Fellow paddlers,

We are thrilled to invite you to the second annual New Mexico Paddlers’ Holiday Party!  The Adobe Whitewater Club of NM, the Greater Albuquerque/ Santa Fe Kayaking Meet-Up, and Kayak New Mexico 501(c)3, three local community based organizations, are uniting to make this special event happen.  

Saturday, December 6, meet at Hotel Cascada, for an annual holiday celebration including live music, a silent auction, happy hour with cash bar, multi-course dinner, brief program, and a variety of entertainment options including full use of the water park, watching engaging paddling movies, or hanging out and socializing around a fire pit. Reduced hotel room rates are available for those who would like to celebrate without driving home.

Logistics:

Who: Paddlers and their families

What: Dinner, socializing and entertainment

Day: Saturday December 6, 2014

Time: 4:30pm to 10pm

Location: Hotel Cascada, 2500 Carlisle Blvd NE, Albuquerque NM 87110

Holiday Event Goals:

1.       Connect people – find a way to bring people from various parts of NM, different organizations, and different paddling disciplines together to reconnect with old friends, share, and make new friends

2.       Have fun together – while we want to accommodate a number of people, we also want things to be intimate and fun so after dinner we have a variety of entertainment options so there can be a nice blend of having a community based celebration, and then having smaller groups with similar interests

3.       Learn about AWC, Greater Albuquerque/ Santa Fe Kayak Meet-Up, and Kayak New Mexico 501(c)3 contributions to our community and about great opportunities to paddle, volunteer and advocate for paddle sports, rivers and community projects

Agenda:

4:00-4:30pm - set up

4:30-5:30pm –arrive, register, select a seat, and enjoy happy hour with live music voluntarily provided by music students, visit tables to learn about each of the organizations, and view and make bids on the silent auction items

5:30-6:45pm-dinner, this will include a multicourse meal, a short program, and socialization

6:45pm and on - evening entertainment options include the water park, paddling movies, or socializing

Dinner Details:

Each meal includes the following. Children’s meals are half portions.

Beverage: Water and punch

Soup: Roasted Tortilla or Posole

Appetizers: Choice of two items, to be confirmed

Main: Choice of Jicama and Mandarin Orange Salad with Champagne Vin and Chipotle Ranch, Tamales with NM Red Chile, or Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas (Vegan and Gluten Free options are available, by special advanced request and it is important to register early for these options)

Sides: Calabacitas, Arroz Verde

Dessert: Flan and Mexican Wedding Cookies

Price:

Early-registration price (on or before November 28):

-          Adult meals are $20 per person ($25.60 after service & sales tax)

-          Child meals for children only (which are half portions) are $10 per person ($12.80 after service & sales tax)

Late-registration (after November 28)

-          Add $5 for adult meals and $2.50 for child meals.

IN A SEPARATE EMAIL, WE WILL SEND OUT A LINK FOR PRE-PAYMENT ONLINE.  YOU MAY ALSO PRE-PAY IN PERSON AT THE NOV-11 AWC PRESENTATION (TONIGHT) VIA CASH, CHECK OR CHARGE.

Entertainment Details:

As an added value to the NM Paddlers’ Holiday Party and to promote community interaction, a variety of post dinner entertainment options are available:

1.       Movie – “Call of the River: 100 Years of Whitewater History” at Hotel Cascada’s 70 seat movie theatre (No cost to participate, cash bar available). We are working to procure a copy "Rock the Boat" - a documentary of revitalizing the LA River through Los Angeles.  You can view the trailers here:

a.       The Call of the River: http://vimeo.com/3979402

b.      Rock the Boat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqJKQnMhT28

2.       Water Park – Lazy, River, 2 Water Slides, Flow Rider Wave Surfing, 50+ Water Features ($16 per person plus tax, reduced for our group from $29 – to be paid at Hotel Cascada; $5 to observe)

3.       Socializing – Pending weather, this will be in the dining room or outdoor courtyard by the fire pit (No cost  to participate, cash bar available)

Special Room Rate Option:

Hotel Cascada has offered a special discounted room rate of $69 plus tax (vs. $125) the night of our party.  This rate is dependent on room availability and you must book as soon as possible. To make your reservation, contact Hotel Cascada at 505 888 3311 and reference the NM Paddlers’ Holiday Party.

Closing Comments:
The leadership of all three organizations have gone to great lengths to bring our community together. While some may identify as being a rafter, a kayaker, a canoeist, or stand-up paddler, all (in general) love paddling, and work toward the strengthening of the broader community at-large. 

These events signify the strength of our growing community.   Through this new-found strength, we were able to change NM State Parks Boating Safety Laws, facilitate programs for people with disabilities and support broader conservation / education projects throughout New Mexico.  With continued advocacy, we can protect the Gila, procure more favorable pool times and maybe one day influence city leaders to build sustainable water park features instead of diversion dams.  Your attendance helps us connect with new and old friends, communicate projects and ideas that are relevant to us as paddlers, but most importantly -- we'd like to see you again!

We know that paddlers are some of the most frugal gourmet chefs in the wilderness. Many can feed a small army for $25.  The organizations involved, including elected leadership and volunteers, have worked to build the best 'value' possible, including some who personally funded down-payments, and guaranteed minimum food/beverage sales.  We appreciate Hotel Cascada's support, as well as others we reached out to for this event, as they each bent their rules to accommodate our party for the most reasonable prices.  As our community grows to include new members, people with special needs, and returning members with renewed interest, we needed to find a venue that could accommodate 100+ people.  Few homes are this big, and few restaurants could accommodate a catering request of this magnitude.  The meals we have selected are typically priced at $35 ($25 for us).  The hotel rooms are typically priced at $125 ($69 for us).  The waterpark passes priced at $29 ($16 for us). The theater priced at $450 (free for us) and the banquet room is typically priced at $3,300 or equivalent food/beverage sales (it is $2,300 minimum food/beverage sales for us).  While we always encourage people to form their own private parties, we strongly believe there is great value in these larger community efforts.  We hope you agree, and will join us on December 6.

In order to secure the most favorable prices with Hotel Cascada, we need to provide a head-count and partial payment by November 28; one week before the party.  Early and Late registration prices are listed above. Please register early; it will save you money, help us get accurate head-counts to the chef with meal requests and help us offset the initial cost of this event. If you're unable to register by November 28, we hope you will still come join us, but please understand there will be a $5/person late-registration fee.

Registration options:

1.       Pay in person via cash, check or credit card at AWC Monthly Meeting Nov 11 at El Norteno 6pm (event open to all, no charge)

2.       Pay online (link will be sent in a separate email)

3.       Pay in person via cash, check or credit card at event ($5 additional per adult; $2.50 additional per child)

We look forward to seeing you on December 6th,

Adobe Whitewater Club of New Mexico

Greater Albuquerque / Santa Fe Kayak Meet-Up

Kayak New Mexico, 501(c)3