Page 12 INSIDE VIBeS

Barry & Marcia Wick, Vickey & Gary Hulsey

* * * * Upcoming Events 2014* * * *

January 4 First Ski and Never Evers – Monarch

January ??? Ski Guide Training - Monarch

January 18 Shoe ‘n’ Grub - Amy Gunning

February 15 Shoe ‘n' Soak – Buena Vista, Dian Fitzgee

March 1-2 RACE WEEKEND - Monarch

Sled Dog Trip - Date and place to be determined

Breckenridge Ski Wkd - Date to be determined

VIBeS Members!

Check out the trips you would like to consider participating in, or better yet, would like to trip captain. There's plenty of room in the calendar for you to plan your own snowshoeing or ski trip too. Help to make this another great year with VIBES!
Diane Fitzkee

Catch the VIBE! by Amy Gunning, Co-President

On Friday, November 22, USABA’s (United States Association of Blind Athletes) annual Common Sight, Common Vision fundraiser breakfast was held. It was a very cold and snowy (yeah snow!) morning, but the messages of hope and inspiration shared by the presenters made the event very much worth the trip. The presenters, Pam Fernandez and Clark Rachfal, are both champion tandem-cyclists who, when faced with their own challenges and obstacles, made the choice to get out and do things instead of choosing to sit back and feel sorry for themselves. Because they were involved in tandem-cycling, they could continue to be physically active plus keep and make new connections with people with and without visual impairments/additional disabilities, and could help other individuals with visual impairments get active. This is exactly what VIBeS is all about. We enjoy participating in outdoor sports year-round and have a fantastic time socializing with each other.

I hope that all this recent snow inspires you to join and/or captain a ski/snowshoe trip this season. Trips are already scheduled: Saturday, January 4th is the Ski-Guide training and Never-Ever trip; January 18th I will captain a Shoe’n’Grub snowshoe trip; February 15th is the 73rd annual Shoe’n’Soak snowshoeing/soaking in the Mt. Princeton hot springs (rescheduled to this new date); and our annual Race Weekend has been confirmed for the weekend of March 1-2. That leaves a lot of weekends open for you to schedule a trip, should you feel so inspired. Please remember, you can always just call up a guide and go out on a trip of your own, as long as you and your guide have completed skier orientation/guide refresher training and you wear your vests. Monarch is very generous in providing us with complimentary lift tickets and equipment rental, but you can always go to any ski resort you want.

May you all have a safe and peaceful holiday season, however you choose to celebrate this time. May the coming new year bring you good health and good spirits, and may you be inspired to get outside for some winter fun in our beautiful, snowy mountains!!!

Have a Question About VIBeS?

Email the HOTLINE:

Cell phone: 719-337-0161

*****WEBSITE*****

Check out the new look of the VIBeS website at www.coloradovibes.org Soon we will post the current calendar and newsletter, past and future events, relevant articles, the waiver, pictures, and much more. It will be available in graphic and text versions. Thanks go to Susie Nulty and Lorie Whitehead who have made this possible. Also, thanks to Dean Meyers who has maintained the site for many years.

Our illustrious Doctor Don is back welcoming in the new season:

Another ski season! Holey Schmoley! …another annual event rolling around again. Our lives are marked by annual events, gentle reminders of the cycles of the seasons of life, sneaking up on us, catching us unaware, tackling us in the living room and beating us with the reminder that “you’re another year older sucker!” Such annual events: the beginning of ski season, the National Geographic renewal notice, tax season, and that overdue dental cleaning, all serve to …..well, pretty much I’ve already said it, remind us that we’re getting old(er).

But hey, what better to make us feel younger than the bite of ice shards in your face as you race down a slope while trying to get your left knee to unlock so you can turn out of the way of that 19-year-old snow boarder about to run over you….no, wait, that boarder is Barry about to run over you.

I’ll know I’m getting too old for VIBES ski trips when we arrive at Monarch before my life has time to finish flashing before my eyes because of Gordon’s driving. In the meantime I’ll look forward to seeing you guys on the slopes, and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy 4th of July. (At the rate these annual events are arriving these days, I figure I better go ahead and cover a couple of bases.)

- Don Allred -

The Ski Shop, Our Black Diamond Sponsor at 1422 S. Tejon held their Annual Ski Swap on Saturday, 19 OCT to support VIBeS.

