Home                        OTHGI’s Monthly Online Newsletter - July/August 2009 Edition

In this edition:

Guthrie Memorial Ride

View from the Top

Health Trips

Travel Tips

2009-2010 Trips



OTHGI Blog



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Travel Tips


Consider these tips to help you “zip” through the airport so you can get on your flight:


  1. 1)  Airline ticketing kiosks: Avoid long check-in lines by using ticketing kiosks. With the swipe of your credit card or passport, the kiosk will find your reservation, ask about seat assignments and upgrades and then print out your boarding pass.


  1. 2)    Know when to walk or take a train, tram, or bus: When possible, take the high-speed trains between terminals to gates or to baggage claim. Make sure to get airport navigation tips from your departure/arrival airports before you travel.


  1. 3)  Pack your carry on as if “random inspection” is a sure thing.

  2. 4)  Wear slip-on shoes:
    Pack shoes with metal toes, heels or studs. Choose clothing with plastic or wooden buttons, clasps or zippers - instead of metal - which will set of detectors and cause delays.



OTHGI 2009-2010 Trips are online and available for booking!


Click here to see

Ski Trips.


Click here to see Summer Trips.





 

The Second Annual Bob Guthrie Bike Ride


Recreational riders from around the world come to Summit County, Colorado, each summer to test their skill and endurance on the miles of paved bike paths that crisscross the county.  Through private and public partnership, a path over the precipitous Swan Mountain is working its way towards completion.  The private efforts were spearheaded by our own Bob Guthrie, outdoorsman and cyclist, who tragically died in February, 2008, in a skiing accident at A-Basin where he ran OTHGI’s ski program.


The Bob Guthrie Ride on August 9, 2009, honors Bob and raises vital funds for the path project.  All of the money raised goes directly to the Friends of the Swan Mountain Recpath.  This year there is a 15 mile family ride, 20, 55, and 100 mile rides.  To register and learn more go to www.tour-the-summit.com.  We hope to see many of you there.      


View From The Top     

Technology is front and center on the world stage.  The United States Government recently asks Twitter not to shut down for routine maintenance so that Iranians, in the aftermath of their tumultuous national elections, could communicate with the outside world.  Googling has now replaced ‘search engine’ as the go to word when trying to find even the most obscure bit of information.  Blackberrys, cell phones, blue tooth, high def, blogs, email – the manner in which we communicate with each other has undergone an amazing transformation in only the past few years.  Our home land-based telephone seldom rings anymore!


OTHGI is working to keep pace with this paradigm shift in the way people share information.  It was only a few years ago that a large catalogue appeared in June exhibiting the upcoming year’s adventure trips.  The Legend arrived quarterly by snail mail.  We have now an on-line catalogue and a monthly Legend supplemented by email blasts of breaking news about the Gang.  There is a blog attached to the Legend which is in the process of changing so that members can more easily communicate with each other and us.  Stay tuned.


We understand that not all of the Gang is twittering, blogging, and hugging their cell phones to their ears as a permanent appendage.  But nearly all email family and friends and feel reasonably comfortable on the internet.  For those that do not, paper information is available when requested.  Thanks for your cooperation and understanding as we take part in this fascinating information sharing era.

Doug Lofland, President

and Jeannie Barresi, Managing Director




Health - The Annual Flu Shot

Do we take one or not?


Swine flu is worldwide news with thousands of new cases and hundreds of deaths.  The World Health Organization has declared a global pandemic for the first time in 40 years.  Swine flu brings forth echoes of 1918 when hundreds of thousands died in the United States of influenza.   It should also make all of us in the Gang think about the annual flu shot.  Do we take one or not? 


It is shocking to think that last year more than 36,000 people died in the U.S. from a form of the flu.  Most were very young, or older than 65.  Is the flu shot mandatory?  For those of us with respiratory problems and other chronic diseases an annual flu shot may be necessary.   But for those of us in excellent health and active, which is most of the Gang, the flu shot may be not be required and may even be counterproductive.  Flu shots can cause a form of influenza in some as bad as the flu itself.   Consider your options each winter season and make an informed decision with your physician.  It is also helpful to read information provided by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) at www.cdc.gov.