2011 TBA Holiday Newsletter

November 21, 2011

President’s Message

I take great pleasure, as your new president, in writing this brief message as we conclude one of the best summer and fall seasons - weather-wise - that Thunder Beach has seen in some time.

By way of introduction, I have cottaged here for 14 years and now live here full time since 2007. I am very privileged to work from home and therefore enjoy our little piece of paradise, all year round. I am confident that my business experience in training and recruitment will serve me well as your new president. In terms of the executive, we would like to thank Sara Lankshear, who retired this year, for the 10 years + of service she gave to our association. Our thanks also go out to Trudy Richard who retired from her position as social director. The executive would like to extend a warm welcome to all our new members: Matt Ducharme, John Philpott, Andrew Macdonald, Rolston Miller, Laura Logardis, and Tristin Richard. We all look forward to serving you as a newly invigorated team. We would also like to thank all of the volunteers who helped out this past summer. You are an integral part of the success of our sporting activities and social events - we could not do it without you. We are working on our 2012 program and activities and look forward to hearing from you at www.thunderbeach.org. Drop us a line to let us know what issues are important to you. We welcome your thoughts, comments, suggestions so that the TBA can continue to improve and meet the needs of our fellow members. I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable holiday season. I look forward to another great summer in 2012 and serving you as your new president. Louise O’Connor

2011 AGM Minutes

Download the minutes from the 2011 TBA Annual General Meeting (Word Doc).

Treasurer's Report

After four years of service, Gord Brandt has handed over to me the responsibilities of Treasurer. We all are indebted to him for all his efforts on behalf of the Beach Association. I was Treasurer for several years in the 1990’s and look forward to serving again. Membership and tennis revenues in 2011 were lower than in the previous year as was the revenue for certain beach events. There was no revenue from the Golf Tournament because, for the first time ever, it was cancelled due to rain. Happily the Golf Dinner went ahead as planned. Not only was it enjoyed by all who attended, but it was also profitable. Sweatshirt sales almost broke even but they continue to provide valuable promotion for the Association. The former practice of collecting loonies or toonies on a daily basis from participants in the Kids Camp programme was discontinued in 2011 in favour of a prepayment plan. Not only was this simpler to administer for both counsellors and parents, it also generated more revenue. While revenue was down compared to 2010, expenses were also down by approximately the same percentage. In part, this was the result of a change implemented in 2011 in terms of our maintenance expenses. By moving to a fixed seasonal contract with our maintenance provider , we were able to better control one of our biggest expense items. Thanks go to “in house” lawyer, Tom MacDonald for supplying the legalese. As discussed at the AGM, a donation was made by the Beach Association to the Georgian Bay general Hospital Foundation “Emergency Fund”. In summary, the revenues of a beach association are going to fluctuate from year to year. But we can and will be vigilant on the cost side to ensure that the Beach Association has the funding that will support the activities that unite us and enhance our experience at “the Beach”. At the end of the 2011 season we had $23,000 invested in a GIC. So we are in good financial shape and look forward to a successful 2012 season. by Anne Hardcastle-Roebuck

