Select this form, print it, and mail it with your check to:

Husky Crew Awards Banquet

University of Washington, Graves Building

Box 354080 Seattle, WA  98195

Please reserve my spot at the 2007 VBC Banquet to be held at the Conibear Shellhouse on Friday, March 23, starting at 6:00 p.m.

NAME:_________________________________________________

ADDRESS:______________________________________________

CITY:________________ STATE:_________ ZIP:_______________

E-MAIL:________________________________________________

Please reserve _____ seats at $40 each

Make me a SPONSOR for _____ seats at $65 each

Make me a PATRON for ______ seats at $100 each

I can't make it this year but I want to support the Huskies. Here is my donation:

SPONSOR at $25

PATRON at $60

I want to sit with the people I’ve listed on the back of this form.

I understand my name and those of my tablemates must be on a list of paid attendees at the door for entrance to the banquet. I have written the names and email addresses of each attendee on the back of this form.

Enclosed is my check for $________ made payable to Washington Rowing Stewards

Once upon a time, Class Day was a race; now it’s a weekend event. Wake up Saturday morning after the VBC Banquet and join 200 others for Dwight Phillips’ annual Cruise with Croissants boat trip. There is no better way to watch the races but you’ll need to act now to secure a place on the boat. Like the banquet, it sells out quickly; unlike the banquet where Al Erickson often can squeeze in one more person, the Coast Guard allows 200 on the boat. Period.

The date is Saturday, March 24, and the boarding occurs promptly at 8:00 a.m. The cost is $30 but be sure to bring extra money with you. It’s Saturday so the University charges $5 for parking.

The arrangements this year are similar to those of last year. The boat is Argosy’s Goodtime II, and the loading and unloading will be done near the Montlake Cut at the Waterfront Activity Center located at the southeast corner of the Husky stadium parking lot. If you are unfamiliar with the location, check out the map at the right. Enter parking gate #8 and proceed to parking lot E-12 adjacent to the easily identified climbing rock.

Dwight reports that the Goodtime II will tour around Madison Park and then cross to the east side of Lake Washington. On board you will have “Breakfast Croissants”, fresh fruit and expresso drinks. You will return for an up close and personal view of the races, at which time Coaches Eleanor and Bob will board to provide their color commentary. When the races are over, disembark and make the short walk back to Conibear Shellhouse for the post-race barbeque and awards ceremony.

No tickets will be issued; your name will be on a list in the boarding area on the morning of the races … if you act fast enough to secure one of the 200 places. Don’t forget – boarding occurs promptly at 8:00 a.m., and doesn’t return to pick up stragglers. If you have any questions, call Dwight at 425.453-6829, or Bob Ernst at 206.543-2136.

Send your check ($30) to:

Dwight Phillips

24319 Crystal Lake Road

Woodinville, WA  98077

When the Class Day races are over, walk back to the shellhouse for the Awards Ceremonies and the finest BBQ of the season. Tristine Drennan is our new BBQ chair but she will be ably assisted by the regular “old pro cooking line” – Eric Cohen, Al Forney, Mike Hess, George Teasdale, Peg Achterman, and maybe a repeat appearance by Matt Minas and anyone else they can grab. The burgers, dogs, chips, apples, cookies and sodas are free but be generous when you see that donation box. Athletes eat free; all others should dig deeply and be generous. All proceeds go the rowing program.

If you would like to participate in flipping burgers, please contact Tristine Drennan at 206-221-3663 or e-mail her tglick@u.washington.edu

On April 7, 2007, the University of Washington will be honoring women who played sports at the UW before the passage of Title IX.  The Banquet, “Celebrating Pre-Title IX Athletes – Honoring our Past and celebrating our Future” will be held in the Bank of America Arena in Hec Edmondson Pavilion.

A committee of dedicated volunteers including pre and post Title IX University of Washington athletes has been hard at work locating women who participated in sports at the UW through the spring 1975 season.  Over 300 former athletes were identified, 268 women were contacted and almost 150 (fifty of whom are rowers!) will attend the banquet in April.

If you are interested in attending the banquet or know a former rower who has not been contacted yet, please contact Ellen Ernst at eernst60@aol.com.

Women’s crew was a popular sport at the University of Washington in the early part of the century, but was not re-instated after the end of WWI.  After over 50 years of silence, the women’s crew was reborn in the autumn of 1968. It would take a transfer student from Mills College, Joan Bird, to help reestablish women’s rowing at the UW.

On October 23, 1968 a small article appeared in the University of Washington Daily with the headline – “Coed Crew to Gather”.  This meeting was billed as an “exploratory meeting” to see if there were any women interested in getting a crew together.  The Lake Washington Rowing Club and the Green Lake crew volunteered to help Joan get a rowing team started in the hopes that the University of Washington would field a team at the National Women’s Rowing Association (NWRA) national regatta to be held at Green Lake in June of 1969. 

Bernie Delke, a rower from Chicago training with the Lake Washington Rowing Club, agreed to coach the women, and Assistant Athletic Director in charge of Intramural sports, Norma Carr, helped the fledgling team acquire training boats – all wherries.  In those early days the women had to borrow racing shells from other teams when they arrived at regattas and sometimes only learned to set them up on the way to the starting line!

