Fall 2019 TBA Newsletter
President's Message
As the clocks change and the days shorten, we hope this news from everyone’s favourite summer location brightens your day.
Fall is a time to be thankful and our community owes a great deal of gratitude to our outgoing executive members, Andrew MacDonald (Former President), Mark MacDonald (website creator and communications), and a special thanks to Ellen MacDonald for her work on the annual roster. Further thanks goes to all the current executive members and other members of our community who put time in for the TBA programming. We are pleased to have many new and returning members to the team.
As you’ll see from the reports below, it was a great year for our children’s program, our social program, and our financial and bricks and mortar infrastructure remains in strong shape. Also, see below for updates on deadlines to apply for counsellor positions.
We are all concerned with the high water levels and recent winds that have caused damage to docks, the shoreline, and property. The damage is across the beach, so do consider checking or having someone check in your property if you have not already.
We encourage all of our members to keep up with the evolving environmental issues (https://www.tiny.ca/environment is a helpful resource). In particular, there are concerns regarding the increasing number of gypsy moths.
The Township has monitored the situation is not going to be spraying this spring. A cold winter may eradicate the issue. For more information, please visit https://www.simcoe.ca/gypsymoth and, which has a statement on Gypsy Moth management practices (i.e. what you can do!), and the FOTTSA website at http://www.tinycottager.org/gypsy-moths/. A video on how to remove Gypsy Moths can be found here: https://youtu.be/6ILudet-n4c.
In regards to the proposed Rogers tower at 1445 Cedar Point Road, we have inquired and it appears the matter has not progressed since the end of summer consultation.
A significant point of community interest is ultimate fate of the Thunder Beach Highlands, the five hole golf course that Mr. Naylor made available to the community for free or donation per play use by our community. As you are aware, a group of community members have formed a committee outside of the TBA to evaluate the interest of keeping the golf course available for community use through a membership program. A final announcement from these community members is coming soon. Stay tuned.
Finally, we want to hear from you! We welcome direct feedback (email me directly at jsphilpott@gmail.com), and are looking at conducting surveys on various issues. We will also be accepting nominations in the spring for the Wishart Spence community award this year.
John Philpott
TBA President
Treasurer's Report
Another fantastic summer at Thunder Beach!
We expect to end 2019 with net income from operations of $25,000.
The social events were a great success and both events were profitable. Our total profit from social events this year was $7,000. The children’s camp also had a profit of $8,000.
We continue to track the amount of money we earn from our tennis memberships for future planning purposes. During 2019, we earned $8,000 from tennis memberships.
Advertising funds continue to be an excellent source of revenue and we strongly encourage you to support our sponsors.
Harbourview Property Management continues to perform regular maintenance duties under our maintenance contract. During the year we spent $30,000 on maintenance.
In addition to our regular operations, we raised $62,000 in donations for the clubhouse renovation during 2018 and 2019. The total cost of the clubhouse renovation was $80,000.
The year end for the Thunder Beach Association is December 31, 2019. Annual financial statements will be available for distribution at the 2020 Annual General Meeting in August.
Corey MacGregor
Treasurer
Social Director's Message
This year’s Thunder Beach event nights were a HUGE success! Thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy dinner and dancing with all of their fellow friends and neighbours.
Lobsterfest went off without a hitch, thank you to the wonderful efforts of Beth and Geoff Smith, Doug Jones and Myron Wolfe!
AUG-toberfest was a blast and it was so great to see everyone in costume and enjoying the evening.
I enjoyed doing the job greatly this past year and look forward to doing it again!
Cheers!
Melissa McGuire
Children's Program
Another camp season is in the books and after a long drawn out spring it was finally great to see summer temperatures and boy it did not disappoint. Camp only saw hand full of rainy days.
For the first time camp was introduced to Birds of Prey and Wet and Scaly from the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre. Kids and parents got to interact with amazing creatures such as owls, hawks, a gigantic snapping turtle and a Gray Rat snake that made some squeamish and others run. Movie nights saw a huge increase with attendance. On average 20 kids showed up for July and August! Halloween night was another big hit with 80 kids all dressed up and ready for their treats! We also had a tremendous turn out in July for Teen Night with 30 teenagers playing fun games and dancing the night away. Our fantastic crew of CIT’s and Counsellors made all of this happen. Each day and everyday they were energized and ready to give their best - thank you!
The last day of camp is always hard because it means a lot of things, summer is coming to an end, school is just around the corner and cool temperatures are ahead. However, this summer was a little different and a little more sad. This was Robbie Butler's last summer as a Head Counsellor. He has been working at the camp six years. We will definitely miss his enthusiasm, dedication and charm! It was a pleasure working with Robbie these past two summers and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
I would also like to thank Andie Miller for all her hard work this past summer as the Assistant Head Counsellor. She will also be missed and I wish her all the best!
