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The November Chapter Meeting agenda included the presentation of the Member of the Year award. Unfortunately Robert Reese was unable to attend that meeting but Chapter President Luz Garcia made sure to present the Award to Robert Reese during the December Christmas Party. Congratulations Robert for a well deserved award !

Renew your Chapter Membership or become a new member - The 2024 Chapter Membership form is now available. Click the link, print the form, fill it out, write the check, mail it all to Marco Castaneda. Piece of cake, you got this !

The San Luis Obispo Yacht Club's Avila Beach clubhouse was the setting to kick off the 2023 Christmas season at the CCC CLSA Christmas Dinner on the evening of Tuesday December 5. Approximately 19 attendees feasted on baked ham and turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, vegetables, salad and a variety of yummy desserts.

A big THANK YOU to SLYC member Bill Dyer for once again arranging for our use of the Clubhouse and his preparation for the evening and the detailed clean up to make sure the clubhouse was tidy and clean so we can be welcome back by the SLYC again in the future. Thank you Bill !

Two of the three top Local Trig*Star award winners were presented with their awards at the Summer BBQ. First Place Winner Gwenyth Lemon from Paso Robles High School was unable to attend the event. She received her awards during a visit to the campus by Chapter President and Trig*Star Coordinator Luz Garcia. Gwenyth will be attending to Colorado School of Mines studying chemical engineering. She really like STEM and is excited to start college this fall! Her hobbies include playing basketball, snowboarding, hanging out with family and friends, and watching The Office. Congratulations Gwenyth !

Second Place winner Jon Raj of San Luis Obispo High School attended the BBQ with his parents where he received his awards from Tri*Star Coordinator Emeritus George Marchenko. Jon played Basketball and Tennis at SLO High School and will be attending Cal Poly SLO this fall.

Third Place winner Anthony Williams of Paso Robles High School attended the BBQ with his parents and younger brother, also received his awards from George Marchenko.

Paso Robles High School was presented with the annual Regional Champion trophy cup for display at the school. Accepting the award for Paso Robles High School was Mathematics Teacher Evan Clark.

The students, their family members and teacher Mr. Clark were all treated to the BBQ lunch as guests of the Chapter. Thank you to every member of the Chapter and Trig*Star sponsors whose additional generous donations fund the cash awards and trophies the students received,

Saturday August 12 was a perfect day of clear skies and mild temperatures at Cuesta Park for the annual Chapter BBQ. (It sure was nice to see San Luis Obispo Creek flowing through the park in the middle of summer too ! ) Approximately 50 delicious meals of BBQ chicken, beef, beans, salad, and bread prepared by Ken Fargen and crew were served. The Fargen family and Fargen Surveys crew members started this annual tradition in approximately 1980-81. That is over 40 years ! Amazing and so appreciated, THANK YOU to Ken, Kathy, Marshall, Geoff and all the others that have volunteered each year to prepare and serve the food at this annual event. Thanks also to Dave and Jeri Carey for their delicious dessert cookies!

This year also saw the much anticipated return of the "Survey Olympics." Kyle Huerth was Executive Producer of this hands-on fun test of basic surveying skills. With out the aid of any instruments, contestants were challenged to determine (guess) the horizontal angle between 2 points, the vertical difference in elevation between those points as well as pace off the approximate length of a predetermined distance. In addition, a self-timed tripod set up was also included in the competition. Great fun ! A BIG THANK YOU to Kyle for all his work to preparing the site, coordinating and overseeing the competition and presenting the Bronze, Silver and Gold Medal awards. ( I did notice a couple of competitors using what I assume was the compass app on their mobile device....dang it, why didn't I think of that ? Kyle, do we need to tighten up the rule book for next year's competition ?)

Gold - Clay Margason
Silver - Geoff Villegas
Bronze - Dan Manion
Best 53 foot Pace - George Marchenko @ 52.08'
Elevation Estimate - Dan W (MBS Land Surveys) 4' and 7' (actual 3.64' and 6.71')
Distance Estimate - Robert Reese 47.8' and 76.8' (actual 46.03' and 75.12')
Tripod Speed - Clay Margason 1:00

Prior to lunch being served two of the three local Trig*Star winners were presented with their awards and cash scholarships. Luz Garcia coaxed George Marchenko out of retirement to present the awards, interview the students and speak to the history of the Trig*Star competition. George has an admirable way of engaging each student in fun conversation during the presentation by focusing on their particular interests be it sports, music, pop culture, books, etc. THANK YOU George ! (See the Trig*Star Awards report following this BBQ recap)

THANK YOU to Kathy Fargen for selling meal tickets and raffle tickets. Doug Rion (beverage and ice coordinator, a very cool job) called out each winning number drawn from the ticket tumbler during the prize raffle. Thanks to everyone who contributed numerous prizes for the raffle which included handmade items such as fused glass art, earrings, an exotic wood handled pen and a pocket sized bottle opener with a handle crafted of colorful exotic woods. BBQ meals packed to go were also an available prize selection.

Each meal ticket included an entry into the door prize (a.k.a. Grand Prize) drawing. This year's lucky winner was Loy Zambo who won a metal locator generously donated by Ed Reading. Congratulations Loy and a BIG Thank You to Ed !