Another year has passed and a brand New Year is upon us. I am honored to have been elected to lead our Yacht Club for this next year. I want to thank Joe Pyle, the 2011 executive board, the appointed chairs of our various committees as well as all of our hard working volunteers for a wonderful 2011. 2011 will be remembered as a year of coming together through the efforts of the executive committee. It is my intention to continue the hard work of Joe and the previous board in strengthening the ties of our members. I do not view this club as a collection of individuals, but rather as a collection of good friends who have come together to create a family. As I remind myself often, you can’t choose your family, you can only choose who you want as your friends, and by extension of those choices, they often become as close to you as family. My wife Allison and I are happy we have chosen all of you as friends and family.

When I look at the next year and ask myself what I would like to see accomplished for the board, two major objectives come to the top of my list. My first objective is strengthening the ties which bind us together whether you are young, old, power or sail. We are relatively unique in our position of being a joint purposed yacht club. It is important for all of us to come together and support all of the programs our club has to offer. Because we are a yacht club, we have obligations to make sure we put forth a first class sailing program. After listening to both Dwight and Brent, I am confident the power program will fully support the needs of the sailing program in their various needs to help conduct sailing events in a first class manner. I am also excited about Brent’s ideas to increase participation in the power program, not only by offering some new event ideas, but also designing those events to include power and sailors alike.

My second objective is to continue to improve our club facilities. The outside deck, improving our kitchen capabilities through new cooking utensils, and upgrading the sound and video systems are already on the list. We are looking at other objectives such as a new combination lock on the back door, improving the air conditioning system and plumbing as well. I encourage any member with comments or suggestions to please feel free to contact me with their thoughts and ideas. My contact information is located in the handbook or on the HCYC website. I wish all of you, your families and your friends a Happy New Year in 2012.

Sincerely,
Nathan Birney
Commodore