President's Message
May 2021
Welcome to Spring (in between the snow flurries). Spring is normally a busy time for our club, and this year has been no exception.
The planning for the Golf Tournament and Spring Fundraiser is well underway. The tournament will be held on Saturday June 5; there are already 17 teams signed up, with more expected. As Paul Doody said, I guess people are anxious to play golf this spring. The decision was made not to fund raise as usual this year. Instead, a letter was sent out to past sponsors, thanking them for their previous support (but mentioning that we’ll still accept donations). The newspaper insert will run as usual, but instead of sponsors purchasing ads, we will thank all of our sponsors and update articles when appropriate. Thanks to all the members of the golf tournament/fundraiser committee.
The 5K Road Race committee has been busy. The Bug Run will be held on August 14, but with changes for COVID. The number of runners will be limited, registration will be online only, and results will be posted online only. To maintain social distancing throughout the race, it is expected that there will be staggered starts. This brings up an interesting issue that I hadn’t considered; in order for runners not to be passing each other, faster runners should start earlier. So registration forms will request runners’ 5K times so that they can be assigned a proper start time. The committee also decided not to have a Kilted Canter race this year for a variety of reasons. Thank you to Ed Varney and the members of the 5K Road Race committee.
Planning for HarborFest is also underway. This summer’s HarborFest will be held on August 13-15, but again with changes related to COVID. The boat building will be done in separate small tents (rather than one large tent) to facilitate social distancing. There will not be a Friday night gathering, but there will be an online auction. There will be some kids’ events (touch tank, puppet show), and there will be the usual boat show, rowing regatta, and cardboard boats, plus tours of Front Street Shipyard. The pancake breakfast is still under discussion, but many of the vendors are expected to be there. Meanwhile, Mickey Sirota and Bob Adler have been busy talking to sponsors, and they already have commitments or actual donations of $6500 so far, with more expected (plus some in-kind donations such as plywood). All in all, it looks like a near normal HarborFest, thanks to the work of the HarborFest committee.
My informal subcommittee of advisors and I are keeping an eye on the local COVID situation and as soon as we feel it’s safe we will start up hybrid meetings again, probably later this month. I know we’re all anxious to see each other in three dimensions again, but let’s make sure that we do it with caution. It’s been nearly a year since we’ve been able to be together in person, and a couple more weeks to be sure we’re all safe is worth the wait.
I’m very grateful for all the work that these and other committees are doing. Thanks to all of you, our club pretty much runs itself. Have a great Spring, and I hope to see many of you on Wednesdays.
Yours in friendship and service,
Richard
