Regatta co-Chairman (and Uncle Al's personal Lightning mentor!), Ron Wright, gets the presentations under way with thanks to the many kind volunteers who again made the Cottonwood a super regatta even without much co-operation from the weather!

... Richard Johnson and his wife, Michele - no small achievement since a large part of the logistical load, such as food and free beer falls on their shoulders each year. An example of this was Sunday morning when Richard got up and went to pick up the food trays around 0630 while the rest of us visitors at the Johnsons' - Peter and Alex, John Weakley and me - were still sleeping the sleep of the exhausted from Saturday's sailing exertions.

Almost looks like the lad has tears in his eyes!!  Another fine aspect of the Cottonwood's outstanding hospitality was the fact that the proceedings were over by about 1230 so that those who needed to start a long trip home could get away in plenty of time. And what a trip home ...

... the Best Western in Summersville, West Virginia. A dying nerve in one of Al's bicuspids encouraged him to aim for an early Monday arrival so that he could beg his dentist for an appointment. A steak dinner and a nice long, very hot bath and six hours of nice, restful sleep followed. By 0200, Al was ready to hit the road into more of the snow that would last almost to Buffalo. Luckily, there was no snow accumulation on the road surfaces!