Golf News

"Golf is a day spent in a round of strenuous idleness." - William Wordsworth 62 avid golfers turned up for the annual Thunder Beach Association Golf Tournament at Midland Golf & Country Club. Just before the shot-gun start at 1pm, the skies opened up and the rain came down. The anxious group took shelter inside the clubhouse hopeful that the storm would pass. After an hour of waiting, the rain failed to ease up and we were forced to cancel the tournament. It was so far back that no one could remember the last time the TBA Golf Tournament had been rained out. Despite the weather, would-be golfers and dinner guests turned up at the clubhouse and were treated to a gourmet dinner by Midland’s finest chef, husband and wife team, Kim and Ivers Mason and their wonderful staff. After dinner, the celebration continued with a live performance by the band ‘Champagne Kitty’, with the high energy, crowd pleasing, front woman singer, Angela Wilson. At the end of the evening, the tireless crowd cheered on and encouraged the band to continue playing. A special thanks to our beer, wine and cigar sponsors which include: Steam Whistle Brewing Company Peller Estates and the Mumbacho Cigar Company. I would also like to thank all those who volunteered to make the event such a success, in particular, event organizer, Louise O'Connor, registration and goodwill ambassadors, Sara Lankshear and Tom Macdonald, event support staff, Mark Northcott, Paul Northcott, Trudy Richards, Mal Inrig, Susan Inrig and Peller Estates wine representative, Terri Penfound , as well as all those who sponsored a hole and donated prizes. We had 20 hole sponsors which included:
  • Tiffany McGregor - RE/MAX Georgian Bay Realty Ltd., Brokerage
  • Fred Burton – Portfolio Management Corporation
  • Cabin Boy
  • Sabin Charlebois – Charlebois Excavating & Trucking
  • Ciboulette et Cie
  • Paul Lennard – Donway Ford
  • Tom Macdonald – Goodmans LLP
  • Christine & Al Magee – Sleep Country
  • Bruce Mann – Henderson Transport
  • TimBr Mart
  • John McCarhy – Will Barristers
  • Todd McCarthy – Flaherty Dow Elliott & McCarthy
  • Jeanne McIsaac – Re/Max Georgian Bay Realty Ltd. Brokerage
  • Frank & Helen Morneau
  • Jeff Neil
  • Greg Norman – Norman’s Garden Gallery
  • Howard Robinson – Robinson Pontiac
  • Gord Smellie – Stone Tree
  • Robert Smith – The Smith Group
  • David Wilcox – Wilcox Law Office
  • Paul & Angela Wilson – Busy Bee Taxi
  • Lakeland Irrigation
  • Georgian Bay Car Company
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 2012 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 18th, 2012 at Midland Golf and Country Club. Please get your four-some together and come on out for a swinging good time. By David Northcott

Thunder Run 2011

Incoming VP Bests Outgoing President
Rolston Miller, about to become one of TBA’s newest VP’s, in a daring political move, crossed the 27th Annual Thunder Run finish line first, to claim the Thunder Run laurel leaf, seconds ahead of outgoing TBA President Dave Northcott, who finished second among the men and third overall. Ariel Burkett was the first female across the line and in a Thunder Run first, second overall. Second place among the women, and not very far behind her husband Rol, was Kristi Herald. The 2011 Thunder Run took a new turn for the second year in a row. We changed the time from late afternoon to mid-morning and the course. It wound through West Shore, Centre Beach, East Beach and Silver Birch giving all Thunderbeachers an opportunity to cheer on the runners and walkers of all ages and sizes, before finishing at the traditional Green Point West Shore Crossroads. This year every finisher got a great “I’m a Thunder Runner” shirt. See you at next year’s 28th Annual Thunder Run. Who knows what the route or the “shirt” will be.

2011 Tennis Season Summary

Hello tennis members: throughout the 2011 tennis season the club purchased 2 replacement water rollers, mats betweeen courts 1 and 2 and had poison ivy sprayed on court 3. The following outlines the results of the 4 scheduled doubles tournaments: Mixed champs: Terasa Houston Matt Ducharme Finalists: Kathy Mihachuk Jeff Chisolm Mens champs: Matt and John Ducharme Finalists: Craig and Nolan Jarvis Womens champs: Anne Saundercook Kristi Rudics Lundy Finalists: Kathy Mihaichuk Patty Hebbes 60 plus champs: Jim Layter Chris Butcher Finalists: Dick Innes MaryLou Heenan A special thanks to Larry Mitchell Jim Layter and Bill Saundercook for their assisstance this season. Gord Chapple

