Summer Newsletter 2007

Fire on the Mountain Chili Cook Off

CAWV cross-dressing chili team was back in action on a beautiful sunny day, July 7th. It was a perfect day on the mountain, something you Chili veterans can appreciate considering days past spent in rain, cold, and fog. The men in skirts did a terrific job selling tickets with the help of new chili hot shot, eight year old Emma Paschon. Brian Woodyard was this year's cook. Brian dazzled the crown with his "Rolling Thunder Chili." The chili team dished out six gallons of Bryan's chili in the first hour of the event. New this year to our fund raiser was "Books Are Fun" book fair organized by Paula Heinke. Together with the book fair, 50/50 drawing, people's choice, and the generous donation of gate receipts from the Snowshoe Foundation, our fundraising efforts for the day were over $8000. Part of this year's total was a $500 donation from the Powderridge Homeowner's Association who challenged all the other associations at Snowshoe to match their pledge. This was one of our most successful cook-off's ever in our 10 year history. It was a great success, and a beautiful day with lots of smiling faces. Thanks to everyone for rocking this year's chili cook-off.

Watoga Camping Trip July 20-23

Still a chance to join CAWV for a weekend of camping at Watoga State Park. Bicycling, swimming, fishing, kayaking, and a lot of great camp food will make for the perfect weekend. We have 7 sites reserved; please contact David Begg at 304-572-6708 if you		 would like to join us. A great weekend is guaranteed.

Fourth Annual Greenbrier Challenge, August 4, 2007

If you haven't been on a bike yet, there is still time to tune up for this year's Greenbrier Challenge. Come out and join us for what is becoming CAWV's signature summer event. This year's event will feature the fully supported 52 mile bicycle relay, 5-k run/walk, geo-caching with Chris Polinchock, and a Sunday Gulf outing at Marlinton Country Club. Pre-registration for this year's event has been going well, but we still need the support of the membership. Organize a team, come out and ride, and keep spreading the word. Remember, those of you who are soliciting sponsors, Dave needs to have the names for the event shirts by July 26. Our goal is to raise $15,000 from this year's event. If you have never experienced the Greenbrier Trail, this is a perfect opportunity. See you on the trail, August 4.

Pioneer Days

Bob and Kathi Spencer spent the weekend of July 13-15 at Pioneer Days in Marlinton promoting CAWV and earning over $1,000 with the black powder gun raffle. They spent a lot of hours answering questions, selling cookbooks, and putting the best foot forward in the local community. The exposure from these events is really paying off as more people become aware of our program and our mission. Also helping out were Paula Heinke, Mike Smoot, and Pat Cahill. Our executive director David Begg also spent the weekend at Pioneer Days, but he seemed to spend more time on his bike on the Greenbrier River Trail and eating carnival food than he did schmoozing on First Avenue, imagine that! The lucky winners of the gun raffle were: Phillip Anderson of Marlinton and Brett Harrison of Cross Lanes, WV. Thanks Bob and Kathi for all your hard work! 		Dominion Golf Tournament Challenged Athletes of West Virginia was once again one of the recipient charities at the 12th annual Dominion Golf Tournament at Pete Dye Golf course in Bridgeport, WV on July 16th. The Dominion tournament raised over $120,000 for West Virginia Charities. It was a great day and a very classy event and brought home $3,000 for Challenged Athletes. July was a very good fundraising month for CAWV. Thanks to all of you for all your hard work.