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Our new fiscal year started with a Bang….BYC Big Bang that is!  There were several hundred people here for the activities of the day, Shotgun Orchestra was great, the beer was cold and free flowing and the fireworks were spectacular.  This is the kind of event that turns into a tradition, the kind a member can look back on and say” I remember when my parents used to bring me to the Club for this event”.  If you didn’t attend the BYC Big Bang 1, in 07, or this one last month, mark your calendar for next year, as this was the BOMB!

 As you receive your August Poopdeck, we are in the final stages shut-down.  If all has gone according to plan, we are gearing up to re-open softly on August 7, for dinner, and then a grand opening party with the Gumbo Boogie Band on August 8.  We appreciate your patience, and find it necessary to deep clean and repair the Clubhouse that has had a ton of traffic through the past year.  Your dedicated Crew has donned painting whites, construction boots, and old work clothes, and then jumped in to get the job done.  My thanks to them for their efforts!

 As expected, and budgeted for, we have seen some membership resignations and attrition at our fiscal year end.  We realize the economy is not the best, and the cost of fuel, food and just about everything else is up.  We feel it here, and in our homes too.  As a team, we are looking at every avenue to cut costs, without sacrificing quality.  We have adjusted the products and price of our Two-fer Tuesdays, we will be launching our new menus when we re-open and Chef Clinton has done all he can to make the menu interesting and affordable.  Fuel prices at the Docks continue to increase, every new truck that comes in, is up a nickel.  I don’t know what the future holds, or what all the answers are, but I assure you we address these issues everyday, and we are all looking for the light at the end of the tunnel.     

 Our Crew is asking for membership cards, in the dining rooms, on the docks, at the pool, and on the property in general.  Please make sure you have your current card, and don’t be offended if a server who knows you asks to see your card.  We are trying to ensure the privacy of your club, and make sure we bill the right member for your visit.  If a Dockhand, or a server, inadvertently charges the wrong account, and the office can’t reconcile the mistake, it is the employees responsibility to pay for the errant charge.  No one wants that to happen, so help give them every chance to get it right.  

There has also been some vandalization and theft on the Club property, so your children must have current membership cards, and carry them.  We have asked the Palmetto Police department to step up patrols here, and they are to speak to all people here after hours.  If people can not identify themselves as BYC Members, they could be cited for trespassing.  We also need to reinforce the fact that kids will be kids, and when a group gets together here at the Club, we have to ascertain who is a member.  Membership Cards are the only way.  One last comment on kids, there has been an increasing amount of kids jumping off of the humpback bridge and swimming to BYC property.  This is dangerous and illegal!  If we see anyone jumping, we will intervene, if we see any of our member’s children doing it, we will bar them from the property and contact the parent.

 We send out e-blasts, e-news, e-vites and can actually do e-surveys.  Do we have your e-mail address; do we have your spouses?  We don’t share them, even with other members or committees, we don’t over e-mail, we try to limit it to a few a week.  We are also looking at setting up online member statements, online bill pay, and other great time saving tools, but without those e-mail addresses, their will be no access.  Out of 600 members, which is really closer to 1100 people with spouses, we have less than 380 e-mail addresses.  We want to get the word out, we want you to know all the great things we are doing, help us help you, get us your e-mail address, and that of your spouse!

 Keep an eye out for our 2007-2008 BYC Member Survey.  We will be mailing it with your July statements.  While we will be asking questions based on your experiences for last fiscal year, we will use the data mined from the surveys to enhance our action plan for 2008-2009.  Please fill the survey out and return it with your July payment.  While we can’t offer any prize for filling out the survey, as many are returned anonymous, you can take pride in knowing you helped to steer the Club with your constructive comments.

Thanks as always for your support!  I remain, humbly at your service.  Ken Nyhus , CCM

Check in time on the wall is 2:00 p.m., and check out time is 12-noon.  Members and or guests may be asked to motor out and wait, if they arrive early for a reservation, and will be billed a one day penalty if they stay later than noon, without agreement of the Dockmaster.  This will not allow the vessel to stay on the wall for another 24 hours though.  The Dockmaster is in control of the long wall, and while I know most members understand the stresses and challenges of juggling all the boats on a Saturday, or Sunday, others could be a bit more understanding.  It is our intention to accommodate everyone if we can.

If you are asked to move your vessel, please know it is not to penalize you, but to accommodate another, who may be a member too.  Revenues generated from the transient wall reservations affect the bottom line, and in turn help keep the dues reasonable to all members.  Our Dockmaster has been instructed to limit the amount of transient traffic on our Long Wall, to accommodate more room for members.

Thank you for your donations of Cell phones to our Cell Phones for Soldiers campaign, we have provided over 50 hours of free talk time to our troops overseas.  The donation of your old cell phone, ensures one of our Soldiers the opportunity to communicate with loved ones, without having to pay exorbitant long distance fees.  Keep up the great work, we appreciate your support!

Enjoy the water, enjoy the weather, enjoy our Club!  See you all around the Clubhouse!!!     

 We have been asked several times if during Club Functions, can we meet certain member dietary restrictions?  The short answer is, yes…within reason!  Obviously, we will oblige whenever we can, but please understand ordering off of our dinner menu, or having necessary dietary requirements met will be allowed when possible.  The price of the event must be paid regardless of the menu change, unless the item ordered as a substitute exceeds the cost of the event.

Do you love to Kayak, but hate to lug your Kayak around?  Would you be interested in storing your Kayak here at the Club, near a perfect place to launch it?  Have you taken advantage of the beautiful flat water and tributaries we have around the Club?  We are contemplating adding a Kayak storage rack to the property.  We already have a great beach launching site, so if there is interest we will try to accommodate.  If you are interested, please drop me an e-mail at Clubmanager@bradenton-yacht-club.org, and let me know!

We have added 12 new dry storage slips west of the basin.  We want to know if there are any power boats in the fenced dry storage area who might want to move over to the new area.  These new dry slips are straight in and out, so if you are a fairly active boater, it would make launching easier for you.  Let Captain Ray, our Dockmaster know if you are interested in moving over.

See you all around the Clubhouse!

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