Rendezvous Reminiscing

March 15-17, 2024, Kittitas Valley Event Center, Ellensburg, WA

Report Out By Helen Shewman

I went to the First aid/ CPR class. It was fantastic! He was an incredible teacher. Lots of good stories since he has a background in law enforcement and is a horse rider as well.

Lots of good practical hands on experience too. I would highly recommend the class even if you’ve had others in the past as I have. We also learned how to use the AED and both Judy and I think it would be a great thing to own for our chapter. ( since many of us are getting older)

Also, I attended the Saddle Fitting Workshop by Dave Morrison and that was really informative. He had all sorts of trees and saddles for demonstration, what works, what does not. 

And lots of examples of clients who had come to him with various problems with their horses being sore, having bald spots, being uncomfortable and uncooperative and he explained how to solve various issues. I really learned a great deal. He was very patient with questions from the audience asking about their horses and tack. 

His horse was there too and that was visually very easy to see how a saddle should fit or is the wrong fit and why.
Again, highly recommended class!

Report out By Kim Merrick
From my end, the silent auction made about $5,000 and the live auction made about $10,000, which is typical. The biggest item of the night was a week in a condo in  Las Vegas during NFR Finals week (December) and $300 toward air fare, donated by Tahoma Chapter. 

Al Norbbom of Wenas Valley Chapter bought the 2025 head table for $1,200. That table comes with wait staff, wine, and lobster, so it’s a big deal. Jan Whitlow of Mt. Olympus Chapter has this year’s table. 

This was the first year of the ‘Dessert Dash’, which made about $3,600. People seemed to have fun doing that.

In addition to the classes Helen attended, Jay Adams did the Packing Clinic. 

At the Sunday awards ceremony, where Kris Lenke was honored, Tim van Beek gave a very inspirational speech about how important stock is to trail efforts in the backcountry. He showed a photo of a trail crew 28 miles into the Pasayten Wilderness. That cannot be done without pack support! It highlighted the importance of our organization, and the appreciation of many land managers in the state and nation wide.