- Approval of minutes:
motion: Julia Bohnen, second: Mike Carlson, accepted unanimously.
- Recent events (in reverse chronological order)
Minnegoat - about 120 non-minnegoat and 40 minnegoat participants, a record number. The courses were
set fast running, with a well-forked start, variety of controls, set well for early retrieval.
Sand Dunes - State Champs with four categories, with a picture making it onto the back page of
the Pioneer Press, thanks to Richard Chin. Woods were more open because of a lot of logging that had been
done. Some hunters had been seen leaving early morning, and Mike met a bow hunter coming for the evening.
Poison ivy did not seem to be a problem, and no horse riders were present.
Murphy - not as much thicket as in previous years, the park seemed more open. Work is being done in
the park to improve and work on new bike trails. There is still considerable logging going on, requiring
constant updates to the map.
Willow River - relay needs to be shortened at member events. Vegetation was well mapped.
Manitoba Western Canadian Championships - with 7 MNOC participants and one Badger member along
for the trip. The meet was not very big, but very well organized.
90 people participated in the night-O race organized by Stephen Bullard at Theodore Wirth Park, with four
different courses, one for each weekend. Mass starts were used. Stephen did all the setting and vetting, but
it would be nice to get vetters or additional setting/vetting teams. Control retrieval was very quick. Ian
is proposing to adopt under MNOC the kind of events as run by Stephen. The proposal is for two series, one
spring and one fall series of night-Os on Friday nights. There was also the thought of a winter series. MNOC
has quite a variety of events: classic, sprints, adventure races, long distance races and this would round
out our offering of races, with the positive outcome of bringing in more people into the sport of orienteering.
There was ample discussion on the possibilities with this new event type, the e-punching and butterfly patterns
in conjunction with mass starts, sending out fast runners for retrieval, allowing altogether for wrapping up
the event much sooner; the audience these events draw, possible locations, etc. The discussion will be
continued under the topic "Schedule".
- Mapping
Camp Stearns
Standing Cedars - the contact person is also a teacher, and there is an intention of using the
map and area also as a school resource for the Osceola school district. Ian and Julia will pursue this venue
and also find out how it can fit within the MNOC plans for events.
William O'Brien is being redone by Plamen.
The Theodore Wirth map used by Stephen appears to be missing the north corner. The Hyland map is also missing
an area across the road, and there is some unmapped land beyond the beach. Also the areas around the ski area in
Hyland was discussed. These areas may be interesting to be considered as map extension projects.
Ian briefly mentioned the Warner Nature Center.
- Little Troll/Juniors
There have been more than 15 that we passed out, and children are collecting signatures and stickers. Andrea
is aware of 6 children that must have completed at least one card, some two cards, especially as some families
took the cards along to non-MNOC meets. Once the cards are completed, it is up to the parents to mail in the
cards to USOF and we have no real knowledge of who has actually received a patch. It would be nice to be able
to announce the received patches in our Newsletter. Pete has included the Troll program explanations onto
the web-site.
A nice competition is developing on White and Yellow between a good number of youngsters. Leif Nordgren is
now listed on the USOF Junior Development Team.
Roseville School has now a POC
The issue of etiquette in the woods needs to be refreshed with the JROTC, and brought up with the U of M
and some adventure race groups.
- Web Site
Pete will be moving the web-site to a new provider, 1&1 Internet, with many new features, at a cheaper price.
The look & feel will be simplified, the menu reorganized for easier access, have links to MNOC club business,
such as minutes and newsletter, more information on educational outreach and teaching orienteering. The racers
will benefit from the inclusion of RouteGadget, ranking formulas (which at the moment can be done primarily on
the blue and red courses), the algorithm used being practically the same as the one of USOF. The shopping cart
is more visible, and many items, like maps are available as thumbnails. The Google map is incorporated as the
new version of maps to indicate directions. There is much more space available for a photo gallery.
For now, the site is lift-n-drop onto the new provider. A link will be made available to all present at
the meeting and board members, just as a test run, to iron out questions and get some initial comments on
the look of the new design.
$9.99/mo, 10 G space (2000x our previous space). Pete is offering to pay by personal credit card, as this
is the only option of payment, and get reimbursed yearly. Once the tests are complete, Pete has the authorization
to move entirely to the new host, and discontinue services from the old provider. The Yahoo based e-mail list
will remain as is for the time being.
- Newsletter
The software from Plamen was not the correct version. Motion was made to allow Pete Curtis to go ahead and
purchase PrintShop Deluxe from EBay. Motion: Julia Bohnen; Second: Ian Harding; motion passed.
- Schedule
The 2006 schedule discussion was extensive, many things other than just dates were taken into consideration.
The finalized schedule will be published in the Newsletter and on the web-site.
The 2 Night-O series organized by Stephen were incorporated into the MNOC schedule, with picking the
parks and alternate parks. Times to get permits for the various locations had to be taken into consideration.
Rogaine - Mike and Julia are thinking of doing the setting for this event. The discussion centered around
location, in particular with respect to driving distance and the impact on possible attendance. Mapping needs
were also discussed.
Ian is proposing to narrow the window for start times, with the rationale of respecting volunteer times,
safety concerns. Motion by Pete Curtis: for spring and fall (classic) meets to 1½ hours (usually from 12 to
1:30 p.m.; with the exception of late fall events after the clock change from daylight-saving 11 to 12:30 p.m.;
1 hour window for winter events, from 12 to 1 p.m.. Second: Julia Bohnen; motion passed. Courses are closing 2
hours after the last start.
Allowing individuals to adventure races was discussed. The consensus was that this would defeat the idea of
team spirit, there could be considerable safety concerns; the offer exists to help with formation of teams
for those that are still seeking partners. Rogaine and Adventure Races are considered team events.
- Meet Directors
Afton Ski-O - Stephen will be setter.
The next meeting will be in January 2006 at Ian’s.
The meeting adjourned at 10:30 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrea Schneider
November 28, 2005
