Spring 2017 Thunder Beach Association Newsletter
Summer is on its way and it’s time for you to sign up for your annual memberships, enrol your kids in camp and purchase your event tickets. Remember the membership deadline to get into the Roster is Monday, May 22, 2017 – so don’t delay, sign up now!
Your Executive and others have been working hard to get ready for another great summer season at Thunder Beach. Check out all of the events you can participate in as described in the newsletter or on the website. We're hoping to have some special events to mark Canada’s 150th birthday on the July long weekend so keep an eye out for news on that.
We're very fortunate to have Betsy and Emily back as our Head Counsellors for a third summer and we have a great roster of Counsellors and CIT's. They have another very exciting camp program planned.
We're always in need of more volunteers for events and to serve as Executive members so don’t be shy – get involved. In particular we need a volunteer to help out with the tennis this year. Please see Matt DuCharme’s update below.
Our financial situation remains relatively stable but we're always looking for more website and Roster sponsors so if you know anyone please send them our way – and don’t forget to patronize the sponsors!
If you feel someone in the community is deserved of the Wishart Spence community service award please go to our website and fill out the nomination form.
Looking forward to a great 2017. See you at the Beach.
Andrew Macdonald
President
Membership Renewal and Roster Deadline
The 2017 TBA Memberships are now available for renewal. A TBA membership is required in order to be included in the TBA Roster and to take advantage of other member benefits such as Tennis Membership and the Children's Camp Program. Young adults 25 and over must individually register. This year's Roster deadline is Monday, May 22, 2017. If you would like to be included in the 2017 TBA Roster, you must renew your membership by this date, so please don’t delay and renew now.
When renewing your membership, please take care when you fill out the roster form as the information you input will be what appears in the roster.
If you choose not to use the website you many send your cheques payable to the Thunder Beach Association c/o Ellen Macdonald , 55 Old Orchard Grove , Toronto, M5M 2C8. emac55@rogers.com
Social Update
Summer is almost here! Please mark your calendars and save the date for this summer’s social events.
Lobsterfest: Saturday, July 1st
Just like last year, please join us in kicking off the summer with fresh lobsters, french fries by Jamie Kennedy Kitchens, and crowd favourite DJ Bryan Taylor.
August Event Night: Saturday, August 5th Dinner and Dance... Theme TBD!
We may also plan a third event in August. If you have any theme ideas or would like to help out with an event, please email Geoff at gamacgregor@gmail.com. As always, we suggest that you buy your event tickets while signing up for your TBA membership to ensure that you do not miss out. Same prices as last year. Due to increasing demand for tickets and our limited capacity, please note however that tickets will only be available for purchase online and will be non-refundable.
Geoff MacGregor
Social Program Director
2017 Children’s Program
We are VERY happy to announce that for a third year in a row the Thunder Beach Children’s Program has the amazing duo of Emily Meyer and Betsy Smith as “Co-Head Counsellors”. Their wealth of experience, organizational skills and enthusiasm ensure another great season for our Thunder Beach kids. More than that we are excited at their ability to mentor and coach some of our Senior Counsellors looking to apply for the Head Counsellor position in the future. We feel that this will ensure the success and sustainability of our program.
We are also pleased to announce the return of Melissa Gage, Dave Butler and Susan Butler as Camp Directors. This trio has been hard at work behind the scenes with counsellor/CIT applications, contracts and program planning. This year will be slightly different than past years as Dave and Susan will hand- over their roles as Camp Directors mid-season to Christie Lundy (Rudics) who has graciously accepted to work along-side Melissa for the remainder of the 2017 season and continue in the role in 2018. We are very excited to welcome Christie to the team! Her long history as a Thunder Beach member, camper, counsellor and parent will make her a great addition to our program.
Below we have provided a reminder of times and cost for camp throughout the summer.
