New England Orienteering Club
Annual General Members Meeting & Picnic
June 8, 2014 Houghton's Pond, Milton MA
Held in conjunction with O-meet
Everyone is invited to orienteer and picnic. NEOC members can elect new members of the club's Board of Directors.
Check the schedule listing for June 8 for details of the picnic/barbeque and meeting, including time and what to bring. It's a great chance to relax after orienteering, enjoy good food and company.
The election will fill five positions on the Board of Directors. At this time there are five candidates for those positions. If you or someone you know would consider serving on the board contact Jim Paschetto, head of the 2014 Nominating Committee.
If you can’t make it to the meeting you can still vote by using a proxy form. The form has directions for how to use it and make your vote count.
Below are the bios of the five candidates.
Orienteering Bios of Candidates for Election to the NEOC Board of Directors
Tim Booth
I've been orienteering, mostly in Britain, since 1981, and I'm now running in the US. In that time, I've done most of the jobs that are needed at events - I've been meet director, regional junior coach and results jockey. I've been course setter for events ranging from little local events to the British Schools Championships.
Over recent years, I've focused more on mapping and providing results, up to and including the World Championships in Scotland.
I keep on trying despite long-term injuries and I still enjoy that thrill of hitting a control dead on, first time around.
I hope to offer my experience to the club to make orienteering even more enjoyable and challenging for all levels and to learn new skills and have more inspirations.
Peter Frykman
Hello, my name is Peter Frykman and I am a candidate for re-election to the NEOC board of directors. I have been involved in orienteering since 1984,have been a NEOC member for more than 17 years and have been on the NEOC board of directors for more than 8 years. I am a devoted recreational orienteer (Green) and try to run in about 10 meets a year. I have been a meet director and have had the good fortune to orienteer here in New England, in other places in the US and also in Europe. I have attended 2 USOF conventions to learn more about the sport. These opportunities have broadened my view of the sport and I have had the chance to see different ways that clubs enhance the orienteering experience for their members. I worked to bring epunching to NEOC and now we use it almost all meets and have been able to help other clubs by renting our equipment to them when our schedule permits. About 5 years ago I developed what has turned into the NEOC Point Series. Initially this was a way for club members to compare their performance over the course of the year. Now the point series is used to determine the club champions for the different age and gender groups.
I believe the job of the board is to listen to the membership of the club and to prudently use the club's resources to work to develop programs to enhance the orienteering experience that the membership wants. I hope that you will vote for me so that I can work to provide you, the NEOC members, with the orienteering experience that you want.
Sylvie Guichard
I discovered orienteering while attending the mountaineering guide training in Scotland in 2004. The National Orienteering Centre was running a day on micro-navigation as part of the training and I had a fantastic time. I joined the Edinburgh South Orienteering Club as soon as I was back in Edinburgh and spent 5 wonderful years running (and sometimes getting lost) in many parts of Scotland. I was a keen participant of the ladies runs on Mondays and the "fight the night" night orienteering sessions during the summer.
When I moved to England, I joined the Manchester District Orienteering Club and Macclesfield forest and the Goyt valley became my playground but events were less frequent than in Scotland.
Three years ago, I started to work partly in Boston and still partly in the UK. That's when I discovered NEOC. Now working full time in Boston, I feel I can devote more time to orienteering and to the club, building on my experience in Scotland and England.
Tim Parson
I started orienteering in 1985 and have been an enthusiastic member of NEOC since that time. I’ve served the club as newsletter editor (back when that required laborious physical paste-up), Board member, local meet director on a regular basis, and course setter for an A-meet event. Currently I am also VP of Events, the person in charge of setting up the club’s schedule for the year and finding people to make it happen. I go to A-meets frequently in other parts of the U.S., and have generally been among the top-ranked runners nationally in my age group. Both of my children, Ben and Meg, grew up orienteering, and Meg was on the U.S. Junior Team for three years. My wife Elizabeth doesn’t orienteer, but supports the rest of us and has enjoyed hosting the NEOC Holiday Party for the past several years. I also serve on OUSA’s Finance and Endowment Committees. Beyond orienteering, I live in Carlisle, MA and am the CFO of an independent school.
I am running for the NEOC Board again because I think my experience would continue to help the club in that role. Among issues of particular concern to me, I am a strong supporter of updating our maps so that a wider range can be easily used for local meets. I continue to think that NEOC should hosting an A-meet each year, like the one coming up this November in Townsend. Finally, I would like to see a broader segment of our membership helping out at meets - at present, a lot of work seems to fall on the same people. I did successfully enlist some new meet directors and course setters this year, and hope to continue that effort going forward.
Jeffrey Saeger
The first course I went around was in 1980, at Ashland State Park. It took me awhile to get going, but by 1982 Hans Bengtsson had recruited me as a meet director, Regis College, and I guess I did OK, because then he thought I would be OK for an A meet director, Troll Cup 1985! Years later I served on the board and was president in the 1990's.
Two years ago I volunteereed for the board again, and last June became President, again.!.?
There are several ideas and goals I would like to accomplish. The common theme of them all is to get the membership involved and the public aware and participating in our meets.
In general, The BOD is working on making it easier for members to be involved. We have gotten our maps online as PDF for course setters, have an archive of maps with courses and updating and editing manuals for everything from meet directing to starting the generator.
The Club's upcoming A meet is a great way to meet others in the club as well as attend a national-level event, on our superb new map in Townsend.
I look forward to talking with any of you about what the club can do to make your experience as an orienteer, meet volunteer, course setter, meet director and club member more rewarding.