May 10, 2008

 Dear CLYC Members,

What a winter:  two blizzards, lots of cold and snow… but another glorious summer Up North is quickly approaching.

We greatly appreciate everyone’s patience and support over the last season as the Club house as improvements were made to the Clubhouse and new programs were tried.  And we need not just your continued support, but four things from you this year:

First, please send you dues in to the above address as soon as possible ($75 family, $50 single).

Second, we need you attendance at the Friday and Saturday night dinners. These are the Club’s main source of revenue, and even a 10% increase from last years attendance will be very beneficial to our Club’s finances.

Third, we need your help in getting new members. We had a number of new members last year, two joined over the winter and several have asked about joining this year, but simply put, we need more.  There are a lot of families around the Lakes and in the area who would be great members, and the best way to find them is through our present members. Thus we need you to ask friends and neighbors to consider joining.  Enclosed is a new member letter and application (and more can be copied from our webpage) that you can copy and give to prospective members.  (Or if you prefer, give us names and we’ll do a mailing and follow-up.)  And to make new members feel welcome, we’ll post information about them on a wall in the Clubhouse, and perhaps have a special reception or event just for the newer members.

And Fourth, our Club cannot exist without volunteers.  We will have some fix-up/clean-up days in June, need hosts for the Friday Night Grills (basically collecting money), and for the Saturday night dinners (either coordinating bring a dish or choosing a catered meal, taking RSVP’s, set-up and clean-up; a checklist

will be provided and we are considering hiring help); and organizing whatever other events you think might be of interest to our members!  For example, we have had numerous inquiries about sailing and boating lessons, and the lessons at Bay View, the Little Traverse Yacht Club and Walloon Yacht Club’s have been very popular.

The Capital Campaign was an amazing success, but despite spending the money as efficiently as possible (getting multiple estimates for every project, etc.), since the needs still exceed the resources, we’ll seek more help in three ways: 

·        Some have asked if they could “move up” in the recognition categories by giving more, and the answer is YES (the categories and draft list of contributors will soon be on the Members Only part of the webpage);

·        A few who were not able to participate earlier have indicated they will this year; and

·        While we’ll have a recognition plaque in place this year, we’ll leave room for additional contributions. 

Please check the enclosed tentative schedule for some new programs, and see our webpage at www.crookedlakeyc.org for updates (and as always we want your ideas and comments. 

And finally, if you haven’t heard, we lost many dear long-time members over the winter including Ray & Billie Montgomery, Gene Gulbransen, Blanche Leestma, and Hugh Diamond.  Many who contributed to the Capital Campaign did so in recognition of the many good friends and times they enjoyed at the Club, with the wish it be passed on to future generations.

See you on Crooked Lake in a few weeks.  

S/ Dan Rupp