2025 SCWDC Election

SCWDC's upcoming election of officers and presentation of awards to volunteers will take place at the Annual Meeting on Thursday, April 10, 2025, at 7:00 PM.  Location:  the Auld Shebeen restaurant in Fairfax, 3971 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax.  More information including parking directions and a map are now posted in the meeting event for April 10 and advance registration is required.  FYI, the April Happy Hour is also scheduled for 5 -7:00 PM at the same location.

How to Vote Overview: 

- Electronic voting will be enabled on April 1 and will continue until April 10.  SCWDC will send electronic ballots to all active SCWDC members via email on April 1.  In order to submit an electronic ballot, members must use the voting button enclosed in the email.  If you dio not receive such an email, your SCWDC membership may have expired.

 - Votes may also be cast by requesting an absentee ballot from the SCWDC office at scwdc@scwdc.org. See additional instructions below under "Voting Rules." 

- Votes may also be cast in person during the Annual Meeting. 

- Voting results will be announced at the Annual Meeting. 

Voting Rules:

Only Active SCWDC members may vote.  Expired members are not allowed to vote, so please ensure that your membership is up to date if you plan to vote. Early votes may be cast electronically, or by paper absentee ballot.  Members may only submit one ballot.  For Family memberships, if two or more members share the same email address, only one member may submit an electronic ballot.  This is because the membership database uses the email address as the Member ID.  Other family members may update their profile to include a unique email address or submit an Absentee Ballot.

Members can request an Absentee ballot from the Club office, by sending an email to scwdc@scwdc.org. Your membership will be confirmed, and you will receive, via reply email, a PDF ballot to be used for one vote. For a Family membership, each individual wishing to vote via Absentee Ballot will need to request and file a separate ballot. Your Absentee Ballot must be received in the Club office by April 8 (before 10 AM). Members who wish to vote in person can do so at the Club office from April 9 to April 15 (before 3 PM) but must call ahead (703-532-7776) to ensure that the Office Manager will be present to register their vote. 

Candidates:  

Any Active Club member who has been a member for one year or more may run for the position of Director. Any Active Club member who has been a member for three years or more may run for the office of President. Candidates must agree to serve if elected.  The President and at least four of the Directors must be skiers. Members may run by petition, and nominations may also be made from attendees at the Election Meeting.  For more detailed information about the Club's Bylaws, Rules of Procedure and/or Policies regarding Club Elections please refer to the SCWDC Policy Manual. 

The Club's Nominating Committee has approved the following slate of candidates:

For the office of President, for a term of one year: Ruth D'Alessandro 
For the position of Director, for a term of for two years:   Beverly Ashcraft, William "Max" Maxwell, Larry Langer, Charmaine Mortley-Wood, and Thu Ogburn.

Write-in candidates may be entered in the "Write-in" category.

Candidates for President:

Ruth D'Alessandro

I am honored to be nominated for President of SCWDC now DBA (doing business as) Ski and Sports Club of Washington DC for the fifth year. I have been a member of our Club for over 39 years. Throughout that time I have participated in many activities in the club, including tennis, softball, ski trips, pickleball, golf, and my latest venture, sailing (while on a Club Med trip). I also attended the OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) trip to Egypt in 2022. I have met many interesting people and made numerous lifelong friends while enjoying being active in our club.

I have led two ski trips, a Club Med trip, several weekend and mid-week golf trips, including Front Royal, Shenvalee, Wintergreen in Virginia and Ocean City in Maryland.  I also led two week-long golf trips to Hilton Head and one week-long golf trip to Kiawah Island.  This fall, I will be leading the OAT trip to Thailand.

Several years ago I was nominated and elected to the Cliub's Board of Directors (BoD). I learned about our operations and budget. I have been elected as the Club President  for the past four years.

