Winter 2011 Thunder Beach Association Newsletter
February 07, 2011
President's Report
Happy New Year fellow cottagers! With these mid-January plunging temperatures, the Bay as of this week has completely frozen over. There is a blanket of whiteness as far as the eye can see. However, soon will come a day when the sap starts to flow, the whiteness turns to blue and green and we can once again venture outdoors in bare feet.
For Summer 2011, we are happy to announce a great program of activities for Thunder Beachers young and old. There will be some old traditions with new twists and the usual suspects.
In terms of the executive, Merrylee Greenan retired from the board.
We appreciated her hard work in her role as Secretary and Newsletter Editor. Gord Brandt also retired as Treasurer but will remain as Vice President and will also be a valuable resource to our new incoming Treasurer, Anne Hardcastle. The Executive would like to extend a warm welcome to her in this new role.
Despite pleading with her all fall and into the winter, I could not persuade Linda Rudics from not retiring. She has been a valuable asset to the Executive in many capacities: more than a decade organizing Lobsterfest; always on hand at field day and quick to lend a helping hand on a moment's notice at other social events. Her hard work and efforts have been greatly appreciated. The Executive would like to give a big salute to Linda Rudics, our Guardian of the clubhouse.
We would also like to thank all of the volunteers who helped out this past year! You are the integral parts that make the children's programs, sporting events and social activities all run so smoothly!!! Kudos to our Volunteers!
In terms of the beach updates, the www.Thunderbeach.org website made a big splash last year. Given the user-friendliness of the site, we had better than expected on-line membership registration! As a result of the popular demand, we are adding a “Classifieds” section.
SAFE BOATING: At the AGM in August 2010, members expressed some serious concerns about the boating traffic, lack of spotters for waterskiing and tubing activities as well as the increased boat speed inside the marked swimming buoys. Please be reminded of the following rules:
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As of September 2009, all operators of powerboats must have proof of a Pleasure Craft Operator Card.
No children under 12 years of age can operate a powerboat with more than a 10 hp motor.
Youths 12 to 15 years of age may only operate a boat with a motor over 40 hp if accompanied and directly supervised by someone 16 years or older.
Minimum age for operating a personal watercraft is 16 years of age.
Inside the swimming buoys is a “ZERO WAKE/SLOW ZONE”. Be on the lookout for swimmers.
Please keep the above rules in mind and make this a fun and safe boating season.
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I look forward to another great summer and serving as your President.
Kindest regards,
David Northcott
Membership Update
Thank you for subscribing to the TBA website! Thanks to you, the online registration for 2010 was extremely successful, with over 35% of TBA members choosing to renew their memberships and register for events online.
As an online subscriber, you'll now receive all communications regarding the Thunder Beach Association electronically: membership renewals, registrations forms and newsletters. The Membership Roster will remain a hard copy product and will be mailed out to everyone in June.
We have expanded the registration forms this year to include the ability to sign up for your TBA membership, tennis membership, Dock Company membership, social events, baseball, and camp all at once!
Thank you for choosing to renew online, as this “greener” option greatly reduces the amount of paper and other costs associated with the printing and mailing of the Newsletter and registration forms. Every little bit helps!
If you would prefer to have your forms in hard copy, please email me, and I will ensure you're added to the mailing list. And if you have any questions or concerns with this, please feel free to email me at susanwinter@rogers.com.
Already looking forward to summer.....!!!
Want to do things the old fashioned way?
Visit our forms resource page to download various forms related to renewing your 2011 membership, event registration, roster advertising and the dock company.
Treasurer's Report - Fiscal Year 2010
This is my last report as Treasurer of the Thunder Beach Association. After 4 wonderful years, I am pleased to turn the reigns of TBA Treasurer over to Anne Hardcastle-Roebuck.
From a financial perspective 2010 was another successful year. Membership dues and Tennis dues continue to increase (and have done so over the past four years). The Kids Camp and related events like tennis, and movie night continue to increase in popularity and profitability. Baseball is well known as the kick off to the summer and it remains an increasingly popular event for our children (and parents).
In terms of adult events, both Lobsterfest and the August "Out of Africa" dinner remain very popular and were both financially profitable, as was the Golf tournament. This year, an Art Show was held in the club house for the first time and it too was very well attended, and financially profitable.
