The Board meeting this afternoon went well, and the holiday party at the Parsons was excellent. I won a little NEOC dufflebag for being the M-21 club champion. I am currently working on the
2012 NEOC schedule, which I will post within the next two weeks. The link is to my planning draft. The calendar is ambitious, with about 25 foot events, 2 Ski-Os, 2 Canoe-Os, and 1 MTB-O. I am endeavoring to expand the set of maps that we regularly use. Last year, the Harold Parker meet was something of a shot in the dark - an event at a old map that had not been substantially updated. This year, I hope to use a subset of Turtle Pond, Mt. Misery (thanks to Jim Crawford's work), High Rock, Boxford, George Washington, and Upton in addition to many of the common maps. I have put much thought and analysis into planning the calendar, and I may write up some of my thoughts later to collect feedback and share my work.
Peter came by the board meeting and briefed us all on the Western MA 5-Day; the progress by the Amherst crew and the enthusiasm and support from the Board are both very good. While I intend to continue as Vice President of Events (chiefly planning the schedule) at least until Summer 2013, I am considering stepping down from the Board when my term ends in June 2012.
On an unrelated note, once I make more progress on
Pictures and finish relearning Beethoven's
Pathetique sonata, I want to tackle the Bach-Busoni
Chaconne in D. It's a glorious piece, and I know very little of Bach's compositions. It's originally a (very difficult) violin piece, but the Busoni arrangement for piano is definitive and part of the standard repertoire.