[Alpinista]

in reply to: 2005 Planning Weekend: May 21-22 #50699

I’ve never done Welch Dickie. I might be game for that one!

[Alpinista]

in reply to: 2005 Planning Weekend: May 21-22 #50692

Attending will be moi.
I’ll be arriving Saturday morning.
I’ll be leaving Sunday.

Looking forward to seeing everyone, and helping to organize another successful Flags on the 48!
:beer:

[Alpinista]

in reply to: Looking Back ….Moving Forward. #50567

SilentCal: I’m with you and FWIW, my 2 cents are that we stick with the closest Saturday to 9/11. It makes it that much easier for folks to travel back and forth from their homes, and I fear that a Sunday event would make it difficult for people to get together afterward. Although you’re right that this is a memorial and not to be taken lightly, I think it’s cathartic to be able to get together afterward and swap our experiences.

[Alpinista]

in reply to: Time to pay the piper #50391

I like the idea of a planning meeting to try to hash out some ideas. Thoughts on a locale?

[Alpinista]

in reply to: Feedback FOT48 – 2004 #50320

I’ll ditto the reaction to the Mooseland. They were certainly trying hard but they were clearly overwhelmed despite the repeated warnings of a huge group that would descend on them after the hike. I was with Sherpa the night before when we warned the waitress and she had no clue that the event was less than 24 hours away _ and had we not mentioned it to her, she hadn’t been on the sked to work the next night!

Perhaps the Woodstock Inn is the way to go next year?

:beer:

[Alpinista]

in reply to: Thank you, participants #50326

I just want to thank all the organizers — folks like MichaelJ, Stephen, Greg, SilentCal who brought memorial pens and everyone else whose names are escaping me now. This was the best organized so far, and I for one felt everyone’s spirit in memorializing those who died on 9/11. If the attackers hoped to break our spirit and tear us apart, they have failed. We seem closer together as a community than ever before. :flag:

[Alpinista]

in reply to: flag pole and flag available #50287

Hey there!

I’m heading up to Sugarloaf CG this afternoon, so I’d be happy to stop by site #20. I’ve got all the gear in my car.

Thanks for the kind words on the Suite101 article!

:flag: :flag: :flag: :flag: :flag: :flag:

[Alpinista]

in reply to: flag pole and flag available #50285

Oh … and you’ll obviously need to pick it up Friday night or early Saturday morning from me at Sugarloaf. Forgot to add the time element. Must be that busted watch of mine! 😮

[Alpinista]

in reply to: Mt. Monroe/Washington #50109

Stephen …

Any idea if the Cops on Top plan to actually “adopt” Washington, bringing a flag and the whole works to the summit?

I have emails into the group to try to find out, but if you know, could you post the answer. If they are, we’d be interested/willing to hang with SilentCal and the gang on Monroe.

[Alpinista]

in reply to: Mooseland Grill Tally 2004 #49918

Besides Sherpa and I, we may end up bringing 4 more (colleagues and their spouses who may drive up to the top of Big George).

[Alpinista]

in reply to: Did the……. #49959

Actually, we can take the text of the summit sign and simply add a cover letter with the who, what, when, where, why and how, and send that. A press release of this sort should be short and sweet so it’s easy for the news organization to instantly see what exactly is happening — and then the summit sign text can be used to flesh it out a bit if they want to see/hear more. If you make it all too long right off the bat, we risk it getting tossed as too much to pore over. (I’m a journalist, can’t you tell???) :flag:

[Alpinista]

in reply to: Did the……. #49956

Are press released planned for this year and just haven’t gone out yet, or is that idea nixed?

I’d recommend sending a press release to the AP’s office in Concord so, at the very least, it gets on their daybook — a daily listing of events of media interest. In addition, I’d recommend sending it to the bigger newspapers in New Hampshire– the Union Leader, Concord Monitor and the like — and The Boston Globe and The New York Times.

We may find as time goes on that this event gets less media attention. For example, I wouldn’t be surprised if this year, there is photographic media but no print. This is not to diminish the event, it is simply a reality that events that are no longer “new” will get less coverage. I, for one, don’t care about the media attention — to me, it’s more important to get in the mountains and memorialize those who died and those who are left behind.

[Alpinista]

in reply to: Where is everyone staying that weekend? #49748

I’m thinking of staying at Zealand/Sugarloaf campground Friday night and Saturday night. :flag:

[Alpinista]

in reply to: Boston.com Article #49027

Thanks to everyone who came with me on the hike to Mt. Hale, thanks to the organizers for this very meaningful event, and a special thanks to Gail for agreeing to be interviewed. I hope this becomes an annual event for many years to come — and I was glad to see folks like Gail put some real thought into their summit tributes, making the event truly what it was designed to do: to memorialize those who died and to never forget what we all went through that fateful day.

[Alpinista]

in reply to: My Thoughts on Today’s Event! #49031

I don’t know why, but this year I found the event to be even more moving that last year. I hope we keep this tradition up, because it truly helps me reflect on what happened two years ago and on where we’re going forward as a nation. I hiked up with a co-worker, Sylvia, and two friends, Basil and Julie (aka Cantdog), and got to the summit right around noon. Just before reaching the summit, I ran into Mike, who had sent me an email just the night before volunteering to bring a 10-foot pole — just the right size to fly a massive flag another friend had lent to me. It was like kismet since I’d never met Mike before (aka Sticks), and would not have been able to fly this massive flag without a suitable-sized pole. Julie and Basil hoisted the flag ala Iwo Jima, and we were blessed with just enough wind to keep it gently flapping and unfurling in the wind. It was incredibly hot on the summit and I now am sporting a pretty bad sunburn, but I wouldn’t have missed this for all the world.

From atop the peak, I dictated some information and quotes to the AP. At the Mooseland later that night, I was lucky enough to have run into Gail Linehan, who graciously agreed to be interviewed for the article. I hope the story did this day justice.

Thanks to everyone who participated. It was a great day to reflect –and I also enjoyed meeting so many of you at the Mooseland.

Let us never forget …

[Author]

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