Maintenance of our club house, tennis courts and grounds represents approximately 30% of our total expenses. This expense item has been increasing over the last few years and 2010 is no exception. This year, we experienced several unplanned and unexpected expenses, which contributed to this increase, such as the removal of 21 trees around the club house and tennis courts, as well as the painting of the interior club house ceiling. New windows were also required in certain areas of the club house. These unplanned expenses resulted in the need to transfer $10,000 to our regular bank account (from our GIC savings account) to ensure we were properly funded and able to pay for these and other expenses until revenue from membership renewals starts to flow in early 2011.
In summary, the Thunder Beach Association once again maintained a very positive financial bottom line in 2010.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my tenure as your Treasurer and thank all of you for your support over the years.
Gord Brandt
Childrens’ Program
One of the purposes of the Thunder Beach Association is “to assist the children of the beach in every way possible to enjoy a happy, healthy holiday consistent with safety and common sense”. Each year the Children’s Program staff works hard to provide this to our Thunder Beach kids and is always looking for ways to improve to make our program better.
This year we are making a few changes that we believe will have a positive impact on the program. Those changes are with our counselling staff hiring process, Senior Sports program and our payment method for camp.
Our first priority is to ensure that we provide an enriching and fun camp experience in a very safe environment. Our first step towards this is to hire the best possible staff. It is wonderful that we have an opportunity to provide employment to our Thunder Beach teens. In the past, most eligible applicants have secured a position but unfortunately the next few years will be bringing many more applicants to our counsellor and counsellor-in-training positions than we have jobs for.
The Counsellors and CITs who will be hired will be the applicants who exhibit the most interest, enthusiasm and desire to be a camp counsellor. I take this job very seriously and expect all the staff to consider a counselling position as a very important job, not just their social time for the summer. To help with my hiring decisions I have made a few changes to the application requirements for a summer 2011 position.
View the NEW Counsellor and CIT application instructions. Please note applications will not be considered received until they are fully completed as per the instructions. No applications will be accepted if received after the deadline date of Friday, March 4, 2011.
Another area we would like to focus on is our Senior Sports Camp. It is obvious from the baseball and flag football programs that the older kids are interested in participating in sports activities. We need to provide a Senior Sports program that gets our older kids coming out and keeps them attending every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning. Jacki Mihaichuk is returning for her 2nd year as Head Counsellor and her agenda includes planning new exciting crafts for camp, creative event nights and “beefing up” the Senior Sports program.
The last area that we are making a change to is our camp registration, payment and check-in process. For many years, the Head Counsellor has spent far too much time each morning collecting camp fees (or trying to keep track of who had not paid) and campers have spent far too much time standing in line. To alleviate these problems we are moving to a weekly camp fee and providing a prepayment option. The following is our new fee structure.
Seasonal Fee |
$175 |
Entitles camper to attend activities at Craft Camp, Jr. Sports, Sr. Sports, Tennis Camp, Advanced Tennis and Event Nights during July and August. |
Monthly Fee |
$100 |
Entitles camper to attend activities at Craft Camp, Jr. Sports, Sr. Sports, Tennis Camp, Advanced Tennis and Event Nights during the month that payment is for. |
Weekly Fee |
$25 |
Entitles camper to attend activities at Craft Camp, Jr. Sports, Sr. Sports, Tennis Camp, Advanced Tennis and Event Nights during the Monday to Friday week for which payment is made. |
Daily Fee |
$15 |
Monday or Friday - entitles camper to attend activities at Craft Camp, Jr. Sports & Sr. Sports. |
|
$15 |
Tuesday or Thursday – entitles camper to attend activities at Tennis Camp and Advanced Tennis. |
|
$15 |
Wednesday – entitles camper to attend activities at Craft Camp, Jr. Sports, Sr. Sports and Event Night. |
As indicated in the above fee structure, payment of the weekly camp fee, monthly camp fee or seasonal camp fee entitles each child to attend Playschool/Craft Camp, Junior Sports, Senior Sports, Tennis Camp, Advanced Tennis and our event nights. Monday night movies continue to be an additional fee as do any Senior Sports field trips. These rates have not changed in many years. Our new daily rate of $15.00 is applicable to members or non- members for any day of camp Monday to Friday (which includes our tennis program).