Recent Grants/Donations:

Some of you may remember Bob LaRow who was very active with VIBeS about 15 years ago. Bob continues to think of VIBeS and recently made a very generous donation to our organization. Thank you so much for your support Bob!

Our sincerest condolences go out to the Dan Gettman family of Colorado Springs. In lieu of flowers they asked friends and family to make a donation to VIBeS. We have received several donations in Dan’s honor.

Thanks go out to Shari Higgins of the SnoJets who is part of the Joseph Henry Edmondson Foundation of Colorado Springs. The Foundation has recently supported VIBeS with a grant for $750 for general program support. We are sincerely appreciative of the Foundation for this grant.

This summer we received a grant from the Pikes Peak Community Foundation. We received $1000 from the Erickson Fund. This is a fund that supports blind and visually impaired persons. This fund is to be matched if we raised $1500 from new donations or higher contributions from existing donors. With Bob LaRow’s donation, the donations to honor Dan Gettman and the grant from the Joseph Henry Edmondson Foundation, we have met the $1500 requirement and should receive the $1500 from the Pikes Peak Community Foundation. We sincerely appreciate PPCF as they have one of our biggest supporters over the years.

-  Lorie Whitehead, VP of Grants –

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******A big THANKS to Lorie for obtaining these grants. The club could not operate without these funds.*****

Tribute to Dan Gettman

Dan Gettman, son of Greg and Louise Gettman, will be remembered by everyone mostly for his gigantic smile, deep passion for life, and ability to engage all people. His life was tragically shortened on October 28, 2013 after a bicycle accident near his home in Lakewood, Colorado.

One of Dan’s many passions was skiing, and he was expert at skiing the trees in deep powder. He shared that passion with his family, and there were many family trips to various Colorado mountains to enjoy that activity together. Dan’s mother, Louise, is a retired teacher for students with visual impairment, and she and Greg had participated in several VIBeS Shoe ‘n’ Soaks over the past several years.

It is because of Dan’s passion for skiing and Louise’s passion for teaching students with visual impairment, that the family made the decision to have friends and family members make donations to VIBeS in Dan’s memory. He will be remembered and deeply missed by so many people whose lives he touched in his 31 years.

- Diane Fitzkee -

VIBeSters Experience Extispicy! Weekend

As told by the VIBeS Poodle-Amy A.

On Nov. 8, seven VIBeS members headed to Paul and Pam Vandenbos’ cabin home in Nathrop for a fun-filled relaxing weekend. On Friday night, we settled in and started the weekend with a wonderful dinner prepared by Lorie: 2 soups (vegetable and creamy asparagus sausage), salad, and bread. The wine flowed and there was much laughter and talk.

We awoke Saturday morning to a stunning sunrise and beautiful views from the large windows in the cabin. Janet whipped up a fantastic breakfast of eggs, fruit, bagels and cream cheese to get us fueled up for a hike in the great outdoors.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather. Under a clear blue sky, we hiked a trail close to Pam’s cabin. There was even snow on the trail-it was a little chilly since the sun was hiding behind the mountains.

Amy Gunning, Gordon Smith, Terry Garrett, Rick Palmer

We warmed up after our hike by hanging out on the back deck. Relaxing activities after the hike included reading, eating, catching an episode of Star Trek, going to the hot springs and helping Diane decide what to do with her leg and toys of enjoyment (this activity was done via text message since Diane was only able to join us in spirit).

To celebrate the end of a fabulous day, the wine again flowed and Amy A. served a Mexican fiesta consisting of soft tacos, refried beans, Spanish rice, and sinful brownies (we broke into the brownies before dinner as we just couldn’t resist taking a few to have on the trail while hiking). Terry Garrett gave us another dose of chocolate with a peanut butter chocolate pie.

Soon after dinner the games began. Most of the men settled into a college football game downstairs while all the women and Terry partook in a game of Balderdash! Those of us who played Balderdash! learned many words never taught to us in our high school English class: todick, hodad, geep, erriff, and extispicy, to name a few. Many of us laughed harder than we had laughed in a long time as we came up with outrageous meanings for these words and learned their real meanings. No weekend in the mountains would be complete without a trip outside to see the stars--the night sky did not disappoint us.

