- Approval of minutes
Mike made the motion to approve the March 2006 minutes, seconded by Julia; motion was accepted unanimously.
- Recent Events
REI - 2 events, at the Rosedale and Bloomington stores. Attendees made donations to MNOC map fund for the free class.
Hyland - 148 participants. There were requests by our volunteers to make available more options for practicing advanced
skills. We did have a great turn-out of volunteers.
Lebanon Hills Night O - had a good turn out and great weather.
Terrace Oaks - fast set-up and tear-down, with good turn-out for the series. Ian commended Steven Bullard on a great job done.
Sand Dunes - It was a great event. Mike commented on the fact that some students tend to hang around controls, making it difficult
for advanced runners to quickly get in and out at the control, Consideration will thus have to be given when having many students to not
overlap to many controls between advanced and intermediate courses. Ian drew a comparison to European meets with many people. The use of
controls was very economic. A comparison was drawn to Afton, where there were separate courses, entirely different from one another, for
the JROTC versus regular participants, thus cutting down the number of people visiting each control.
Afton - A great set of courses created by Leif Nordgren. There was one mix-up on one control not being marked correctly on
some of the clue sheets/maps, which emphasizes once more that using OCAD to make the changes will help avoid errors when making changes,
e.g., on the map, but forgetting the clue sheet, as OCAD will automatically take care of that. Rain and the ample number of controls, as
well as the clue sheets not being at the start early enough delayed the start to 12:30 p.m.
Arboretum - "Plant & Pant" turned out as a perfect day, and the photos taken were great.
Setter/Vetter/OCAD course: 2 attendees plus a guide sheet now available.
Other: Reviewing the Afton meet brought up that setter/vetter teams will have to be advised that controls need to be out by 10:45 a.m.,
and that controls may be set out the day before if need be, so as to allow for ample time for corrections. "What-to-do the day of
the event" guidelines for setters and vetters will have to be updated. There was ample discussion especially regarding the choice of
"out-of-bounds" areas, as many novice orienteers may not know that they should avoid camping areas, especially when occupied by
guests. Meet instructions for orienteers will need to include information on avoiding camp sites and cabin sites, so as to avoid
problems with the park officials.
- Recent and Upcoming Events
Lake Elmo - Julia meet director, Erling Hansen setter, Roger Sadecki vetter.
REI Bloomington 5/24 - Mike will teach navigation techniques for AR. Donations for map fund will be requested.
Lake Maria 5/28 - with AR tune-up. The intention is to use Dan's Kayaks and for the competitors to inflate their own
kayak. How to get information onto the web-site was discussed, should Pete not be able to do so. Ian can post information into
the News-section, and Mike can post the information on the Yahoo-based e-mail list. Registration will be done by e-mail, with
payment made on the day of the event.
Members only Ney - June 4, annual general meeting and elections. Time will be scheduled for the potluck. There is a
POC in this park; Ian will get further details. Discussion furthermore focused on seeking a new secretary, as well as getting
other members more involved.
July 8 AR - dry run by Mike and Julia, with the suggestion of having the controls off the intersections so as to avoid
removal. Some discussion focused on course design issues, as well as map layout and printing issues.
July 19 6:30 pm Summer sprint - Katherine Abbott, with s'mores. Ian will take care of any permission-related issues.
Pillsbury Rogaine Aug 20th 9:30 a.m. start for 6 hour event, with recommendations for camping, reservation of shelter or
use camp site. It would also allow for ample time to drive up the day of the event. Picnic options were discussed, as well as
reserving spots.
Telemark Oct 7/8 - Jerritt setter. There is a need for recruiting additional volunteers for helping especially with the
setting/vetting, and meet director tasks.
- Equipment update:
The new e-punch units were tried out, the clip design works nicely when setting or retrieving them. The resetting is also new
and the batteries last longer. A problem arose with one unit getting wet inside, and made audible noise until opened and left to dry.
Assembly of new control flags still needs to be done.
- Newsletter
next press date of June 24.
- Park liaisons
Lebanon Hills - Dakota county survey (includes orienteering as a question) on the internet.
Standing Cedars - There was very extensive discussion on the mapping of this area. A POC has been approved, and
the park representatives are looking for a base map to be done by MNOC, where an agreement still needs to be drafted. The
area for POC has been identified by Standing Cedars, close to a parking lot that may be intended for expansion. The park
will set up the posts for the POC. Ground radar base maps are very accurate and may be available to MNOC. Procedures for
suggested donations by participants for parking were discussed, which in turn can be donated to the park. Dates, seasons,
possible areas that may not be available to MNOC would have to be determined in advance. The POC map would be a fraction of
a map used for MNOC purposes.
Camp Stearns - updating is done.
Lake Elmo - new master plan has been published, showing some new roads and blacktop trails. There is new usage
marked, as well as new areas planned to be acquired. This will require map corrections, also with respect to the POC, as
changes do occur.
Lake Maria - may need some map corrections and a reprint (inventory is close to depletion) due to a fair number of
new trails and short-cuts of trails at the north end.
Tamarack Ramsey County - map is in the process of being added to the web-site, the Tamarack center will teach courses.
Ian provided the staff with some training and instructions on practicing and teaching orienteering. Courses will be available
with various levels of difficulty. This may be a nice venue for Night-O, as well as a place to direct inquiries to regarding
teaching orienteering. There are some flooding problems in a small area (SE) during early spring, which is marked on the map.
- Website
Julia suggested not to have a male/female separation on the web-site of the results at local meets, as this may give some
(especially women) very little possibility for comparison with other competitors on one course, especially advanced.
Mike made the motion to adjourn, seconded by Julia.
Mapping/POCs have already been discussed earlier (6. Park Liaisons)
Also discussed was the need for monitoring POCs, especially finding a new volunteer to monitor the William O'Brien POC.
The discussion returned to AR issues, especially the moving of equipment and food and getting it on-site, as well as shuttling
of bikes and/or people.
The next meeting will be in July 19th 2006, at Ian's.
The meeting adjourned at 9:45 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrea Schneider
June 14, 2006