Payment of camp fees will now be accepted at the same time as membership fees and can be made on line. We are hoping that many families will take the opportunity to pay in advance for camp whether it is for a week or two, a month or the season. Your cooperation in this matter will go a long way to freeing up our counselling staff so that we can provide a better experience for our campers.
Although it is still many months away, I am looking forward to another wonderful Children’s Program summer and feel that the changes that we are making will have a very positive impact on the fun that the Thunder Beach kids will have.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to email me at kmihaichuk@hotmail.com
Social Events
Trudy Richard and the executive would like to thank Linda Rudic for her dedication and hard work as Social Director for the last few years. Thank you to Andrew Bolt and his crew who stepped in at the last minute to run a very successful Out of Africa August event. At this time we're pleased to announce that Craig and Judy Jarvis have volunteered to help with the August event. Seating plans for events will be the same as it was for 2010 (8 people or more could reserve a table). Looking forward to Lobsterfest, August Dinner, Art Show and Golf Dinner in 2011.
2011 Dates:
- Lobsterfest: July 2, 2011
- Tawny Richard Memorial Volleyball Tournament: July 16, 2011
- August Dinner: August 6, 2011
- Golf Tournament: August 20, 2011
Trudy Richard
Website Updates
Online Clubhouse Booking
Over the last few years, we've had an increasing demand for the use of the Clubhouse by many of our members. It's been wonderful to see so many families taking advantage of our nice meeting place for special events such a weddings and family gatherings.
In order to make it easier for booking the clubhouse, we've created an on-line calendar where you'll be able to see the clubhouse availability, as well as access an easy to complete rental application form. Take a minute to review that new section on the website and
check it out!
Please note that due to the high demand over the last 2 years, our costs of running the clubhouse have increased, and starting in 2011 a small rental fee of $100.00 will be charged to help us cover some of the expenses.
We are all looking forward to having the clubhouse used to its fullest! Should you have any questions regarding this, please feel free to contact Louise O'Connor at 705-533-9993 or use our contact form.
New TBA Classifieds
We are pleased to announce the launch of the tba classifieds, a new online resource for the thunder beach community.
The initial focus of the tba classifieds will be to provide a way for cottage owners and renters to connect through the website.
Cottage owners can post ads about their rentals and potential renters can ask questions or even post wanted ads.
Creating an account and posting to the classifieds is easy and we've got a short video that walks you through how to do it.
Head over to the TBA classifieds now and check it out.
Summer 2010 Tennis Tournaments
As always, last summer the tennis courts were busy with our many adult tournaments.
The men’s doubles tournament had 10 teams entered and the winning team for the 2nd year in a row was Matt Ducharme and John Ducharme.
The women’s doubles tournament saw 20 players entered and the names randomly drawn to make 10 teams. The victorious team was Tracy Keenan and Abby Yull. Thanks go to Kristy Herold Miller and Kristy Rudics for organizing a wonderful day of tennis for the ladies.
The mixed doubles tournament saw 32 players entered to make up our randomly selected 16 teams. The team taking the trophy home was Patty Hebbes and Rolston Miller.
I would like to thank David Macdonald who is “the man” at the scoring table for the men’s and mixed tournaments. I could not run the tournaments without his assistance. I would also like to thank James Layter for his help at the 2 tournaments. He is up early and cleaning the courts so they are ready for us to start.
Over 60 tournament
Fourteen players showed up for the inaugural Thunder Beach Seniors Doubles tournament. There was a rain and wind storm that delayed the matches from Saturday to Sunday on the Labour Day weekend. It was open to both men and women competitors.
The semi finals consisted of Diane Jones and Doug Umbach falling to Cathy Byers and Dick Innes (pictured left) with Dick Steffy and Jim Layter falling to Doug Jones and Marlies Black (pictured centre).
The finals turned out to be a mixed doubles match with Doug Jones and Marlies Black winning 6-2 over Cathy Byers and Dick Innes (pictured right). The winners were both left handed which turned out to be the deciding factor in overwhelming the right handed competition.
Our thanks go out to Jim Layter for preparing the courts, Jim Counsell for the scoring and Charlene Counsell as the photographer.