Amy A, Pam Vandenbos, Amy Gunning Amy Gunning, Lorie Whitehead, Amy A, Pam Vandenbos

- Photos courtesy of Lorie Whitehead

Sunday brought us another awesome sunrise and delicious breakfast burritos from Gordon. The women got in another hike while the men stayed home and played with Paul’s power tools. Early in the afternoon we all packed up our memories and cars and headed home. It had been another outstanding VIBeS outing that could not have been possible without Pam and Paul opening up their gorgeous home to us or Diane Fitzkee’s excellent trip captaining skills. The only thing missing was Diane-not a moment went by that we didn’t think of you. VIBeS events just aren’t the same without you. Thanks also to our drivers Lorie Whitehead, Janet Rose, Gordon Smith, and Rick Palmer.

In closing, here’s a quick vocabulary lesson. Extispicy really is a word. It’s the study of the organs of dead animals-after they’ve been struck by lightning!

***Much THANKS to Paul and Pam Vandenbos for sharing their cabin!***

Guide Dog Viviane

By Marcia Wick

My life will never be the same since getting a guide dog last summer. With much anxiety, I ventured to Portland in June for two weeks of training with Guide Dogs for the Blind. Many of you know me as a “cat person.” The idea of a dog – the barking, the shedding, the bad breath, the stinky smell – was not very appealing to me. But, as my vision loss progresses, I was finding it harder to navigate by myself to the store, around my workplace and neighborhood. My sighted guides (my children) are adults now living on their own. My husband, Barry, does triple duty helping me, but he can’t be with me everywhere at all times. So….I applied for a guide dog two years ago just to “see” what would happen.

Well, Viviane happened! She is a very pretty two-year-old yellow lab with soulful eyes and velveteen ears. Her favorite (and not very delicate) position is on her back to invite a belly rub. Best of all, she does not bark and she “goes” on command. I take her out on a leash and say, “Do your business,” and “poop,” she does! The amount of training she received from her puppy raisers and Guide Dogs for the Blind ensures she does not chew my slippers, eat the remote, sleep on the furniture or eat off the table. For the first few months I had her, I felt like I could not take credit for all the compliments we got on her behavior, and praise like “that’s a good looking dog!” Now after five months of caring for her daily, I am proud to take credit for this great dog. After all, I have to groom her daily, brush her teeth at least three times each week, walk her at least a mile each day, control her diet (no in between meal snacks), and pick up her poop. And, what do I get for all that? She adores me! She eagerly waits for me to harness her up and say, “Forward!” She shows me the curbs, the cracks, the low hanging tree branches, the mailboxes that stick out along the way. She helps me cross busy intersections downtown where I work, and she cruises for miles along the Santa Fe Trail. She gets me on the bus and finds an empty seat. Then, she sits halfway in my lap, hind legs on the floor, and front legs across me so she can look out the window on our way to work.

Viviane is such a sweet tempered and easy-to-love dog. Even Barry, who is a “neat freak,” doesn’t complain about her tracking in dirt or shedding on the carpet. She can do no wrong. When he comes in and says, “Honey, I’m home! How was your day,” he is not talking to me but to Viviane! He is lost in love with her. When you meet her, you will see why.

At work, she lays patiently for hours while I do my thing. Then, every three hours, we take a break for a walk and to relieve her. I work at Palmer, a very busy high school with 2,000 students. But it is the staff members who are most taken with her. The principal, the counselors, our police officer and security who have the most stressful jobs come and visit Viviane daily for a belly rub to help them decompress. The special needs students also pay close attention to her. She is doing double duty as a therapy dog.
Lots of people ask me if I am a “dog person” now. My answer is, “No, I am a ‘this dog’ person now!”
Marcia Wick and Viviane
- Photograph Courtesy of Barry Wick -

It is interesting to hear how Viviane got her name. In the U.S., guide dog litters are all named with the same first letter of the alphabet, so I assumed Viviane was part of a “V” litter. Then I found out she was actually born in Canada and they do it differently there. Each puppy in her litter was named after an Olympic athlete since the Olympics were held in Canada the year she was born. She is named after Viviane Forest who is a Paralympic blind skier…cool, huh?! The other dogs in my class had silly dog names, but I am a very proud blind skier to have a dog named after a real hero.