I welcome ongoing feedback in order to help make necessary changes and improvements to the camp. Please feel free to contact me at crudics@rogers.com for any questions or concerns. It was a pleasure once again to be Camp Director and can’t wait to be back next summer!
Best Regards,
Christine Lundy
ATTENTION ALL COUNSELLORS!!
We are looking for an Assistant Head Counsellor! You will be shadowing the new Head Counsellor in their day to day duties. The goal here is to get more hands on experience, so the transition to become a HC will be more polished. You must have at least one year experience as a Thunder Beach Counsellor to apply. The position will also require you to be available in July and August. Applicants applying will go through a phone interview only. If you are interested please send me a cover letter explaining why you would be a good candidate for this position along with your CV to Christine Lundy at crudics@rogers.com. The deadline for all applicants is November 25th at midnight. Late responses will not be accepted.
CALLING ALL APPLICANTS!
Once again application time has arrived. Applications for Counsellor and CIT positions for the summer of 2020 are now available online!
The official deadline for submissions is Friday January 31, 2020. Please note that late applications (those received after midnight) will not be accepted. All applications will be done online through a Google form. If you have any questions regarding the application process, please refer to the Thunder Beach website or contact Christine Lundy at crudics@rogers.com
Tennis Court Pavilion
Late in 2018, The Khorshid/Shields Families began to socialize the idea of creating some type of a permanent shade structure for the recently resurfaced tennis courts with the Thunder Beach Association. Being long time members of this community, the memories of these courts for their parents, themselves and their children were not just memories of the game but also of walking past them to get to the heart of everything else our community has to offer. With the recent passing of their parents, their passion grew to get this done even faster. Working with committee members, Matt Ducharme, Jodi Munro, Cam Smellie and Doug Jones it was decided to design a tennis court pavilion that would provide shade but also become a gathering spot for all Tennis members. Mr. Shields, Jimmy as he was fondly remembered loved Thunder Beach for over 90 years and was an avid tennis player. This structure was completed late summer and I am please to say we have had nothing positive comments from all Thunder Beachers!
Many thanks to the Khorshid and Shields families for their generosity and to the Thunder Beach Association for their support.
Thanks also to Tim Heenan and Tim’s son, Jake who generously provided the painting which kept us on budget.
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Other notable contributors |
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Karen Jones |
consulting on design and landscaping |
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Cam Smellie/ STBC |
Cam and his crew built the pavilion at cost, forgoing any management fee. |
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Landscaping/Picnic Table Refresh |
Nick Horton, Rick Green, Matt Ducharme, Bill/Chris Houston, Laurie Mutton, Doug Jones |
We are presently working on an event to officially dedicate this new Pavillion Summer 2020 and look forward to celebrating Summer, tennis, Community and of course Jimmy!
Volleyball
It was another great year for the Tawney Richard Memorial Volleyball Tournament. The theme was 1980s movies and the Karate Kid team lived up the glory of their name. The winning team consisted of Katie Saundercook, Martin McLenhan, Teddy Yull, Dominic Boyce, Janelle Santi, Bill Saundercook and Kyle Gross. It was a year with a new online sign-up, hot-dogs and drinks for sale, and souvlaki’s delivered from the Corner Store! Thanks to all the volunteers and a special thanks to the Coles, Bolts, Bulters, and Philpotts for the use of the beach.
See you on the beach next year!
John Philpott and Tyler Richard
Thunder Run
We had a record turnout for the 35th annual Thunder Run this summer!
It was another gorgeous race day with a great finish at the Burkett cottage and then straight into the water, followed by cold drinks for the competitors and prizes for the winners. A big congrats to all the racers and fans who came out to cheer them on (and especially to those who set up water stations along the race course). Our race winners - Full 7.5 km race: Sasha Gollish (Female) and Kevin Carter (Male); Fun Run 4.5 km: Nevan Mitchell (Male) and Jacki Mihaichuk (Female); Junior Racers (U14): McKenzie Graham (Female) and Ronan Mitchell (Male). A side note, this year's overall winner - our very own Sasha Gollish - will be competing for Canada in the marathon at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar. Go Sasha! And a big thanks to Tyler Richard for once again providing great Saucony swag for the prize table and to Sasha for her generous contribution of a gift card from BlackToe Running and Endurance Tap gel packs. See you at the start line next summer!
Thunder Beach Baseball 2019
2019 was our 28th year of Thunder Beach Youth Baseball. Four teams featuring new pastel coloured shirts played Tuesday and Thursdays for the first three weeks of the summer with the final games played on Friday July 19th. Over 80 children participated this year.
