{ AAF Charlotte Board Survives Planning Retreat }

July 30, 2008 Article By: Richard Halliburton Photography By: Roger Ball

On July 24th, the Board and Committee Chairs got together again at the US National Whitewater Center for the 2008 Planning Retreat. Once again the USNWC proved to be an excellent facility to lure otherwise busy AAF-Charlotte folks away from their desks and Blackberry’s for a few hours.

The 2008-2009 season was discussed at length and plans were laid for a great new season of fun and information. A lot of great ideas were proposed for the club including the possible addition of more evening events and inviting nationally known speakers to the meetings. Keep watching our website as the year goes on for updates on club activities and future meetings.

After the work was done, the braver members of your Board hit the raging rapids. Banks, Tony, Don, Debbie and myself piled into the boat to take on the river. Semi-psychotic river guide "Reeko", (at least that’s how I think his name was spelled on his paddle), ensured that there wasn’t a dull moment as he dumped all riders into the river on the very first rapid. That’s what we got for requesting a "wild ride". After we were all fished out and loaded back in, the battle for survival was back on for the rest of the day. In fact, the experience was more like Navy SEAL training than a rafting trip with Reeko’s Sgt. Carter-like commands and the fact that we had to carry the raft up the hill after every lap of the river (broken raft lift). Later, the majority of the survivors assembled at the USNWC bar to swap war stories.

A great time was had by all, (except maybe Don – you’ll have to ask him). Why don’t you join us? If you aren’t already a member, please fill out a membership application on this website and notify any Board member or Chair if you would like to help out on one of our committees!

We’ll see you in September at the Fall TV Preview.