Play School and Sports Camp
Play School – ages 4-6 (6 is included in Play School as the 6 year olds have the option of being in Play School)
Junior Sports Camp – ages 6-9 (6 is included in Junior Sports Camp as the 6 year olds have the option of being in Junior Sports Camp)(The younger kids in Junior Sports Camp also have the option to do the Play School craft)
Senior Sports Camp – ages 10 and up
| Day | Play School | Junior Sports Camp | Senior Sports Camp |
| Monday | 10:00-12:00 | 10:00-12:00 | 10:00-12:00 |
| Wednesday | 10:00-12:00 | 10:00-12:00 | 10:00-12:00 |
| Friday | 10:00-12:00 | 10:00-12:00 | 10:00-12:00 |
Tennis Camp
| Day | Ball Play (age 4-5) | Junior Tennis (age 6-9) | Senior Tennis (age 10+) |
| Tuesday | 9:30-11:00 | 9:30-11:00 | 11:00-12:30 |
| Thursday | 9:30-11:00 | 9:30-11:00 | 11:00-12:30 |
*Ball play is physical activities promoting hand-eye coordination and gross motor movement leading up to tennis play.
*The above scheduled timing will remain the same in the event of rain on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If/when it rains the children will report to the clubhouse for indoor activities.
Camp Pricing
| Date/Time | Price |
| Daily | $15 |
| Weekly | $50 |
| July (3-28) | $130 |
| August (1-25) | $130 |
| Full Season | $225 |
| Flexible Family 10 Pass | $100 |
The “Flexible Family Plan” will remain in effect for the 2017 season. This package allows families to purchase in advance 10 days of camp for the price of $100. This package will continue to be available throughout the summer. Just a reminder that this package must be purchased in advance, may only be used by children within an immediate family whose names have been registered in advance, and are non-refundable and non-transferable and cannot be carried over from one summer to the next.
Camp scheduling information will be listed as part of the Children’s Summer Calendar which accompanies your roster. Please feel free to contact us with inquiries or feedback at:
melissa.gage@hotmail.com
daveybutski@gmail.com
doingood7@yahoo.com.
Looking forward to seeing all of you at the beach!!!
Susan Butler, Dave Butler and Melissa Gage
Thunder Beach Children’s Camp Directors
Thunder Beach 2017 Tennis Season
Life is Always Better When I’m Playing Tennis…
I believe that all of us are looking forward to the beginning of the 2017 Tennis Season. Our Harbourview Property maintenance crew will be checking to ensure that our newly resurfaced courts survived through the cold winter. The TBA will order new rollers and brooms so the members have them for any rain days and day to day maintenance.
Harbourview has also been requested to:
- Fix the bottom of the fence so the tennis ball does not roll out of the court
- Install Plexiglas at the sign-up area so the sign-up sheets can remain dry
- Build a storage shed outside the courts by the entrance. We can store the children’s tennis nets, tennis balls etc. This will eliminate the plastic box on court 1.
- Make sure picnic tables and umbrellas are in good shape
Please remember you must be both a TBA member and a tennis member to play on the courts – TBA memberships and tennis memberships can be purchased here.
We will once again use the shoe tag system as a part of your membership we will encourage the use of the tennis tags for all members (we will be monitoring the courts).
In 2016 we did see a decrease in participation in our tournaments. We do not want to see this as this has been a long-standing tradition at the beach. We would not only like to see increased player participation but also spectator participation. The format for the Mixed and Women’s tournament has been a DRAW format (sign up as an individual) and you will be paired with a partnered. This has worked well in the past so we will keep this format as is. We are going to implement the same for the Men’s tournament for summer 2017 with a twist. In an effort to increase participation of men to play and more fun - we will look at one of the following formats:
- Men sign up as individuals and we would partner them up having a A player and B player (to the best of our abilities)
OR
- We can have a format by age “century club”. We put partners together by age – a combination of the two players would be over 100 (Example - a 23 yr. old – they would play with someone 77 or older?)
We have finalized the dates for our annual tournaments
- TBA Mixed Doubles Adult Tournament – July 15th, 2017
- Men’s Doubles Adult Tennis Tournament July 29th, 2017
- Women’s Doubles Adult Tennis Tournament August 12th, 2017
- We will post all dates on the TBA calendar. Must be 16 years old or older to play.
We are in discussion with the tennis pros Harry and Mark Greenan and have them come back for a tennis clinic perhaps on July 8th – this is to be confirmed, but before we organize, please let me know if you are interested.
The TBA Executive did investigate the improvement of the middle area/grass area at the tennis courts. We are trying to find a solution for more shade by designing a building structure/gazebo or pergola. This will not happen for 2017 but discussion will continue on this topic.
