Well it certainly was an interesting year, but then again most of them are. The biggest concern I had at the beginning of the year was our water main. A burst main would have meant a shut-down of the clubhouse, no food and beverage and no fire suppression for an indeterminable amount of time. Luckily this did not happen and we enjoyed the season with no disruption in service. Thanksgiving and haul-out were however another matter, most of us would like to forget about that one. One unforeseen by-product of this was a large pile of the spoils from the excavation referred to as "Mount Dullerud" (sorry Erik, I couldn't resist that one) just inside the front gate. By the time you read this hopefully most of it will have been trucked away, the contractor is slated to start moving it on the 22nd.
Food and beverage handed us a few challenges this year mostly in staffing. Chef Paul left our employ in late May. This left us scrambling for a new chef in a very short period of time. I am not sure who was more concerned, myself or Bob Hedley, as the Commodore's Ball was only two weeks away. However the stars aligned. Chef Jan took the position and we enjoyed a stable food service for the rest of the season. Jan has managed to bring down our largest cost in the kitchen, our food cost. I look forward to working with Jan and the food and beverage committee to find more cost savings and deliver a more enjoyable service in the New Year.
In property (clubhouse and junior sailing school) we did a lot of "sprucing up" in both buildings. The major project was a redo of the washrooms in the sailing school. The men's got the most work with new walls and new floor, although both were badly needed. Due to a cost over-run, we were not able to do as much as we wanted in the women's. This will be finished in the coming year. The main floor looks much better with a fresh coat of paint and thanks to Lidia for a few new decorations.
Regalia enjoyed a good year. Linda and her crew brought in a few new pieces and managed to dwindle down some of our inventory. As a reminder, any of our garments can be embroidered with your boat name so, if this is an interest to you, please let Linda know. You can check out the styles in the Regalia section of the website. Linda's email is at the bottom of the page if you have any questions.
MarCom (marketing and communications) has had some activity late in the year. Two of our members who have a tremendous amount of digital marketing experience have been working on a re-fresh of our website. This is not building a new site, just a refresh of the look and better navigation of the site for the members and prospective members who may be "checking us out on the web". Two "designs" will be presented to the stakeholders mid January for input of content and hopefully will go live in early March. I will keep you updated in S2S on this project.
What can we look forward to in the New Year? A new menu in late January, early February. Our wine menu will change at the same time, with a new cost structure (menu price) that I am sure all our wine lovers will like. We WILL be using the patio this summer so you can enjoy outdoor service. We are looking at a BBQ in a box menu idea that will allow you to buy burgers etc. that you can cook yourself in any of our BBQ area's (with the exception of the main patio). We will also look at the possibility of a lunch program for the sailing school. For as long as I can remember, we have always had "Friday Fine Dining". Other than "theme" nights held on a Friday, attendance (or covers as we refer to them) has been steadily declining for the past few years. Considering the change in the demographics in our club, me thinks it's time we take a look at some changes that will induce more of the membership to use the service, not only on Friday, but year round. I will not get into my "closed membership population" sermon at this time, but we have to take a serious look at it.
This year our club will undertake one of our biggest and most expensive projects to date, the re-building of our sea-walls. This topic has taken up more time at board meetings than any other issue since I have been on this or previous boards. Impact to the membership in terms of disruption to the club and its cost have all been very carefully weighed and I know we are going down the right path. Regardless of all this, we still have a club to run, a racing and cruising program, regattas to host, sail training, and an active entertainment schedule. This is my 25th year at ABYC. I have visited and raced at most clubs in the Golden Horseshoe and have always enjoyed spending time at all of them but I think we have something special here. Our location, direct access to the lake, and our sense of community and spirit tell me I am at one of the best clubs on the lake.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a fantastic New Year. I look forward to seeing you all at the Levee.
Mike Macdonald