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Re: My original post was misleading.
Author: Paul Birkholz
Date: 07-29-2012 - 14:37
Richard Yaremko asked me to post the following on his behalf which dove tails nicely with Dave's thoughts.
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I was surprised to have received by e-mail this thread on the Izaak Walton Inn and very disappointed to read correspondence that was not intended to be distributed beyond our small core of participants, being posted. So I’ve asked my response be included to get the correct tone and the record straight for what actually transpired.
The Alta-Mont Rail Photographer weekend was started 31 years ago at the Izaak Walton Inn, because the venue for spending the day doing photography and then spending the evenings viewing each other’s work simply cannot be beat. But after 31 years of doing the same thing for same weekend simply got too old to continue. The fact that our number of attendee’s dropped to twenty last year told us it was time to move on or shutter the event completely. The new “contract” style business format the IWI chose to use is one Larry and I chose not to accept. We do not carry any grudge towards the current hotel management nor desire them to receive any negative publicity.
My first trip to Marias Pass was in 1967 and I’ve been back every year at least once. When Sid Goodrich purchased the hotel shortly after the BN merger and started a modernization process that continues to this day under the current owner, I’ve chosen the IWI as my hotel to stay at. Over the past 40 years I’ve done that covering every month of the year. Being located at Essex puts the IWI right in the middle of the BNSF’s Marias Pass operations and the base for their helper action. After the sun goes down you can continue to watch the trains pass from the hotels front deck. In all those years and stays at the IWI, I’ve never had a bad experience and look forwards to staying there in the future.
David Gatton is clearly not “anti-railfan” and by his posting show’s he is willing to work with anybody else that would like to take up where Larry and I are leaving off. There are many of you out there who have not had the Marias Pass experience. I suggest its time for somebody new to step forward and work with the hotel to organize a weekend for their group of friends and use the opportunity to meet some new ones.
Richard Yaremko
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I was surprised to have received by e-mail this thread on the Izaak Walton Inn and very disappointed to read correspondence that was not intended to be distributed beyond our small core of participants, being posted. So I’ve asked my response be included to get the correct tone and the record straight for what actually transpired.
The Alta-Mont Rail Photographer weekend was started 31 years ago at the Izaak Walton Inn, because the venue for spending the day doing photography and then spending the evenings viewing each other’s work simply cannot be beat. But after 31 years of doing the same thing for same weekend simply got too old to continue. The fact that our number of attendee’s dropped to twenty last year told us it was time to move on or shutter the event completely. The new “contract” style business format the IWI chose to use is one Larry and I chose not to accept. We do not carry any grudge towards the current hotel management nor desire them to receive any negative publicity.
My first trip to Marias Pass was in 1967 and I’ve been back every year at least once. When Sid Goodrich purchased the hotel shortly after the BN merger and started a modernization process that continues to this day under the current owner, I’ve chosen the IWI as my hotel to stay at. Over the past 40 years I’ve done that covering every month of the year. Being located at Essex puts the IWI right in the middle of the BNSF’s Marias Pass operations and the base for their helper action. After the sun goes down you can continue to watch the trains pass from the hotels front deck. In all those years and stays at the IWI, I’ve never had a bad experience and look forwards to staying there in the future.
David Gatton is clearly not “anti-railfan” and by his posting show’s he is willing to work with anybody else that would like to take up where Larry and I are leaving off. There are many of you out there who have not had the Marias Pass experience. I suggest its time for somebody new to step forward and work with the hotel to organize a weekend for their group of friends and use the opportunity to meet some new ones.
Richard Yaremko