Drop In Tennis will continue as usual on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.
Children’s Program will continue with “Tennis Lessons given by the TBA counsellors” every Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
For the 2018 season, I need a volunteer to take over the tennis duties which include:
- Organizing and running the Adult Tournaments
- Monitoring the courts
- Making sure the sign-up sheets are available
Please email me or call me if you are interested.
We would also appreciate your ideas, thoughts and feedback for this upcoming season matt.ducharme@sympatico.ca. It is important that we hear from you.
See you on the courts.
Matt DuCharme, Tennis Director
Thunder 2017 Beach Maintenance Report
Maintenance covers the following areas – clubhouse and washrooms, garbage bins, playground area, TBA field, baseball diamond, tennis courts, install and removal of buoys and clean up after the TBA parties. Maintenance is an area that we need to continually look at improving and again this year we have partnered with Harbourview Property Management.
We have had some great ideas from the membership and one of them was to move some of the TBA benches into the new playground so parents and grandparents can sit while the children safely play – this will be implemented.
Harbourview has already started to get ready for the 2017 spring cleanup. One of the first priorities will be to renovate and repair the baseball diamond. Thanks to the effort of Doug Jones and member contributions we have some money to make the repairs to the baseball diamond. We will take the necessary steps to eliminate the hard compacted surfaces and make it safe for everyone to play. In particular around home plate and the infield.
Important News: Rental of the Clubhouse
This was discussed by the current TBA Executive. The responsibility for Rental of the clubhouse will now be with the TBA Maintenance/Property Director and Harbourview Property Management (Evan Lahaie). TBA Executive would like to remind the membership of the following:
- Clubhouse CANNOT be rented for evening events in the months of July and August. This rule is in place for the consideration of the cottages and neighbours living close to the clubhouse. Neighbours living close to the clubhouse are already subject to the two or three TBA Event Nights per year and the Executive feels this is enough for the summer months. Also, the cleanup and maintenance can be extensive and the clubhouse needs to be ready for Monday morning for Kids Camp. Daytime events will be considered on a case by case basis having regard towards timing of the event, neighbour considerations, cleanup issues, camp impacts etc.
- Clubhouse Rental fees are different for members vs non-members. A TBA contract needs to be signed. We encourage everyone and all families to be TBA members.
- Rentals can be made for months of May, June, September or October.
- Interested parties can contact either the TBA Maintenance/Property Director - Matthew DuCharme Matthew.DuCharme@ipc.com or Harbourview - Evan Lahaie evanlahaie@harbourviewpm.com
Harbourview Property Management and I would make every effort to speak to any TBA member regarding any suggestions, issues or concerns with managing and maintaining the beauty of Thunder Beach and the TBA properties.
Matt DuCharme, TBA Maintenance/Property Director
"Batter Up!"
Thunder Beach Baseball begins its 26th season on Tuesday, July 4th. The final tournament is set for Friday, July 21st. Children ages 6 to 15 years are welcome.
It’s all about safety, fun, building community, fair play and leadership…. and the children learn how to play baseball too!
Be sure to sign up your children when you renew your membership. Our successful fundraising efforts from last year will allow us to keep the registration at $20. There will be improvements to the baseball diamond infield.
Many thanks to our returning squad of umpires, the Butler brothers: Dave, Don and Brad. We need volunteer coaches! Please contact Doug Jones at djones000@sympatico.ca or at (cell): 519 575-7436 (home): 519-884-4359
2017 Luke Santi Memorial Flag Football Tournament
Welcome to the 14th year of great Flag Football at Thunder Beach. The tournament, renamed in honour of Luke Santi in 2008, has enabled hundreds of boys and girls to participate and have fun. We appreciate ALL the help from our many TB friends, parents and grandparents.
If you are interested in Playing, Coaching, Refereeing or Volunteering (yardsticks, scoreboard), please register using the Sign-up Sheets posted by mid-July at the Clubhouse and the Friendly Corner Store. We appreciate everyone registering before Thursday, July 20th. Team rosters will be posted on Sunday the 23rd.
The fee is $20.00 per player. (Ages 10-15 eligible as of July 24th)
The tournament schedule is as follows: [ALL GAMES @ 3:30 & 4:30]
- Monday, July 24th: ‘Pre-Season’ Practice Games
- NOTE: Arrive in advance of your game to pay and pick up your jersey.