Thunder Run 2010 — New Course, New Winner
Thirteen year old Damien Orocz, the silver medalist in last year’s
Silver Anniversary Thunder Run was the
2010 Thunder Run gold medal winner in a time of 31 minutes, 40 seconds, 37 seconds ahead of former
Thunder Run winner Mark Northcott.
One minute and a half behind Mark with a
Masterful performance was Mark Parsons and less than a minute behind him was fourth place finisher Rolston Miller. Rounding out the top five was Colin Macdonald with a time of 35 minutes, 10 seconds.
Top female honours and sixth place overall was claimed by Kristi Herold. Second and third place for the women went to Emme Picher and Alex Martin, respectively.
The
2010 Thunder Run took a new turn this year due to the “bear scare” and the storm strewn woods portion of the race, on the ridge beyond Thunder Highlands Golf Course.
This year’s course while approximately the same distance as last year’s was much flatter but provided an opportunity for more cottagers to get out and cheer. The route headed west from the Clubhouse along West Shore Road with a turn around after puffing up the hill at the top of Journey’s End, then back along West Shore to Green Point Road past Toula’s to County Road 6 followed by another quick turn around at East Beach Road and then a return to the Clubhouse and the cheering finish line fans.
Not only did the 2010 Thunder Run feature a new route, every (well almost, until supplies ran out) participant got a great “I’m a Thunder Runner” shirt.
Please mark your calendar for next year’s 27th Annual Thunder Run. It is Sunday August 7, 2011, 5:00 pm at the Clubhouse...Who knows what the route or the “shirt” will be at this year’s run....
Thunder Beach Dock Company
DIRECTORS’ INTERIM REPORT | JANUARY 21, 2011
We are pleased to report that 2010 was a good year for the Dock. Relative to 2009, our memberships were up (40 members in all, as opposed to 37), as were gas sales (approximately $23,762, as opposed to $14,171).
The result is that we ended the season with a modest but healthy cash surplus after payment of expenses and insurance, despite the fact that our price per litre was considerably less than the price per litre charged by the commercial marinas in our area ($1.10/litre vs. $1.25/litre or more).
In keeping with the promise made to the members of the Association at the Association’s 2009 Annual General Meeting, we are having financial statements for the 2010 financial year prepared (the statements for 2009 were provided at the 2010 AGM). They will be posted on the Association’s website as soon as we receive them.
We would like to thank our staffers – John Taylor, J.P. McNamara and Blake DuCharme – for the terrific job they did. Thanks to their diligent efforts, Dock Members enjoyed daily gas service on weekends during the month of June and throughout the week during July and August through to Labour Day.
Please do not forget to renew your Dock memberships for 2011. The membership fees are an essential component of the Dock’s financial viability. Boaters who would like to rent docking space are invited to contact Bill McNamara at (416) 216-3918.
We look forward to seeing you on the water!
John Burns | Mike Mihaichuk | Bill McNamara
Golf News
Golf is a day spent in a round of strenuous idleness. - William Wordsworth
Despite being one player short, Don Mitchell, Devon Mitchell & Peter Geesing came out swinging and moved to be 2010’s best overall team with an impressive PGA score of
-11.
Other top results for the day included the men’s longest drive blasted out by
Judah Katz. The women’s longest drive was hammered with an impressive long ball by
Diane Jones. Closest to the pin for the men was a shot by Friendly Corner Store summer alumni,
Luke Saundercook. For the women, it was the eagle eye precision of first season new-comer,
Lisa Phillips. Standing under the rainbow with her lucky charms, the Pot of Gold prize landed in the lap of
Aviva Rosenfeld. Finally, closest to the line was shot by the very so steady hands of
Susan Inrig.
89 golfers and 34 guests made sure the celebration continued off the greens and into our Clubhouse. Dinner was great thanks to Lafontaine’s finest chef, Larry Lalonde and his wonderful staff at ELM Catering. We had magnificent steaks and salad.
A special thanks to our beer and cigar sponsors, Steam Whistle Brewing Company and the Mumbacho Cigar Company. I would also like to thank all those who volunteered to make the event such a success, in particular, Sara Lankshear, Tom Macdonald, Mark Northcott, Paul Northcott, Trudy Richards, Mal Inrig and Susan Inrig as well as all those who sponsored a hole and donated prizes.