For the past few years, our ski trips have done very well and our membership has increased by over 300 members. Every spring and fall since 2021 we have continued to schedule  two Club Med trips a year.  Also, our travel trips have expanded since Ying Prince became our Travel Chair. This year, we have included a new mid-week biking trip to the Eastern Shore and a second VBT (Vermont Biking tours) to Italy.

Three years ago, our Club began hosting an indoor election, awards, and party meetings for the first time since Covid began. We will be holding our Annual Election, Awards Ceremony and Club Meeting at Auld Shebeen again this year on April 10, 2025. This summer we will schedule an annual picnic featuring future travel trips, biking excursions, golf trips and other activities as well as our ski trips for 2026.  Our Back to the Slopes Party will be held in September 2025. In addition, the BoD will be  planning a second annual Volunteer Party in 2025.

During the past few years, we have recruited new volunteers for leadership positions on the BoD, Flights Committee, Travel, and Member ship &Communications programs. We also have a new leader for the weekly volleyball event. However, we have not had a Social Chair for several years. Last September, our Sports and Recreation Chair retired and moved out of the area and I have been acting in that position since she moved. Our Club is a volunteer organization and we need more volunteers to survive.

I have been described by friends and colleagues as enthusiastic, dedicated and hardworking. I have ideas/incentives to entice new volunteers to our Club, new events and to continue to build our Club.

Lastly, I worked for Fairfax County Public Schools for 32 years as a Social Worker and an Administrator.  The organizational, human relations and leadership skills utilized in my career have benefited me as I have been a volunteer, trip leader, member of the BoD and I hope to be your President for a fifth term. 

Candidates for Director:

Bev Ashcraft

  Financial Manager (5 years)
  Board Member (6 years)
  Western Trips Committee (9 years)
  Activity Leader Evaluation Committee (13 years)
  Meetings Chair (3 years)
  Trip Leader (Ski and Non-Ski Trips)
   Activity Leader (many)

I learned how to ski when I lived in New Jersey and wanted to find a group to ski with when I moved to DC in the late 90’s. SCWDC gave me new ski friends, a varied social network, and the opportunity to try non-ski activities such as golf, which is now one of my favorite outdoor activities. The club offers something for everyone no matter the season – skiing, tennis, sailing, biking, bowling, hiking, adventure trips, and many opportunities to socialize.

SCWDC, like other organizations, is recovering from the financially tight years during Covid-19 and faces challenges of fewer volunteers and aging membership. I have been the club’s financial manager for the past five years and have learned a tremendous amount about the club’s finances and how we operate as a non-profit organization. In that time, we’ve implemented more streamlined accounting practices and are developing an automation process between our member database, Wild Apricot, and our financial accounting source Quick Books that we plan to implement in FY 25 -26.  If I am re-elected to the SCWDC board, I plan to implement the modernization of SCWDC’s back-office so that the club is set for future years.

Larry Langer

I have been a SCWDC member since 1988. I have been on the Board of Directors for the last four years and Vice President for the last two years.  As a member of both the Finance / Budget and Flight Committees, I created the SCWDC yearly budget, and I prepared the budgets for most ski trips last year. I have skied with the club for over 35 years and would go on several bus trips in addition to flight trips.  In recent years I typically go on four ski flight trips per year.                        

I've enjoyed meeting many interesting and friendly people through SCWDC over the years as well as going on white water, tubing, and canoeing summer trips.   Many of you may know me or recognize me from the trips that I have been on.  When not skiing with the SCWDC I ski at Whitetail and occasionally at Ski Liberty.  I ran last year’s Blue Ridge Ski Council’s Lake Tahoe trip, and I am running the Winter Park and Telluride trips this year.

I retired in 2020 from L3Harris as a Controller with a staff of seven.  I am currently a licensed CPA in Virginia and a CMA (Certified Management Accountant).  Now that I am retired, I want to give it back to the club.  I realize how demanding work the volunteers do, and I want to help out.  I think my club and work experience will be useful to the SCWDC.

