President’s Report of Equipment Movement Activities for the Northeastern Pennsylvania Regional Ski For Light and Sports For Health, Incorporated, a 501(c)(3) Corporation.

Background

The year 2020 was to be the last year of holding Northeastern Pennsylvania Regional Ski For Light and Sports For Health (NEPA SFL/SFH) events at Land of the Vikings (LOV). On 11 November 2019, LOV officially announced their intention to cease all business operations. (The last day of operation was to be 31 July 2020, after our summer program.)

The NEPA SFL/SFH coordinators learned of this news on 13 November 2019 and quickly confirmed that the events already scheduled for 2020 would be carried out as originally planned. The winter program was conducted in January 2020. However, COVID-19 pandemic restrictions published in the March/April timeframe by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania crushed the summer program altogether.

On 17 May 2020, Allison Holder, summer event coordinator, was told by Kathy Dollymore,
Sons of Norway, Third District President that the equipment remaining on the LOV property must be moved not later than the end of June 2020. That deadline was later softened to July 2020 but I (Ed Kenlon) had already contacted volunteers and assembled a working party for 20 June 2020.

NEPA SFL/SFH Board In the Loop

The NEPA SFL/SFH board was notified on 25 May 2020 about the need to move program equipment from the LOV barn to a local storage unit. Joan Chelsen, Treasurer confirmed that the contract from 2013 was with a storage facility known as “Exit 84” in Deposit, New York. Amazingly, the price had not changed in seven years. Phone calls were made and a contract was signed for a large shipping container storage unit. (Some may know the term “conex locker.”) The box is 8 feet wide by 20 feet long and costs $85 per month. The board was informed of the initial cost of $1105 which is one year’s rent plus one month security deposit. Next year’s bill should be $1020.

Volunteers (“Day-trippers” & Guides)

An “all call” went out to the locals around Deposit (a.k.a. day-trippers) and a few guides who had hinted that they might be available for “lift & tote” duty.  The requirements were outlined regarding vehicles, equipment to be carried, and the expected environment (no water, no toilets). The working party date was set based on everybody’s availability.

The team consisted of: Marilee Kenlon, me, Joan Chelsen, Sandy & Eddie Mack, Bob & Nina Nesky, Carol & Mark Brugger, Davey Rockwell, Olivia Rockwell, Dylan Palm.

Upon arrival, we pulled gear from the barn, sorted serviceable equipment from junk, and ensured it was recorded on the inventory.

Equipment Inventory:

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  • Perkins brailler.

Note: brailler is stored at Kenlons’ for environmental considerations.

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  • 1 first-aid bin
  • 5 tandem bikes.

Note: 1 tandem bike is with Joan in New York for repair and testing. Only 4 in storage shed.

• 2 boxes of helmets and gear.
• 1 canapy sunshade.
• 2 double kayaks.
• 2 single kayaks.
• 2 paddle boards.
• 2 paddle boards paddles.
• 24 swim noodles.
• 6 bins of life jackets.
• 4 shuffle board poles.
• 6 pairs of kayak paddles.
• 1 red bow for bow and arrows.
• 2 sets of golf clubs.
• 8 bocci balls.
• 3 snow boogie boards.
• 1 snow tube.
• 17 pairs of skis.
• 1 sit ski.
• 10 pair of ski boots, various sizes.
• 3 bins of games.
• 1 bin of yoga mats.

Exit 84, Unit C-12

Although Joan has already quoted John Heywood (c. 1497 – c. 1580) on Facebook, it bears repeating: “Many hands make light work.” Indeed, in a mere two hours and a single trip from LOV barn to the Exit 84 storage facility, we were done! Equipment was offloaded, stacked, packed, photographed, and back on the road for the earned reward — ice cream!

I was not able to take photos of the ice cream consumption due to heat considerations (high melt factor). But I was able to capture a few shots of the onload and offload process. I have included a small gallery below. Sightlings should click on the pic to see the full sized image. Screen reader users *may* be able to hover over the photo for the fully populated alt text to be activated. If you have problems with it, let me know and I’ll simply build a second page to include photo and text “out in the open” without using any fancy features.

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