, taking them to the Big Sky Ski Resort. Those who purchased group lodging and notified Schewe Travel of their arrival time will have a private shuttle bus departing around 2 pm. There will be a Big Sky pre-trip party at Judy Sobin and Jeff Lilly’s home in Hawaii Kai on Saturday January 7, beginning at 5 pm. We will provide any last minute details and give you name tags and streamers. All HSC members are invited to attend, and the HSC will provide the main starch and protein. Participants are asked to bring pupus or dessert items and their own drinks. Additional details, including directions, can be found in this Newsletter.
Japan Trips February 11-19, 2023
Sapporo/Niseko and 18-26, 2023 Rusutsu
More details are given below than presented at the Christmas Party. Please
read carefully. We strongly recommend that you try to get your QR codes
for Japan entry now and not wait until close to your departure. Make
sure that you print out in color all three QR codes.
65 HSC
members made their final payment by December 1 and will be traveling to
Japan two months from now. After Hawaiian Air cancelled the
reservations made 7 months ago, Schewe Travel rebooked the entire group on
JAL with a plane change in Tokyo. Last month Japan instituted the new
online requirement for all foreign travelers entering Japan to use a new
website called Visit Japan Web ( https://vjw-lp.digital.go.jp).
A tutorial on how to use this website can be found at https://teachme.jp/111284/
Sapporo Mercure Hotel Sapporo, Chuo Ward, Minami 4 Jonishi, 2 Chome−4.
064-0804 Hokkaido
Chalet Ivy Hirafu Abuta District, Kutchan 044-0080 Hokkaido
Rusutsu Resort Hotel Abuta-gun, Rusutsu-mura, 13 Izumikawa, Rusutsu, Abuta District, Hokkaido 048-1711
If you are going to Sapporo/Niseko your flight is JAL 073 and you crossed the international date line and arrive in Japan on February 12, 2023. If you are going to Rusutsu your flight is JAL 073 and you arrive in Japan on February 19, 2023.
There
are three sections in Visit Japan Web: quarantine, immigration and customs.
After entering the required information in each section, the information is
checked and verified online and you will be notified by email when the
section has been approved. If you do this now, the approval may take
15-30 minutes or less for each section. You will be notified by email as
each section is approved. You will not be able to continue with
the next section until first section is approved you will receive a QR code
for that section, therefore a total of 3 different QR codes. Please print
these QR codes out in color since each section has a colored banner above
the actual QR code: Dark blue for quarantine, yellow for immigration
and light blue for customs. This will avoid any delays when entering Japan
in case you have any problems trying to get the QR codes from your phone. If
you are traveling with a spouse or roommate you can enter another name on
the same website you just used and upload their information after you have
done yourself.
After arrival in Tokyo Haneda Airport, proceed to quarantine and display your dark blue QR code, then to immigration where you display your yellow QR code. After clearing immigration, collect your baggage at Baggage Claim then clear customs with your baggage by displaying your light blue QR code and exit. Once you’ve cleared customs, JAL representatives will help you re-check your baggage for your connecting flight to Chitose Airport in Sapporo. JAL passengers can take the 10 minute bus or airport train to the domestic Terminal 1 to board their connecting flight. After arriving at Chitose Airport and collecting your baggage, a representative will be waiting for you outside the Baggage Claim area and take you to your hotel.
There will be a pre-Japan trip party at the Esplanade on Saturday, February 4 starting at 5 pm to provide you with last minute details and updates. This will be a potluck party and all HSC members are welcome to attend. See "Upcoming Activities" in this Newsletter for directions.
ALAN
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
HAWAII SKI CLUB IS ON FACEBOOK
Facebook is the best way to keep current on the Hawaii Ski Club. On your Facebook page on your computer, type "Hawaii Ski Club" into the search box on the top left. On your mobile device, tap the magnifying glass at the top to get the search box. Pictures from Ski Club activities and other items are posted as they are submitted. You can submit your own Ski Club pictures and other items you wish posted by emailing them to anita@hawaiisnowskiclub.com
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Contributions from the membership to future newsletters are encouraged and will be greatly appreciated: Please e mail them to Toby (see Contacts) no later than 9 calendar days from the end of the month. Thanx much.
Updated club info available at http://www.hawaiisnowskiclub.com and on our Facebook page.