William "Max" Maxwell

I have been a SCWDC member and skied with the club since I moved to the DMV in 1997. In recent years, I have led two ski enhancement trips in the area plus ski trips to Snowmass CO, Kitzbuhel Austria, and this year’s trip to Zermatt, Switzerland.

As a trip leader, I have used cloud technology to share trip documents and manage RSVPs, as well as WhatsApp groups for pre-trip, travel and on-mountain communication. The WhatsApp group allowed one of our travelers to find another ride when his driver fell ill mid-trip on the way to Canaan Valley; it does truly take a village. Importantly, the driver returned to good health and is skiing again.

As a Board member, I would look to attract new members and improve the participant user experience with the club’s website, such as providing simpler access to event invoices.

I work in finance for the government contracting industry.  My family includes an eighteen-year-old daughter who still skis with me, a husky mix and an adult cat that loves them both. I also play beach and indoor volleyball, mostly on the Washington Mall and in Arlington.

Charmaine Mortley-Wood

Charmaine was transferred to the Centreville, Virginia area in 2001 while working for an IT company.  Growing up in Alberta Canada for 5 years, her parents enrolled the family in ski classes to get out and enjoy the beautiful blue sky of the Rocky Mountains.  That love of skiing and outdoor activities like golfing, hiking, and biking, continues to be a key part of her lifestyle 50 years later.  And when a number of her ski buddies decided over the years to stop skiing and take up less adventurous activities, Charmaine was extremely fortunate to find a wonderful new array of friends and camaraderie when she joined the Washington Ski Club in 2022.  As a person who has traveled and moved a lot over the years, Charmaine enjoys helping all new members feel welcomed.  Looking forward to the future, Charmaine is excited to one day retire and be able to help lead a ski trip or two.

As a person who strongly believes giving back is a key component of a healthy and purpose driven life, Charmaine was thrilled to be provided the opportunity to run for the Ski Club Board.  Her previous board experience comes from working with a small dog rescue team, contributing her IT experience to enhance areas around general governance as well as enhancing IT capabilities, security and operational stability enabling the team to grow from a localized team into a national rescue group.  Acting as the chair of the annual in person fund-raising event enabled her to grow a welcoming and inclusive community of dog lovers and friends.

Thu Ogburn

I have been an active member of SCWDC since the summer of 2018, participating in the Club's social, tennis, and bowling events. I have also contributed to the Club's events by organizing social tennis gatherings and serving as a backup organizer for social bowling. SCWDC has been an incredible community for me, offering opportunities to make lasting connections, and I am eager to give back by serving on the Board of Directors. My background includes a wealth of leadership and organizational experience. From 1991 to 1992, I served as Honorary President of Daegu, Korea's International Women's Club, and from 1996 to 1998, I was Vice President of the Maadi Women's Guild in Cairo, Egypt, where I led fundraising efforts for its International Cookbook. While working as a Community Liaison Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, I organized a Halloween event for the consulate’s children, a community talent show at the U.S. Embassy, and the U.S. participation in the International Women's Bazaar in Ho Chi Minh City. I have also been actively involved in Toastmasters clubs in both Seoul and Washington, D.C. Additionally, I’ve held treasurer positions for the U.S. Embassy Association in Seoul, for embassy and consulate bowling teams in Korea and Vietnam, and served as co-organizer of an international women's tennis group in Seoul from 2014 to 2017. These experiences demonstrate my commitment to financial management, event planning, and team leadership. Professionally, I bring over 30 years of experience in income tax accounting and 15 years of expertise in federal budgeting, complemented by a Master’s Degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Maryland. These skills equip me to contribute effectively to the strategic and financial oversight of the Club. My vision for SCWDC is to encourage growth by recruiting new members and fostering vibrant, inclusive communities within the Club. In a transient city like Washington, D.C., SCWDC has the potential to connect even more people to the active, social communities they are seeking. I am excited about the opportunity to help shape the future of our Club and to ensure that it continues to thrive. I ask for your vote to join the SCWDC Board of Directors