The lack of funding, good training and racing boats, and a sometimes challenging relationship with the men’s team did not deter the women.  They turned out for crew, trained hard and competed in their first National Championship regatta at Green Lake in June of 1969.  The women won their first national championship race in 1970.  The lightweight four (Cox – Judy Ketchison, stroke - Joannie Kingsly, 3 – Jocelyn Curry, 2 – Coleen Lynch and bow –Jan Richardson) beat the competition to capture the gold on Lake Merritt in Oakland, California.  Over the next decade, the women competed in lightweight and heavyweight events in every boat from the single wherry, the pair, the four, the quad, all the way up to the eight – beginning in 1971.

In 1972, Congress passed Title IX of the Education Amendments which stated that:  “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any education program or activities receiving Federal financial assistance.”

Former rowers Coleen Lynch and Paula Mitchell took the coaching reigns in the fall of 1972 and led the team through the 1975 spring season.  From 1968 through 1975, the University of Washington women’s crew won a total of eight national titles – including three consecutive wins in the Lightweight eight (1971, 1972, 1973).

In the spring of 1975, the women acquired their second eight oared shell (the first, the 1915 Coed, was acquired in 1915) aptly named Mrs. Rusty “Dolly” Callow in honor of Dolly who rowed in the spring of 1910 and married legendary UW oarsman and coach Rusty Callow.

So, after over thirty years, it is time for us to say thank you to those women who took up the torch after fifty years and began to rebuild the women’s rowing program at the University of Washington.  Thank you, pre-Title IX Washington Oarswomen!  We couldn’t have done it without you!!

Remember, if you are interested in attending the banquet or know a former rower who has not been contacted yet, please contact Ellen Ernst at eernst60@aol.com.

Last year we proved that the Husky rowing alumni were willing to step up their contributions in order to keep the program at an elite level. With very little noise from us this year, you’ve done it again. Results from November 1 through January 31 indicate that we will finish this campaign strongly. With thirty days left in our self-imposed recording period, we are already $4,000 ahead of last year and counting. What’s more, these results do not include payments on shellhouse renovation pledges ($190,636) or a new, gifted Empacher ($35,000) from one of our strongest supporters. Last year we said you were the greatest and you still are.

Donations to the program in recent years (not including endowments and equipment) fell into an annual range of $30,000 to $50,000. Typically, we raised about a third of that during our winter Annual Appeal period. Contributions during the 2004-2005 Appeal period totaled $12,050. Last year’s contributions through the end of February were $86,236. This year’s contributions through the end of January are $90,264. How did this jump in contributions occur? In the fall of 2005, we gave you financial detail on the program and laid out a rationale for giving, and you responded like Huskies at the finish line. We say again: You are the best!

Here are some interesting statistics. Last year we had 134 donors; this year we have had 146. Last year we received 23 gifts of $1,000 or more; this year we have received 22 so far. Last year we had 60 gifts between $200 and $999; this year the number has been 46 so far. And last year we received 51 gifts under $200, compared to our present running total of 78.

Interesting trends are emerging, too. In November, we challenged the women alumnae among us to step up and you did. We are particularly pleased to report that eight donors gave a total of $7,530 to the Kari Osterhaug Endowment, and 16 donors gave $3,875 to the Women’s Husky Sports Fund.

A second trend involves class giving. One men’s class is currently raising money to donate a four and we expect to announce the gift in next month’s newsletter. The Class of 1976 Endowment was initially funded by a single classmate but in just over a year the balance of the endowment has grown by nearly 25%. A third class, 1981, announced an endowment drive with initial pledges made at the VBC Banquet last year. We hope to report progress on that effort very soon.

All this activity gets us on the right track. None of it is meant to detract from other favorite gift choices – the Dick Erickson and Stewards Endowments, for instance – but to add to the broad base of support in a way that reflects your desires to give back. Thanks for participating in our Annual Appeal. If you haven’t done so yet but intend to, please send your check to Bob or Eleanor. And to all of you: thanks once more for being a part of our grand tradition.

Liz Simenstad is the 2007 VBC Women’s Logger

2007 appears to be a promising year for the UW women’s crew. With an even mix of seniors, juniors, and rookies vying for seats in the top boats, we have an ideal situation suited for creating fast crews for the upcoming racing season. Our team has a different dynamic this year than in past years; the seniors lead more by example and less with words, and the enthusiasm and dedication of every team member can be felt in practices and during team activities.

We look forward to seeing alumni, friends, and family at the 2007 VBC Banquet and Class Day as we kick off this racing season.

With a frozen opening on MLK day, the varsity squads and frosh men hit the ergs and the novice women embarked on a winter training field trip. We loaded up the vans and headed to the Nordic Center at Snoqualmie Pass.

Upon arrival at the pass, the temperature was a brisk 15 degrees but the team warmed up quickly with a great cross country skiing workout. The entire team did a great job tackling the terrain and getting familiar with the tracks. We even had an alumnae appearance by Jennie Bingham'97 and Erin O'Connell `96. It was a great time for team bonding and to find some new and different muscles to get sore.

Please visit our website http://www.huskycrew.com/1910w.htm for Ellen Ernst's latest addition to the history of women's rowing at the University of Washington. It covers the second decade of Husky women's rowing which coincided with the second decade of the last century. Great work; great read. Check it out.

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