Tennis Member Update

2011 was a great season on the courts at Thunder Beach, and the newly minted TBA tennis committee is hard at work looking at issues related to tennis for 2012 and onward. The most pressing issue is that the 3 TBA courts will need substantial repairs and/or resurfacing sometime in the next few years. We have endeavoured to do some minor maintenance to delay this, but issues related to tree roots and drainage are pressing us to consider longer term solutions. To this end we are getting quotes from several different tennis court companies on repairing the surface and doing an entire replacement. This kind of work could cost as much as $100 000, so the TBA is taking great pains to determine the best course of action. As a result of this looming capital expense, the TBA will be looking into increasing the tennis membership fee over the next few years to help pay for this expense. The increases will not be dramatic, and we feel that it will send a message to the TBA membership that tennis members are interested in helping as much as we can with maintaining such an important TBA asset. Further to the fee issue, the TBA will also be implementing the following changes:
  • Starting in 2012, there will be two kinds of memberships available to families and individuals: full season and monthly.
  • We will be starting the use of shoe tags for TBA tennis members. It will be required for tennis members in good standing --juniors or adults-- to wear the shoe tag as proud TBA tennis members.
  • A tennis member roster will be kept at the sign up sheets on court to allow confirmation of whether or not people signing up for courts are tennis members in good standing.
  • Anyone participating in any TBA tennis event must be a TBA tennis member in good standing. This will be checked by event organizers during event registration.
We are looking forward to another great season on the courts! Sincerely, Your TBA Tennis Committee (Gord, John, Matt and Rolston)

Membership Report

By Susan Winter The previous season was tremendous. Our summer weather was nothing short of awesome! 2011 Membership looked like this:
  • 320 Individuals or Family Memberships
  • 159 Tennis Memberships (50% of Above)
  • 43 Families Pre-Registered Children into Camp
  • 65 Kids Pre-Registered for Baseball
Some other interesting notes:
  • 57% of TBA purchases were completed on-line through the website this year. Up almost 10% from last year.
  • Lobsterfest was completely sold out weeks before the event.
  • There are still some that do not realize that one must have a TBA Membership in order to get a Tennis Membership.
  • I received over 150 emails (inquiries/questions/comments etc) that came through the website – most I could answer, some were forwarded to a more appropriate person.
We did experience one major problem last year and that was the postal strike just as we were ready to mail out the 2011 Roster. For 2012 we will need all Membership registrations by May 10th so we can get the roster printed and mailed by June 1st. Mark your calendars! Membership fees will remain the same in 2012 as they have been for quite a number of years. The Tennis Membership fee, however, will be going up slightly over the next couple of years as we are doing long term planning. Watch for your 2012 Registration Package this winter!

Children’s Program

Kathy Mihaichuk Wow, what a great summer of 2011!! The weather was wonderful and there were a lot of memorable moments at camp. The teens had an especially wonderful summer with their “photo scavenger hunt” and “Prom” night as highlights of their teen night events. Thanks to all of our counseling staff for their efforts this summer. Although the snow has not even started to fall and we still have many long months of winter ahead of us, we are already looking forward to the summer of 2012. As always, our first priority is to hire the best possible staff. As has been the case in the last many years, the Counsellors and Counsellors-in-training that 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. Our second priority this coming summer will be our tennis camp program. I will be working closely with Matt Ducharme and Rolston Miller to make changes to our tennis camp to increase the level of tennis instruction but also making an effort to keep the “fun” in the game for our less serious tennis campers. Kristi Herold has also offered to share her sports ideas with our Counselling staff so expect a lot of new ideas for our Junior and Senior sports campers. Last year, in an effort to alleviate problems with the “morning check-in” at camp, we moved to a weekly camp fee and provided a prepayment on-line option. With the assistance of Stephanie Bates and Susan Winter on Monday mornings and amazing parent cooperation, our daily registration became much more efficient. Our campers certainly were able to get into camp faster and our Head Counsellor was able to focus on her campers and staff more promptly each day. This year we will be continuing this process but have had to slightly increase the camp registration fee. This fee has not changed in at least 10 years but with increasing costs in supplies, it was necessary this year. The following will be the fee structure for the summer of 2012.
Seasonal Fee
$200 - 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
$30 - 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
$10 - Monday or Friday - entitles camper to attend activities at Craft $10 - Tuesday or Thursday – entitles camper to attend activities at Tennis Camp and Advanced Tennis $10 - 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. Our daily rate of $10.00 is applicable to members or non- members for any day of camp Monday to Friday (which includes our tennis program). Payment of camp fees are accepted at the same time as membership fees and can be made on line. We are hoping that many families will continue to 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.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to email me at kmihaichuk@hotmail.com

Counsellor and CIT Applications

View the 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, February 24, 2012.

