Hello Everyone:
The purpose of this update is two-fold: A.) To provide a recap of the Nature Hike which took place this past Sunday morning and B.) To inform all members of the quickly approaching next event, which is the Brecksville Holiday Parade on Sunday, November 27th at 3:30 PM.
Nature Hike Recap
First, the Nature Hike was a very successful event as we had a strong turnout of approximately 90 dads and kids who were able to enjoy donuts, coffee and hot chocolate in the Octagon Pavilion before our 1.75 mile hike on the Ledges trail of the beautiful Cuyahoga Valley National Park. What a gem we have located right here in our own backyard! Mother Nature provided us with another day of outstanding weather and we were fortunate to have National Park Ranger James Frost lead our hike from start to finish. Based on the feedback that I have received, a great time was had by all who participated.
A very big “Thank You” needs to be expressed to current Property Chief, former Longhouse Chief and Sachem, Kevin Kwiatkowski and to his children, who helped out tremendously by handling all of the coffee and hot chocolate from preparation, serving, all the way through final clean up at the conclusion of the event. That is a pretty large task to accomplish at a remote location for a group our size and I greatly appreciate all of their efforts to help make it a successful event. Also, thanks to Awards Chief Mark Skrovan for providing us with another great patch for the event. Lastly, a big thank you to our Web Chief Adam Bram for assisting with the e-mail communications and on-line registration prior to the event. Another great example of how great teamwork is demonstrated on a regular basis at our events.
Brecksville Holiday Parade
Secondarily, I would like to make sure everyone is aware of the Brecksville Holiday Parade which will take place on Sunday, November 27th, at 3:30 PM. This is another great opportunity for our organization to be visible within the community and to increase the awareness of our existence. Having a float and marching in the parade is beneficial for our future efforts to invite new families to join CVNSND in the Fall and it is very important for the future of our great organization. In order to be able to offer the various events which we do throughout the program year, we need to at least maintain (ideally, continue to increase) our strong membership levels. We all have to exert some effort throughout the year to keep the organization strong. This past Fall, we were able to add quite a few new families thanks to all of your efforts to share the benefits of being a member with non-member families. Thanks again to everyone who positively impacted our growth. Remember the great phrase, “Anything that is good becomes even better when you share it.” We all need to jump on the opportunities to “ share it” as they arise throughout the year and the Christmas Parade is a great opportunity to keep the positive momentum moving forward.
Ornament Request
Once again this year, we will have a float which will include a Christmas tree. I would like to ask all member families to provide at least one ornament to be included on the tree. It can be a very simple hand made ornament made out of cardboard or something more elaborate if you wish. It can also be a store-bought ornament. Whatever you would like to do is totally acceptable. Every ornament should have the name of the CVNSND member family on it, either with a label or written in marker. If you would like to provide an ornament for each individual child and / or dad, that is great also. It can be a nice demonstration to the community exactly how many members we have in CVNSND. Please make plans to either make an ornament as a family craft or dig one up from the boxes in the basement and write your family name on it with a Sharpy marker. Please be sure to include a loop of string already tied to your ornament prior to bringing it to the parade. Hopefully this is not a burden on any of our member families and it will be pretty cool to see how the tree looks with 100% participation.
Parade Details
More specific details regarding the assembling location for the parade will be communicated via the Events Page as they become available. For now, please plan to provide at least one ornament participate in the Brecksville Christmas Parade on Sunday, November 27th at 3:30 PM in order to create more memories together with your kids. If you know that you will not be able to participate in the parade due to travel plans, etc., please plan to work with you tribe chief to make arrangements for delivery of your ornament(s) prior to the parade.
Thanks to all for your continued enthusiasm for CVNSND and have a great week!
Regards,
Tom “Eagle Eye” Kundmueller
Longhouse Chief
