Hello Everyone –
As the calendar flips to a new year I wanted to share a list of “things to do in 08” that everyone needs to put on their list.
• An overnight stay at any Bed & Breakfast throughout the Appalachian Mountains and find out what the word hospitality really means.
• To bring back smiles and laughter of your younger years, a ride down any tubing hill in the southeast region.
• To enjoy a meal, any meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) at an out of the way restaurant near a regional resort that you would only stop at if a friend or local recommended it to you.
• To take a lesson from a ski or snowboard instructor in the southeast region and realize just how good the instructors are from Tennessee to Maryland.
• To say thanks and throw a big smile to any snowmaker or groomer at your favorite resort for working around the clock to provide a great on-slope experience and realize without them there wouldn’t be any skiing, riding or tubing in the southeast.
• To try and visit a new resort in the southeast region and find out what you may have been missing.
• To get off the interstate the next time you are traveling and discover how much fun exploring the back roads can be when given the chance.
• To make sure to ski or ride one more day this season than you did last season.
• To make sure a young person in your family learns to ski, ride or even tube this season, so that they understand just how much fun you can have outdoors during the winter time at a southeast resort. 
• Finally, make sure to stop for a minute or two while skiing or riding in the region’s mountains, look around and understand how lucky we are to be able to enjoy one of the most beautiful parts of the world.
That’s it for this week; Happy New Year everyone and don’t forget whether it be cold or whether it be hot, we’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather will be. Think about it and see you next year!
Send your comments to: [email protected] or [email protected]
Joe Stevens, a member of the southeast ski industry since 1990 is a regular columnist for skisoutheast.com and serves as the Communications Director for the West Virginia Ski Areas Association.