Social Program Update

As a lifetime member of the Thunder Beach community, retired counselor and active participant in social events, I am both excited and honoured to join the executive this year as the Social Director. I would like to thank Trudy Richard for her hard work over the last few years and for her continued support as she passes on the torch. The Executive would also like to thank all the volunteers last year who helped out the August event. As we count down the days until the next summer season, please save the date for the upcoming events:
  • Saturday June 30th 2010 – Lobsterfest
  • Saturday August 4th – August Event Night
  • Saturday August 18th - Golf Tournament/Dinner
A call for Volunteers:
If you are interested in being involved in the organization of any of these events please contact me at llogaridis@havergal.on.ca. Your support is encouraged and greatly appreciated! Laura Logaridis

Tawny Richard Beach Volleyball Tournament

Hi Thunder Beachers, as many of you know this past summer was our last summer running the Tawny Richard Beach Volleyball Tournament in front of the Jones' cottages and the Binnings cottages. It has been a long ten plus years that they have hosted the beach on their property and there is only appreciation and thanks that I can offer to them. In this past year we had some great changes. We started the tournament two hours earlier than we had in the previous years and this year we had Colin Macdonald grace us with his DJ skills which I think was a huge success. So after over ten years in one location we are now looking for a host for this upcoming year. We are not looking for a long term commitment but just for a one year placement. If you have any ideas or would like to ask any questions then please contact me via email: thetylerrichard@gmail.com. Thanks and look forward to seeing you for another tournament this summer, Tyler Richard

Women's Doubles Tennis Tourney

The organizers of the Women's doubles tennis tournament (Kristi Herold & Christie Rudics) were thrilled to have a gorgeous day as well as a great field of women (20 participants in all) for the event held on Sat. July 30. The tourney pairs teams up via random draw. This year the Semi-finals saw great competition with; Christie Rudics / Anne Saundercook advancing to the finals over Theresa Morneau / Sarah Climenhaga and Kathy Mihaichuk / Patty Hebbes advancing over MaryLu Silva / Jody Neichenbauer. The finals with Rudics/Saundercook vs Mihaichuk/Hebbes (coincidentally the 2009 championship team) was filled with lots of exciting action, ending with Rudics/Saundercook taking the title of 2011 Womens Doubles Tennis champs! Women’s champs: Christie Rudics & Anne Saundercook Runners up: Kathy Mihaichuk & Patti Hebbes U9 girls tennis champ August: Andie Miller, runner up Kate Robertson U11 girls tennis champ August: Cassidy Miller, runner up Kate Magee Congrats and thanks to all the women who came out and participated!

