Hello curlers, athletes, members,
Many of you mentioned to me that you were looking for regular updates as to what is going on behind the scene supporting the successful operations of the club. So here is a quick summary of some of those items.
Not for profit and fundraising
For those that attended the AGM, you will be aware that there were significant changes to the bylaws. This was to ensure we continued to be recognized as a not for profit organization allowing us to seek grants (and other tax advantages) that will help with the funding required for very high cost items such as the roof replacement. After many discussions we have decided to create a fundraising sub committee to coordinate all of our fundraising efforts and help minimize the possibility of fundraising fatigue. The more we fund raise the more we can keep our other costs, to you, the member down. There is always a fine line to setting the various membership fees and rates at the bar to keep prices reasonable while still generating enough funds to cover our ever increasing costs.
The building
We have made investments into the kitchen this year, starting with having Cinzia Frantellizz as our "Kitchen lead". Leveraging her expertise and passion we are bringing the kitchen up to a higher level of standard, with some very thorough cleaning and replacing of some of the much needed equipment to help with food at our bonspiels, Friday nights, or when required for rentals.
Doug Geary, is working to ensure our AED device is ready if the need ever arises. He renewed the contract for maintenance on the chair lift and arranged for a significant cleaning of the building in general before the start of the season.
Doug White (and Kristin Jackson) had the bar stocked and ready for registration week and our opening day for regular league play. Our goal is to have what the membership wants and what will sell. We have beers on tap (Shindig or Old Flame), bottles and cans of beers or seltzers in the fridge, alcohol under the counter, red and white wines, and non alcoholic drinks. We try to have enough volumes of your favorite beverages available for your consumption.
Employees and contractors
Don McGregor (our ice maker), Kristin, Ashleigh, Ciara and Courtney (our bartenders) , and Deb and Bernice (our cleaners) are our only paid employees or contractors. Everyone else supporting the club are volunteers, which is also why our costs are kept as low as they are. Without Donnie's expertise and commitment to his craft we would be challenged to have the ice ready for league play and enjoy the high quality of ice prepared for our games. We are delighted that he has not yet retired from his position and continues to be our icemaker, however we are looking to get him some additional help and build some support by having more members trained (In October) in the ice maintenance and preparation process. The return of our bartenders were arranged to make sure someone is there to help with the post game (and sometimes pregame) beverages. Deb and Bernice, our cleaners were arranged so that the club is kept clean and ready every day for you.
Technology
Greg Hann continues to keep our technology working. His efforts on our Facebook page, online registration process, the tap at the bar, and several other items, keeps the complex operations moving along effectively through the use of technology.
Registration
Ciara Sinclair (our Membership Chair) was instrumental in the success of this year's registration process, which is a huge spike of work in September. Ciara, along with Sara Campbell (and other volunteers) hosted our in club registration days for any new (and some returning) members last week.
Financials
Heather Bayliss (our Treasurer) keeps on top of paying all the bills for the club all year long and cuts any refund cheques required when expenses are incurred by various members. She also ensures we have collected and deposited our league fees into the bank and all our books stay in order.
Leagues, Bonspiels and Programs
Troy Gallant (Match and Rules) set the league start dates and with support from others on the AC assured we had convenors for every league.
Conrad Wong, (our Bonspiel Chair) has published the Bonspiel dates and Sara will send this out to other clubs in the area. If we are fortunate we will have every event full every month including participants from other clubs.
Patrick Brown and Shane Timms are once again arranging the youth programs. Getting the next generation of curlers ready to keep the sport alive for years to come, however at this time there are very few Bantams registered, so if you are aware of any interested 13 - 16 year olds please make them aware that they are more than welcome to come out and enjoy some time on the ice and try out our sport.
Some other items of note are things like Ashleigh White staying in touch with Curl Ont as our OCA rep., Carol Anne Andrews running the learn to curl program on Sundays, and all the work the conveners (Judy Risebrough -Team Entry, Julia Bailey - Tues, Marg McKnight - Wed, Derek Marques - Thurs, Dave Maxwell - Fri, Tim Lofgren Mon/Wed day league, and Don Kenna - Thursday day league) do in getting the respective leagues going.
There are many more other activities and other details that I could go on and on about, but instead let me just say we are all very fortunate to have a large team of passionate people working and collaborating to make this club as successful as it is. It's my privilege to work beside each one of them as we take on the day to day challenges we face, while taking advantage of the new opportunities that we uncover. I look forward to the next few years to continue to improve on what we have already built, but feel free to keep the communications flowing so we are meeting the membership needs.
FYI, I know some of you don't like getting update emails such as this, so I plan to provide future updates in the newsletter section of the website for those that are interested in the details and future updates https://uxbridgecurlingclub.com/index.php/news/newsletters
Ray Brauch
President Uxbridge and District Curling Club.
(AKA el Presidente)
"As the farmer's say when the corn is as high as an elephant's eye... summer is over" and for me that means curling season has started, so let's get out there and enjoy a great season making memories with some great people.
