. . . from the desk of the RTWGC Chief Executive Officer
Three months into the New Year and 2012 is shaping up as an amazing time for the Reno Tahoe Winter Games Coalition. The year began with a very memorable RTWGC International Sports Hall of Fame Dinner Gala. Squaw Valley 1960 Winter Games organizer Alex Cushing, Squaw valley founder Wayne Poulsen, Olympians Tamara McKinney, Daron Rahlves and Franz Weber as well as skiing pioneer Shane McConkey and legendary high school basketball coach Lynette Davis were inducted into the Hall. We were thrilled to have such an enthusiastic sold out gathering to honor them at the Atlantis Resort Spa Casino. We also couldn’t have had a better Master of Ceremonies than Jonny Moseley! Tremendous gratitude goes out to the Atlantis ownership and staff as well as all of our other fantastic sponsors (check them out on our website) and to our Event Committee, chaired by RTWGC Director of Development Keri Cassinelli. This dedicated group of volunteers put this event together twice. Once for last November 18th and then the new date of January 6th, after the Caughlin wildfire caused the cancellation of the event on the original date. Our team is already busy planning the next Hall of Fame Dinner Gala for this upcoming November. Stay tuned for details!
We are so fortunate throughout Reno-Tahoe to have such tremendous winter athletes represent our region at the highest levels of competition around the world. Three-time Olympic Alpine medalist Julia Mancuso had a stellar World Cup season with quite a few podium finishes, including Super G and Parallel Slalom victories last month. Nate Holland earned his 6th gold medal in the past 7 years of Winter X Games snowboard cross competition. 3-time National Champion Tim Jitloff continued his consistent performances for the U.S. Ski Team. David Wise continued his dominance in the new Olympic sport of slope style skiing, think skiing in a snowboard halfpipe. The Reno resident captured Winter X Games gold and is currently second in the world rankings. Read more about David in this edition of The Torch Times. We also have a growing group of athletes in the junior ranks ready to make their mark on the national and international scene.
The RTWGC continues to work with its California partners in Sacramento and the Bay Area to prepare for a potential future Olympic Winter Games bid. While we continue to plan and build relationships, we are also aware that the United States Olympic Committee has clearly stated that they and the International Olympic Committee must come to an agreement on a new revenue-sharing deal before any future U.S. bids will be considered. We are encouraged by the reports of good progress in these negotiations and continue to do our work while respecting this proves.
We’re also thrilled to introduce the World Fit program in select pilot Northern Nevada schools next month. Created by Olympians to help in the fight against childhood obesity, this program will debut locally in Reno, Sparks and Winnemucca. You can read more about it in this issue, as well as first details of our second annual Olympic Day Family Festival scheduled for June 23rd at UNR’s Mackay Stadium.
I also would like to take a moment to again thank the growing number of individuals and businesses supporting our mission with their time, talent and treasure. We would not be where we are today without you!
I hope you enjoy this edition of The Torch Times. Thanks to Ronele Klingensmith and David Taylor of RKPR for producing and distributing it.
Sincerely,
Jon Killoran