Thanks to George Traini for grooming the infield. Many thanks to the Butler brothers, Brad, Don and Dave for umpiring and making all the close calls.
Thanks also to our volunteer coaches who exemplified the TBA Youth Baseball core values of kindness, leadership, safety, good sportsmanship and fun!
Next year, along with Gord Smeaton and Luigi Santi, we are planning a “Coaches Dinner” which will include the flag football coaches.
For 2020, the cost per player will increase to $25 to ensure that the baseball program income covers all expenses.
2019 Luke Santi Memorial Flag Football Tournament
Thank you to ALL for yet another successful Flag Football season – our 16th. Close to 40 players and 8 enthusiastic coaches thoroughly enjoyed the Tournament. Congratulations to the KC CHIEFS on winning the Championship! See picture below.
THANKS to the Smeaton and Santi families for organizing and convening the tournament. Special thanks AGAIN to head counsellors Robbie Butler and Andie Miller for their guidance. Thanks to all the coaches who led and taught the young flag football players. We appreciate their time and energy during the week. Thanks to Don Butler, Dave Butler, Greg Telfer and Griffin Bourjeaud for refereeing. Thanks to Susan Winter for leading the tailgate BBQ and to the Houston family for storing the equipment. Thanks to the parents, grandparents and friends who attended the games and generously donated food/beverages for ALL! The annual, fun co-ed adult game, played after the Championship included many Flag alumni. We look forward to next year, our 17th season. Same time in July 2020. Watch for details in the Spring TBA Newsletter. We are always on the lookout for referees, ‘chain gang’ helpers, and volunteers to assist. THANK YOU!
Maintenance/Clubhouse Update
This year we kicked off the season with an exterior update to the main clubhouse, which entailed the removal of the old trough, flashing and siding and was replaced with new soffit, facia, trough, down-spouts, flashing, Maibec siding, exterior lights and plugs. Although we ran into some challenges with rot and decay, we were able to repair all the damaged areas and restore the building back to its original glory. In addition, we were also able to restore the cherished Thunder Beach Association sign, proudly displayed above the front door. Another upgrade that was done this season was the removal of the tired, rotted kitchenette, which was replaced with a new, durable shaker style cabinet, with new uppers, counter top, sink and faucet. Working in conjunction with Electrical Layout Design, we were able to give a complete upgrade to the exterior lighting of the clubhouse. This included new high-power flood sensor lights to light up the playground and the pathway to the bathrooms. There are also ten new soffit pot lights which have a separate switch to light up the bar area during events. The clubhouse interior is also home to three new waste and recycling stations located inside the clubhouse. This has helped to streamline the waste management of the clubhouse during camps and community events.
Our maintenance contract was in full swing as of mid May with a large spring clean up which entailed removing all debris off site, tilling and grading the infield, the beach volleyball court area and all of the sand under the playground equipment as well as the installation of the buoys. We also cleaned up the clubhouse gardens, interior and exterior window washing and a full kitchen cleanup.
We truly appreciate your continued business over the years and are available for all commercial and residential needs.
Cheers,
Evan Lahaie and the Harbourview team
Farmer's Market
I want to extend a big thank you to everyone who made it out to the market each week and showed their support to our local vendors. We welcomed returning vendors and discovered some new favourites. It is very clear that we love fresh bread!! For any cottagers who continue to come up over the winter, please remember that many of the vendors run their businesses all year round and I would be happy to provide their contact and location information if you would still like to show your support. The market continues to be a great way to bring our community together - thank you for being a part of that.
Victoria Evans
Sponsorship
We continue to increase the number of advertisers who place ads in both our roster and our website. These funds pay for the printing of the roster that all members receive.
The Executive strongly encourages our membership to consider using any of these businesses when you are starting work on your property, going out for a meal, shopping for groceries, etc.
And don’t forget to mention that you saw the ad, so they will advertise again next year!
Traffic and Parking
A request was made in July to Tiny Township to review the signage on West Shore Dr. Since the road was completely paved last spring, there have been concerns raised that traffic is travelling more quickly. This road has many cyclists and pedestrians as well as cars and trucks, so speed is an issue. As well, the shoulders are very narrow or non-existent in some places and there are many blind spots as the road twists and turns.
Tim Leitch, Director of Public Works, has responded positively and a work order has now been issued to add signs to warn drivers of curves and to drive slow on West Shore. Further signs will also be placed on Green Point regarding speed to and to warn of the three way stop at Green Point, Centre Beach Rd., and Westshore. Look out for these changes soon and drive safely!
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