December 2021 Newsletter

SWYC Organizational News
How about that Commodores Ball?  It was fun!  Getting to know our newest members.  Singing along to the Shifty Sailors.  Even the embarrassment of a birthday cake for me – all made for a memorable evening.  Next year I truly hope we can all be together again, dressed to the 9’s, partying like it’s 1999.  Which to most of us means hoping for a little more agility to get out on the dance floor and shake it.

Congratulations to our award recipients. Katy Shaner was selected as this year’s Founder’s Award recipient – a much deserved recognition of the creativity and time she’s contributed in finding interesting speakers for our monthly member programs and as the leader for the Kayaking interest group.  The McArthur Award went to a team of volunteers who reconditioned a floating dock for use by the YSA sailing program.  Congratulations to team “Bismarck”.

Thanks again to all who stepped up to plan this year’s event.

As announced during the Commodores Ball the new Flag Officers are myself, Peter Grimlund – Commodore; Bruce Morris – Vice Commodore; Dan Mooney – Rear Commodore;  Patty Maxfield – Secretary; Barbara Grimlund – Treasurer.  At Large Members; John Gibson, Jake Levitt, Kathy Rodgers, Stark Scott and Katy Shaner. Commodore Emeritus, Jim Rogers will continue to provide his advice and counsel as an ex officio board member.  My appreciation to all these volunteers who have agreed to serve.

I wish to personally thank Martha Ford for her years of service working “undercover” as the “Bilgerat”.  With her transition off the board, we are in the process of redistributing her responsibilities to others.  Barb Grimlund will add “Bilgerat” to her title and assume some of Martha’s member communications functions and support for co-membership chairs Kathy Rodgers and Debra Richardson’s activities.  Sue Gibson will take responsibility for another critical piece of Martha’s previous role – managing the SWYachtClub.org web site content.

If you have content that you would like to share with our community, please reach out to Bilgerat to review.  Bilgerat@swyachtclub.org

Looking Forward – Meetings and Speakers
2021 was a learning year for all of us as we adjusted to life during a pandemic.  As a social club with shared interests focused around water activities, it has been challenging to find the means to deliver value to our members.  We believe the hybrid meeting formats have allowed us to pull together and deliver programs to each of you in a way that allows individuals to decide what level of interaction with other members they are most comfortable with.  We also realized that it will allow us to engage future speakers from outside of our region, greatly enhancing our ability to bring interesting topics to our monthly meetings.

We are beginning the process of pulling together our 2022 calendar of events.  There are eight (8) monthly meetings where we feature a presentation.  We need everyone’s help to keep these presentations coming.

• If you have a topic that you would like to hear about, please send us your suggestion.
• If you have a speaker who you think would be great, please send us your suggestion.

Suggestions can be emailed to Rear Commodore, Dan Mooney who’s in charge of programs.  rear.commodore.swyc@gmail.com

We anticipate being able to continue our in-person meetings at the Greenbank Progressive Club.  We encourage you to come in person to the meetings to renew old friendships and make new ones with our newer members.  However, if you are unable to make it or are uncomfortable attending larger gatherings, you can still participate by dialing in electronically via Zoom.

As a reminder, the annual Christmas Party will be held at the Greenbank Progressive Club on Wednesday, December 15.  The planning group still could use a few more volunteers to show up an hour early to help decorate the hall.  If you can help, please reach out to Katy Shaner.

Looking Forward – Interest Groups
The SWYC has five (5) identified interest groups.  Cruising, Kayaking, Racing, Sailing and Windward Women plus the YSA.  Over the next two months people who are interested in participating in one or more of these group’s activities will be getting together to develop a tentative schedule for the year.  This will allow everyone to plan ahead should they wish to participate in a specific activity.  This is a member led planning process so please step up and let us know which group(s) you would like to be involved with.  You can message Bilgerat@swyachtclub.org with your interests and she can connect you with others in that group.

Looking Forward – Membership
Next month you will be receiving a reminder that it is time to renew your SWYC membership.  Last year the board made a decision to temporarily reduce the annual member dues since all of our traditional programming was at risk of not happening.  We were pleased that the move to a hybrid meeting format allowed us to continue to deliver interesting programming to our members – those who attended in person and those who choose to attend electronically.  The SWYC is evolving to meet its members’ needs and with that comes the responsibility to maintain its financial health.  Effective Jan 1, renewals will return to $100 per year for a family membership and $75 per year for a single membership.  The new member joining fee will remain at $100.  If you have questions, please reach out to one of us on the board.  We would be happy to discuss any questions you might have.

And with that, thank you for your trust in me as the new Commodore.  I know, I was the only choice on the ballot, but you could have written someone else in.  I hope to see more of you while cruising on our Boston Whaler 305 Conquest or enjoying a peaceful paddle with the kayaking folks.  While not currently a sailor, I am sure there will be those of my peers who will succeed in getting me out on a sailboat once or twice.

Wishing you all the Best during this Season of Holidays.

Excitedly Yours
Pete
Commodore, SWYC