by Richard Weinstein, COO
Ocean Reef Community Foundation
The winter Olympics have come to a close. There is finally a little snow out West, and they are having a great year with snow in the east. That means it must be time to go skiing (or snowboarding). Two years ago, we took a family ski trip and watched the grandkids (and grown kids) learn to ski and snowboard. A bit rusty myself, I took it easy at first and watched the lessons and stuck to the green runs. It seemed that all the youngsters were interested only in learning one thing: “How do I go?” And the adults were also interested in learning one thing: “How do I STOP?!?”
For those of you who don’t ski, there is a simple system on the mountain to let you know when you are going to die trying this sport. Green, denoted with a lovely green circle, indicates pretty much exactly what you would expect, and those runs have names with words like “walk” as in “Woodland Walk” or “lazy” like “The Lazy Meadow.” A Blue Square is intermediate, and that means you will likely survive, but you need to know a few things first. And then there are the Black Diamonds. These are runs named things like “Rambo” or that include words like “Chute” (unless you are an expert, any run that references “chute” is no Bueno). I opted to try a chute once and got halfway down before I realized I didn’t possess the skills to make it to the bottom without sustaining a serious injury. So, I stopped, took off my skis, put them on my shoulder, and started walking back up the way I had come. Along came a skier who actually possessed the skills to be on that run. He kindly stopped to check on me and ask why I had chosen to walk uphill when it would be way easier to walk down … Duh! Always learning.
So sometimes going back the way we came is not the best solution! That is why our All Charities Gala weekend continues to evolve, change, and move forward, as was beautifully demonstrated last week. We saw dramatic changes in the decor and layout of the silent auction, and a difference right from the start with the Preferred Partner exhibition in the foyer and the addition of a wonderful vignette for pictures. What didn’t change was the generosity of the Membership. While we are still working through the numbers, early indications are that we have reason to be thankful to everyone who participated. This includes our many first-time participants (those on our “Green runs”) and our Black Diamond devotees who return year after year. (Of note, Lester Lampert is our real diamond expert!)
While going downhill is undeniably easier (and in this regard, we are more like the children learning to ski), we absolutely want to keep progressing. And as we continue to gain momentum, learn, and evolve, we become more adept at providing not only the experience you enjoy for the Gala, but too, and importantly, solutions to help meet the pressing needs of the non-profits at Ocean Reef and scores of charities in our surrounding communities.
