What a crazy month July was. During the July 13 Board meeting the Board discussed with Janell Skeen whether it was it a go or no go for Sail School. Ever present concerns were low water, COVID, and the concerns of parents, students, and volunteers. The Board unanimously agreed with Janell that Sail School should and must proceed. Less than 24 hours later Janell became aware that a potentially harmful bacteria was present in the waters of Fern Ridge. With students and volunteers opting out at the last minute, a decision was made by the Board that this year's full Sail School would not happen. I know many members were disappointed at this decision, but none more than Janell who has spent hours and hours planning, staffing, and answering questions from students and volunteers. However the health and safety of Sail School attendees was too important to take a chance.
By Thursday, the shock had set in but that did not stop Janell and her staff from coming up with Plan B: an alternative Sail School overnighter on Monday and Tuesday. Four days later, the club saw tents, RV’s, and groups of attentive and excited students. Marty Parisien set up a Zuma sailboat on land showing young students the finer points of sailing. The women’s class also was active—and its umber of participants grew after the introduction of wine and cheese to the curriculum. After “class,” students, instructors and staff made use of an inflated slide. Burgers, fruit, and salads were provided for over 150 people.
To put this together in such a short of time required the help of more members than I can list in this column, but I would personally like to thank them and Janell for a job well done.
The Corps has done a very good job of keeping what little water we had throughout the summer, but with little or no rain I am afraid time is starting to run out. Boats are coming out of Richardson at an increasing rate and soon boats will be filling the center island. We still have some Thursdays left but not many. Steak Bash will still follow and maybe we'll even get to have a Commodore's Ball this year.
Pat Skeen, Nick Tabet, and Andy Nousen are this year's Board Nominating Committee. We should have a replacement for Karen Nousen in the Media Manager position soon.
I feel that this year has been one uphill battle after another and while we didn’t get everything we wanted, I’m thankful for what we were able to accomplish. I mentioned at the July 31 membership meeting we were able to accomplish some of our goals and I personally thought we had a good year. Some of those present disagreed with me and thought we had a great year. The Concert on the Lake was well attended and I was told that the band very much enjoyed playing at the club.
I am sorry to announce that we've decided not to have the August potluck in person thanks to the increase of COVID infections in Lane County. We will have the General Membership meeting on August 28 via Zoom. Hope to see you then.