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I want to thank all those people who attended our annual kick off dinner held at Wasatch Pizza on April 17th. We had 35 wind addicts and several spouses. I'd also like to thank Ozone, Big Winds, and Diamond X ranch for donating raffle prizes. I want to keep everyone up to date. Annual membership dues are $10. You can pay your dues online by following this link: https://www.sportsbaseonline.com/Item.aspx?id=1377

Now, on to the minutes from our annual meeting. Mike Rossberg (Former President) and Grant McAllister(Membership Chairperson) were the MC's for the meeting.

Membership Report - Mike
Last year we had about 60 due paying UWA members. Our website has 366 registered users. The last newsletter I send a week ago, based on the emails registered on the forum, yielded 306 valid email addresses.

The forum on our UWA website has become the gathering place for the UWA. We encourage all users to read and post often in the forum.

Treasury Report - Grant
We have been able to balance membership dues with these expenses for the last several years. Our major expenses are web site hosting ($230 per yr), annual dinner, and summer social. We proposed making a $500 contribution to the Columbia Gorge Windsurfing Association (CGWA) which received a majority approval by the attending members. The CGWA helps insure access to our favorite Gorge sailing sites. Lately, the CGWA has been involved in legal battles with the railroad in preserving parking at Doug's Beach.

Election of Club Officers - Grant

We proposed a change in leadership and the following additions were unanimously approved.

New Officers

President - Rick Heninger

Windsurfing VP - Josh Shirley

Kiteboarding VP - Les Vierra

Current Officers

Membership Chairperson - Grant McAllister

Secretary/Treasurer - Dimitrije Milovich

Social Chairperson - Sara Ranes

Board Member - Mike Rossberg

We would like to thank Mike Rossberg who has served has President since 2003. Mike will continue to serve on the board. We would also like to thank those who have served the past: Derrick Sayers, John Dubock, John Manwaring, and Trip Houk. We are very excited to have additional leadership who can bring fresh ideas and excitement to the UWA. You can already see the new blood at work with a proposed 1st annual Utah Lake Crossing, GPS Speed Contest, and Beginner Day.

Access Report -Mike

Rush Lake - Water is back and kiteboarders are thrilled. Water is only 3 feet at the deepest so windsurfing is limited. The dirt road from the paved road is fenced off. Use the dirt road on the north end to access the shore and drive south to the regular launch site.

Utah Lake - Pelican Point is the preferred launch for windsurfing on the west side. Lincoln Beach Provo boat harbor remains an alternative windsurf launch on the east side. There was talk about building sand bag stairs off the dike at the harbor at the south end is the preferred launch for kiteboarding. The high water has made South Sandy Beach inaccessible.

Snow Kiting Review - Brian Schenck

Brian and Heather Schenck have been instrumental in promoting snow kiting in Utah and the nation. Skyline is now one of and if not the top destination snow kiting locations in the USA . Strawberry saw good action this winter; however the spring season was cut short with a warm spring. Powder Mountain was popular this season but access next season may be questionable with proposed development.

Web Site Review - Mike

About six months ago our site began to be invaded with spambots which would register bogus users and began to post on the forum. I was able to find a fix to block the spambots. The result of my fix has disabled self registration and password resets. Users may experience some error messages if they click twice after posting. I am awaiting the new version of PHPBB forum 3.0. When this version is released I will perform a fresh install and update our current forum. Josh Shirley has been exploring the possibilities of having a PDA web version of our site with the weather links. This would allow us to access the site with web enabled cell phones and PDA's. If anyone has experience developing web sites and would like to volunteer please let us know.

Awards - Grant

Craig Goudie received a gift certificate from Big Winds for his daily wind forecast. We would all like to thank Craig for dedication for providing us with the best bet for wind.

Sara Ranes received a gift certificate from Big Winds for all her efforts in organizing our summer social events.

Mike Rossberg received a gift certificate from Big Winds for his past efforts in organizing the SWAP meets for the last few years.

Events - Mike

The annual SWAP meet will be at Maclean Quality Composites (Powerex Factory) on Saturday May 12th at 8:30am. 3392 West 8600 South West Jordan UT 84088 . Powerex will have seconds and other windsurfing gear for sale. Back up your vehicle to the grassy island and buy and sell your gear for free. Please spread the word by posting flyers where you feel appropriate. We need more buyers!

Kiters - Mike has cleaned out his garage and will have many new lines sets and bars that will be for sale.

Raffle Prizes

Diamond Ranch Guest Ranch provided our grand prize. Diamand Ranch is only few miles from Sulfur Creek. They have a beautiful ranch house that can host up to 12 people. Check out there web site for details www.diamondxranch.com. Steve Harrison won the one night stay. Steve will provide us a full review after his stay.

We would like to thank Brian and Heather Shenck from Ozone for their continued support by providing raffle prizes. Check out the full line of Ozone kites at www.windzup.com

Big Winds in Hood River has been supporting the UWA for years. Check out their online store at www.bigwinds.com

I've enjoyed serving as the president of the UWA over past several years. I'm very excited for our new UWA team. Rick, Josh, and Les have a lot of stoke for this sport and I know they will have new ideas and activities for our club. It's been a pleasure to serve and I encourage more of you to get involved.

See ya on the water,

Mike Rossberg