We had 20 hole sponsors which included:
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Bernie & Nancy Bianchi – Georgian Bay Car Company
Fred Burton – Portfolio Management Corporation
The Carriage House Gallery – Stu Leggett & Carole Currie
Sabin Charlebois – Charlebois Excavating & Trucking
Paul Lennard – Donway Ford
Paul Macdonald – McMillan LLP
Tom Macdonald – Goodmans LLP
Christine & Al Magee – Sleep Country
Bruce Mann – Henderson Trnasport
TimBr Mart
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John McCarhy – Will Barristers
Todd McCarthy – Flaherty Dow Elliott & McCarthy
Jeanne McIsaac – Re/Max Georgian bay Realty Ltd. Brokerage
Frank & Helen Morneau
Jeff Neil
Howard Robinson – Robinson Pontiac
Gord Smellie – Stone Tree
Robert Smith – The Smith Group
David Wilcox – Wilcox Law Office
Paul & Angela Wilson – Busy Bee Taxi
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Thank you to all who participated. Your continued support and generosity is greatly appreciated. We are actively seeking out golf prizes for this year’s 2011 golf tournament. Keep this in mind, company promo items, golf paraphernalia, tickets to events, prizes of any type are sought and encouraged!
Finally, the golf tournament is all teed up for
Saturday, August 20th at Midland Golf and Country Club. Please get your four-some together and come on out for a swinging good time.
Sympathies
LEONE MAE STUBBINS Of Thunder Beach 1928 - 2010
On December 4th, a soft snow and calm lake received Leone's peaceful passing at The Homestead, surrounded by her family. Husband, Dr. Bob Stubbins will miss his soul mate in all his adventures and misadventures. Her gentle spirit has gone from her family, except in our memories.
Congratulations!
Comfort
Kelly and Tim are happy to announce the birth of a baby girl, Olivia Eileen, born on July 14th weighing 7 lbs 10 oz. A sister for big brother Colin. Proud Grandmother is Susie Comfort Barton..Olivia is welcomed by many aunts uncles and cousins....
Burkett/Dion
Erin and Aaron are delighted to announce the birth of a boy. Raymond was born on August 30th weighing 7lbs 12 oz. Welcomed by brother Michael and sister Kathleen and many aunts, uncles, and cousins. Happy grandparents are Sally and Kevin Burkett.
Palmer/Pyper
Meredith and Richard are very happy to announce the birth of their little girl Quinlyn Paige. Quinlyn weighed 6lbs 13oz and was born on Nov 15th. Grandparents Gretchen and Paul Palmer and aunts , uncles and cousins are pleased to welcome this new baby girl.
Hornberger/Adivi
Stephen and Karen are happy to announce the birth of their second son Jadon. Jadon was born on Dec 23 weighing 7 lbs 4 oz...big brother Gabrielle is excited and so are Marg and Greg Hornberger his grandparents..also wecolmed by Aunt Lee .
SAUNDERCOOK/ASSELIN
Amy and Nick are excited to announced the birth of their first child, Gabriel William David Asselin. Their son was born on New Years Day in Kingston, weighing 8lbs 4oz. Gabriel is welcomed by grandparents Anne and Bill Saundercook (who are anxious to get him onto the tennis court!), Uncle Luke, Aunties Jenny, Katie and Emily, Great Uncle Joe, and his family from out West - grandparents Celia Stock and David Searle, Uncle Edouard, Aunty Shantelle and cousins Sam and Maddy.
Day/Levitt
Another new Day has arrived! Tom and Jacqueline are thrilled to announce the early arrival of their precious son James Edward Thomas Day born at 7:24 am on October 21st, 2010 weighing a healthy 6 lb.13oz. Big sisters Hannah Stacey and Sadie Ellen are so excited to have a baby brother. Ecstatic grandparents are Cheryl and Ned Levitt, Gerald and Virginia Day, Patricia Day Morris and Rich Morris. All of his aunties, uncles, and cousins are excited too. James is named in loving memory of his Great Great Grandfather James Edward Day and his Great Grandfathers Thomas Joseph Day and Thomas Knowlton and his late Great Uncle Father Thomas Joseph Day.