- Tues July 25th to Thurs July 27th: League Games
- Friday, July 28th: Consolation and Championship Games followed by the Trophy Presentation, popular Adult Game and the traditional Tailgate BBQ!
The ‘pre-season’ practice games will provide players and coaches a chance to familiarize themselves with the game and their teammates.
We look forward to seeing you this summer!
Gordon, Martha, Quinn and Matthew Smeaton
Luigi, Shelagh, Andrea and Janelle Santi
Beach Volleyball Tournament July 22, 2017
The Annual Tawny Richard Memorial Volleyball Tournament
The Annual Tawny Richard Memorial Volleyball Tournament will be held on Saturday July 22, 2017 starting in the late morning. Please save the date!
It will follow the same format as the last few years, where individuals are assigned to a team upon arrival and there is a small fee per player to cover costs. It’s a great way to mix and mingle with fellow Thunder Beachers.
We would like to thank the Butler and Bolt family for graciously agreeing to host this event again on East Beach (just a few cottages east of the Simcoe County Road 6 right-of-way). Remember to walk (not drive) and to respect their property and the neighbouring properties. Further details to come regarding sign-up, starting times, and registration fees.
John Philpott
Thunder Run
It’s time to dust off the running shoes and get on a training regimen. The 33rd Annual Thunder Run will be held Saturday, August 5, 2017 @ 3:30 pm. Earn those event night cocktails.
As we introduced last year, there will be a two option course – the full 7.5 km race, covering both west and east shore, and a shorter 4.5 km fun run, covering just east shore. Just do it!
Chris Burkett
Farmers Market: The Thunder Beach General
Golf
We have decided to take a break from organizing a golf tournament again this year. We know there are a lot of keen golfers in the Thunder Beach community and we look forward to more golfing events in the future. Anyone who is interested in helping to organize future events please let us know. We are very open to fresh ideas and considering different formats.
Thunder Beach Dock Company: Notice to Members
Greetings to all Thunder Beach Gas Dock Members (and soon to be Dock Members)!
The Gas Dock will be open for business on weekends throughout June. Full service on weekdays and weekends will resume on July 1. Our hours of operation will be as follows:
Monday to Friday: 12 – 3 pm (as of July 1)
Saturday, Sunday and holidays: 10 am to 3 pm (as of the May long weekend)
Members who would like to rent docking space are invited to contact Bill McNamara at (416) 865-7988 during the week or (705) 533-2493 on weekends.
Please do not forget to renew your Dock memberships for 2017 ($160 per family). Your support is an essential component of the Dock’s financial viability.
We are also looking for 2 or 3 young persons who would be interested in staffing the Dock this summer (16 years of age or older). Please contact Bill McNamara at the numbers indicated above.
We look forward to seeing you on the water!
John Burns, Todd McCarthy, Bill McNamara
FOTTSA
The Thunder Beach Association is a member of the Federation of Tiny Township Shoreline Associations.
FOTTSA monitors all meetings of the Tiny of Township council and posts information on Township matters on their website. Any concerns regarding municipal issues with the Township of Tiny can be raised with John Philpott, Thunder Beach’s FOTTSA representative, at jsphilpott@gmail.com.
As a member of FOTTSA, you are entitled to a number of discounts in the LaFontaine, Penetang, and Midland area. The participating businesses are posted on the FOTTSA website, usually in June. To take advantage of these discounts, you simply need to show your FOTTSA membership card at the participating businesses. You can get your FOTTSA member card at the July Field Day or emailing to jsphilpott@gmail.com.
FOTTSA remains involved in a host of environmental issues, including increasing presence of phragmites and the decreasing water levels for Lake Huron. Thunder Beach participates in water testing with FOTTSA for information gathering purposes. More information on the water levels can also be found at http://restoreourwater.com/ (which is associated with FOTTSA), www.georgianbayforever.org, and www.stopthedrop.ca.
John Philpott
Snorkelling Shipwrecks Off Thunder Beach
Fellow Thunder Beacher George Traini has written an interesting article about shipwrecks around Thunder Beach. If you’re interested in more information, download the PDF article below!
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