Thunder Beach Kids Try-a-Tri

On Sun. July 31 the Herold-Miller family hosted the third Thunder Beach Kids Try-a-Tri with 30 children participating and many parents and friends volunteering to help with the event! The results were as follows; 5/6/7 year olds raced 50m swim / 1.5km bike / 500m run; Girls results; 1. Cle-Cle Murphy-Ives 2. Danielle Brooks 3. Nicole Brooks Boys results; 1. Keon Inrig 2. Dax Miller 3. Nico DeLaRue 8/9 year olds raced 100m swim / 3km bike / 1km run; Girls results; 1. Andie Miller 2. Haylee Inrig 3. Anna McCracken Boys results; 1. Antoine DeLaRue 2. Connor Herold 3. Matthew Godin 10/11 year olds raced 200m swim / 5km bike / 1.5km run Girls results 1. Emma Robertson 2. Cassidy Miller 3. Amanda Brooks Boys results 1. Tyler Hebbes 2. Mathieu DeLaRue 3. Aidan Herold 12/13 year olds raced 300m swim / 6km bike / 2km run Girls results 1. Somerset Jarvis Boys results 1. Brendan Tighe Special Thanks to John Herold, Bill Saundercook and Cameron Herold for being our 'water pylons'. As well special thanks to Windemere Jarvis and Rol Miller for being the 'rabbits' for the kids to chase. Thanks also to Judy Jarvis, Gavin Tighe, Todd Godin, Olivier DeLaRue, Jeff Inrig, Lisa Brooks, Simon Law, Chris Murphy-Ives, Sharon Bibby, Debbie Godin, Mary Robertson and ALL the others who volunteered to help make the event run so smoothly! HUGE congrats to ALL the kids who took a chance and "TRIed" it out!! It was a pleasure to see all the smiles as they crossed the finish line!! Kristi Herold

Luke Santi Memorial Tournament

Flag Football week proved to be another exciting TB event!! Congratulations to the Saints who were champions and to the Colts who were finalists! A very thrilling and close championship game was played as both teams rallied to the end. The Eagles and Falcons finished the week strongly and played-off in the consolation with the Eagles soaring to 3rd place. All 4 teams competed with intensity, all the while having fun. Each team improved as the week progressed! Special THANKS to Gordon Smeaton and Tyler Richard for their leadership, passion and organization. Also to Martha, Quinn and Matthew Smeaton who dedicate their time, energy, and enthusiasm to this tournament. They all work throughout the year to ensure the tournament is a success and continues a TB memory for so many. Thanks to the coaches, who lead and inspire the young football players! Thanks for the rookie refs who did a terrific job – Curtis and Jayson, and our seasoned ref Matthew. We appreciate Trudy and Tristan Richard’s continuous support! Particular thanks to Susan Winter for organizing the annual tailgate party. Each year the tailgate party grows and has become an annual gathering for many generations to share football, cheer, and memories! Thanks to all the parents who so generously donated food/beverages for ALL! The women’s game was another success and great fun for all who played. It was the “parents” vs the “youth,” the “youth” prevailed, but only by 1 touchdown! The adult game was again a great finale to the week! A wonderful conclusion to an amazing week of flag football! It is fun to see so many players and parents enjoying the spirit of the tournament! Both will continue next year! Next year’s tournament will be the week following the baseball season. The age restrictions will be 10 to 15 (your age on the first day of the tournament). If you are older than 15 and interested in coaching or officiating, please email Tyler at thetylerrichard@gmail.com Please continue to look for registration information in future TB newsletters and on the TB website.

Legal Briefs

With great pleasure I arn pleased to announce that the Honourable Mr. Justice John R. McCarthy was appointed to the Superior Comt of Justice. The official Swearing-in Ceremony took place on Thursday, November 10'“, 2011, at the Superior Court of Justice in Barrie. In attendance for this special sitting were the Honourable Heather J. Smith, the Honourable Senior Justice Michael F. Brown and long time Thunder Beach resident, the Honourable Justice John Mclsaac, of the Superior Court of Justice. Among the keynote speakers was the brother of Justice McCarthy, Todd McCarthy, who delivered a genuine, heart felt speech that moved the crowd. As part of the ceremony, he assisted Justice McCarthy in putting on his judicial robes. It was standing room only for this special event as the Honourable Justice McCarthy was sworn in, surrounded by family, friends and colleagues. Congratulations on your appointment John! You will be a real asset to the Superior Court Bench!!! By: David Northcott

Dock Company

Unfortunately the Dock Company report was not available in time to include in this newsletter. We will publish it at a later date.

Sympathies and Congratulations

We are always looking to recognize the passing of members of the Thunder Beach community as well as any new births. I you have any that you would like us to know about for the next newsletter, please let us know by contacting us.