by Armand Gutierrez, President

2021 is behind us, and apparently a lot of people are happy to put it behind us and bring in 2022 with great expectations. The COVID pandemic has not disappeared from our conscious minds, and probably never will in 2022 since we are constantly bombarded with reminders. On the bright side, Tahoe has been slammed with an abundance of Mother Nature’s best offering. The December record-breaking snowfall should provide us with plenty of skiing/riding for the upcoming months, and more if January and February also have decent snow dumps. Perhaps you missed out on last year’s season, so make it this year to get out and enjoy what we do best.

Passing of Past-President Stan Kakinami

Upon returning from New York (actually Long Island) one of my Zumba buddies mentioned that a past-president from Nisei had passed away but could not remember the name, other than it started with a K. After a little research on the Mercury News I found the obituary for Stan Kakinami, NSC president from 1972-1973. After reading the obituary I realized that he and I worked on the same project while at Lockheed back in 1978-81. We were both software engineers and that project sent me to Germany for 18 months to provide software support. While there I recall Stan coming to visit to deliver upgraded software for the system. The project eventually moved to Austin, Texas, and I stayed in Sunnyvale and Stan went to Austin. We also played softball together one season with others from the project. We weren’t very good because we lost every game, but just the same we had a fun time playing. For details on Stan here is a link to his obituary: 

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/mercurynews/name/stanley-kakinami-obituary?id=31908050

2022 NSC Ski Week to Steamboat, CO

By the end of the month we will be making our escape to the Winter Wonderland of Steamboat. Thanks to the recent snowstorms there will be an abundance of snowflakes in the form of that famous Champagne Powder that Steamboat is noted for. The Steamboat Orientation meeting is on Saturday, 8 January and the Evite has been sent out, so let me know if you did not receive the Evite (president@niseiskiclub.org). 

Please take note of these last minute reminders:

  • If you’re planning on renting skis then you can get a 40% discount with Steamboat Sports at the following link: https://packages.steamboat.com/packages/package/61850/?code=Nisei_RENT
  • Steamboat will be requiring masks for unvaccinated people, and encourages everyone to wear masks while indoors.
  • Restaurants are requiring proof of vaccination, so be sure to bring your COVID card.

QotM: The harder the goodbye, the sweeter the hello. – Mike Baxter