Wheaton Regional Park

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2011 started out with a chill in the air but more than 200 warm hearts pounded as members and friends participated in our Wheaton Regional Park event – our first of the New Year. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the many wonderful and dedicated volunteers that helped make the day run smoothly and ensured that everyone had a great time.

Our course designers Russ Damtoft (advanced courses) and Linda Cornelius (white through orange) linked a network of features to create courses that provided challenging route choices in a relatively small area. And Eric Damtoft and Pete Minderman helped with control placement.

John Whitty, Liz O’Connell, Mark Walderhaug, and Robert Harrelson did a fabulous job at the registration table making sure everyone signed up for the appropriate course, disseminating important information, and encouraging lots of new memberships.

Sam Listwak was a tremendous help to our E-punch guru, Valerie Meyer. Together this dynamic duo kept the line moving quickly while helping new folks learn about the SportIdent system. And Robert Harrelson did his second shift as the download supervisor as we wrapped up the day.

David Onkst and Jon Torrance helped prepare beginners with excellent instruction and good pointers to ensure a fun first course for our many groups and first time attendees. Jon was also on hand to provide training for those who signed up to use the club’s Garmin Forerunner watches (a nice opportunity to track your steps!)

When all was done, a FAB team of QOC members picked up the control flags quickly, allowing us all to depart by 4:30pm: Nadim Ahmed, Jan Merka, Dan Quinn, Josh Blaustein and Tom Nolan.

And then there were those who did vital work prior to the event as well as day off: Maryland VP, Mike Newman made sure we got our permit; Greg Lennon and Valerie Meyer created and printed our maps; Greg helped direct cars to the overflow parking; and Kathleen Lennon not only updated all of the meet documents in the kit, including wonderful volunteer instructions, but she also enhanced our refreshments with cider, coffee, cream and sugar. And finally, QOC member Amy Louden once again baked and brought lots of her homemade cookies – YUM!

A million “thank you's” to you all!!!!

We were also delighted to have groups join us from Cedar Lane Church, the Philmont Scouts, and the Patuxent NJROTC. And finally, a big QOC welcome to our newest members: Ellen Kurland, Iva Zicha, Jeremy Dick, Marko Choma, and the families of Eric Lyness, Lars-Erik Borge, David Weigert, Stas Burgiel and Zachary Sikes.

Looking forward to a great year of orienteering!

Heidi Onkst, Event Director