Story By Cynthia Hines
WSCSC’s Ladies’ Night Out was held on October 3, 2023 @ Mesa Winds Winery. 40 ladies participated in our annual celebration and NO MEMBER HAD TO COOK! The outing has become a celebration to recognize and honor the members who keep this amazing group functioning in the “Sisterhood Of Our Equines.”
Marjanna did a fabulous job organizing the event! We were honored by Maree McAteer and her friend Beverley, both from Auckland, New Zealand, joining us for this wonderful night of celebration.
The beautiful fall evening began with “Over The Top Cocktails,” great appetizers and a social hour of laughter and good cheer. Long time members visited with with new members and everyone in-between. The venue was perfect for interaction. We have so many new members that we had big, easy to read NAME TAGS ready for all the gals.
Dinner was delayed slightly so we took advantage of the time and began celebrating the wonderful volunteers who make this club work. Juleen was the MC for Most Valuable Participant (MVP) program and began by honoring many of the Committee Chairs and highlighting the 2023 club activities. Each lady recognized was asked to stand as Estella presented them with a carnation.
Lorie Molitor was honored as Parade Chair. WSCSC participated in 2 parades in 2022. In 2023, the club participated in 5 parades! Isn’t that like a 150% improvement? Great job, Lorie.
Michelle Ruyle, Entertainment Chair, did a fabulous job organizing Fun Night. Brilliant to plan Fun Night on Summer Solstice at the Hotchkiss arena. Michelle will do an even better job with our Christmas Dinner! Thanks, Michelle, you are a ROCK STAR!
Thankyou’s
Holly Jones, Sunshine Chair, had a busy year and still found time to add Thank You notes to her duties. Holly really stepped up and assisted Penny with the clinic and Island In The Sky. Holly just retired from her postal career. Now we can enjoy Holly and her Missouri Fox Trotter, Willie, even more.
Big kudos to JoAnn Towle, our Public Relations chairwoman. JoAnn took the best photos and posted many of them on our Facebook page. She also had six articles published about the club in 2023. Way to go JoAnn!
Brandy Ferganchick, Ride Committee Chair, is a gift to this club. Brandy’s ability to share her knowledge and experience is deeply appreciated by all of us who are lucky enough to get to ride with her. We could not have done the clinic or Trail Trials without her knowledge and expertise. Thank you for keeping us safe and having fun too!
Estella Holmes, thank you for allowing us to use your beautiful playground and surrounding real estate. Estella hosted and organized Spa Day, the Judges training and Obstacle Clinic in 2023. Estella’s generosity is always humbling. Delighted to see Estella and Mary Lou riding with us again.
Sky Baldwin. Sky is the secretary of the club. She has done a great job with her creative suggestions and worked tirelessly on the minutes from our General Membership and Executive Team meetings. Sky was Trail Boss for several rides and organized two horse campouts. Thanks a million, Sky!
CJ Simmers is the best treasurer ever, the glue that has kept the club running smoothly in 2023. She tracked waivers, new and renewing members, always keeping the membership list on the web site current. She provided updates about club activities via her multi colored emails. CJ also organized the Micro Chipping efforts and assisted Dr. Pete, who microchipped 25 horses for us. CJ has been an integral part of the Executive Team and a new Trail Boss in 2023. Thanks CJ, we couldn’t have done all we did without YOU!
Big Thanks Marjanna Akhtar, WSCSC’s Vice President. Her calm demeanor on how to improve just about everything involving the club has been so helpful. Marjanna also held a meeting at her lovely home including an amazing Program. Marjanna set a new standard for “Dessert First and Richard’s Most Amazing Cocktails” for future meetings. Most importantly, Marjanna organized Ladies Night Out at Mesa Winds Winery for the second year. Big Round of Applause!
Special acknowledgement to Betty Garrett, the past club president from January 2020 through March of 2023. Betty shepherded the club through COVID. January of 2022, the club was hanging on by a thread, with 35 members and maybe 15 active members. We now have 70 members and we went from two parades and ten club meetings per year to over 70 different club activities. Thank you Betty for all your efforts and bringing this wonderful club back to life.
Juleen Feazell – Juleen, our elite President of WSCSC…
- Endlessly volunteers her time to create a fun, educational and safe environment / activities, not only for our current members but also encourages and welcomes new members.
- Works on WSCSC activities, literally day and night. There are no time restraints and no time boundaries for Juleen…
- Takes existing and new members out on rides outside of scheduled club rides, showing them new and existing trails. If they are without a horse, she provides them with her seasoned horse, Ms. Kookie.
- Pre-rides an upcoming club rides to make sure there are no unforeseen issues or obstacles and that the trail is safe for the least experienced rider
- Makes sure you know how much she appreciates you, thanking everyone for their hard work and involvement. It isn’t unusual to receive a text or an email from Juleen telling you how great you are!
- Mentors new riders and members about the expectations of trail etiquette, providing demonstrations when asked or needed, willingly sharing her tremendous equine knowledge.
- Gets appropriately feisty when she believes safety is being compromised!
- Has a hard time saying “NO” and if she sees something that needs to be done, she takes it on.
- Is one of the biggest advocates for the club, along with other long-time members, building the membership to an all time high.
- Is no different than anyone else and will show her frustration when she thinks she or anyone else could do better.
- Is solution focused vs. complaining and not coming up with a solution.
- Is a great steward for the club.
- Folks can be quick to complain, not realizing that we are all volunteers. Juleen never takes it personally, she just does what is needed…
- Juleen’s amazing culinary contributions and on-the-trail singing add to our boisterously delicious outings!
Thank you, Juleen, we love and respect you!
THE MOST VALUABLE PARTICIPANT AWARD: MVP 2023
The MVP started in 2022 as a way to acknowledge the members who participated the most in club activities. 7,586 points were tallied. Three members with the most points did not believe they made the biggest impact on the club. Those three ladies unanimously selected two other members to receive the MVP awards. Camaraderie at its finest.
Penny Gordon was the Chair for Trail Trials, comprised of Judges, Training, Obstacle Clinic and Island In The Sky. Penny and her committee worked for five months. She assembled an amazing team of volunteers, 36 just for Trail Trials! Twenty seven members, three non-members and six husbands/SOs helped with everything from tent building, stake pounding, horse babysitting, parking, judging, pre-riding and drag riding to jumping vehicles that would not start.
This year’s MVP even took on the extra task of being the Poo Poo wagon delivery driver. She brought up the Porta Potty empty and returned it full of SHIT. Thank you Penny for your DELIGHTFUL spirit and hard work.
Traci Schalow was generous beyond imagination when she volunteered to create a web site for the club as well as a logo. We can’t imagine how many hours Traci has spent on the club’s web site and logo design. WSCSC’s new web page was above and beyond what any of us could have imagined. Traci took the club’s historical information, photos and stories from the past activities and brought them to life on our web site. She also added features that allowed membership renewals, new members to join, waiver completion and registrations, as well as tracking current membership. Traci’s efforts have been responsible for most of the 28 new members this year. The creation of the club’s web site is the single biggest improvement to the club in years. Traci’s talent and generosity in donating so much time and effort is deeply, deeply appreciated. Thank you Traci, it would have taken us years and tons of money to have created such an amazing web site.
Final Thoughts
The evening turned a tad chilly and the staff brought lap quilts to those who needed them. The delicious meal, the desserts and the wonderful evening made us realize how lucky we are to be a part of such a wonderful group of strong, smart, generous women.
