A Trip to Tahoe

In the early hours of the morning on Saturday, March 10, ten Friendships and two staff members got onto a tour bus and drove to Northstar Resort at Lake Tahoe for a day of fun in the snow.

Each Friendship had its own plan for the day. Some were taking snowboarding lessons, others were preparing to snow tube, and still more were looking forward to ice skating. This staff member, your reporter, was incredibly excited to ski. He was confident in his abilities. When anybody asked, he said, “I’m going to ski. I’m pretty good.”

Waiting for the group at the Northstar parking lot were Friends for Youth Board members Rob Inouye and Dave Rozzi. After an introduction to the Northstar complex by Dave, who also works on the slopes, Friendships split up to begin their various activities.

Your reporter accompanied Dave up to the top of a very easy “green” run, where he proceeded to demonstrate his preternatural ability to role down a hill, skis akimbo, in great style. Dave, ever patient, was an invaluable instructor. After that first run, your reporter did no more rolling.

The rest of the Friends for Youth group didn’t have as much trouble on the slopes. A few Friendships learned how to snowboard, and they were quick students. Others had much fun, and less trouble, going down some hills on inner tubes. There was also ice skating, made somewhat rough by the day’s warm weather, as well as a snowball fight among Friendships, and more than a few pretty snowmen constructed around the Northstar grounds.

The snow trip was partially funded by an online fundraising drive featured on Groupon. It was organized by Program Coordinator Maribel Zarate and Friends for Youth Board member Dave Rozzi.

Everyone had a great time. Friends for Youth would like to thank everyone who came on the trip, all the donors who supported the Groupon campaign, Dave and Rob for helping out that day, and Northstar for all the fun!