Message from the President
Good morning all !!
I’m just sitting on my deck this morning having a coffee, thinking: “here it is July 15th, 32 C and my mind is on curling!” I keep reminding myself, “there is only three more months away and the ice will be back in at HCC !!” I can hardly wait!! It’s the people I miss most as we have such a wonderful group of members at our club.
I hope and trust each and every one of you is thoroughly enjoying your summer with family and friends.
There has been a great deal going on during the off season. We have a new board of directors who have been working diligently to ensure everything is ready to go so we can, “hit the ice sliding.”
Members Claire Zanetti and David Eastwood have been doing and excellent job of spearheading the washroom renovations which will be a welcomed change for our members.
A new “Ice Mistress” programmable control system for ice tech Dwayne Lowe and his ice team is being installed. This technology should help in keeping up the great quality of ice conditions we’ve been accustomed to at HCC. This “Going Green” management system is designed to help reduce operating hydro costs and make our club more economically viable for years to come. It also provides a layer of protection as a 1st line of defence should a problem occur. We are also putting in a passage way thru-way between sheets 2 & 3 where our “Ice King” scraper will be stored. This is designed for safety and should help to curb maintenance time between draws.
The Board of Directors has approved (4) four new leagues beginning this fall: A new twilight evening league, a Saturday afternoon league plus two (2) new Double’s leagues, one on Thursday afternoon and the 2nd on Saturday morning. This forward thinking is designed to expand our membership and should provide some of our newer members more opportunities. In addition members will be given a chance to try the new Double’s format that is growing in popularity throughout our sport.
Overall, membership to this point in time is up over the same time last year and leagues are filling up. In fact, a number of leagues are already full! The deadline for returning members to register and have a guaranteed spot in the league(s) they played in last year is past. Registrations are now on a first come, first served basis so if you have not registered yet, you should register as soon as possible to ensure that you have the best chance of being able to play in the league of your choice.
I’m excited and pleased to announce that Laurie Cotten has agreed to coordinate the resurgence of HCC’s youth programs for the next two years. The U-18 and Little Rocks programs will benefit greatly from Laurie’s forward thinking, communication and organizational skills. This will help to free up Jill Rivington’s time to do what she does best, teaching our youth the skills of the game and developing our coaches. With these ladies at the helm, HCC’s youth program will once again be the envy of Ontario.
As the new President of the club, I wanted to let you know we have a fabulous Board of Directors. Together we will steer this ship in right direction. Three (3) of our major goals are as follows:
a) To have better communication with the members.
b) To increase membership carefully and wisely and;
c) To ensure our members bring their spirit of fun and enthusiasm to the club and the sport of curling.
The new season schedule for the entire year will be posted on the website before the end of July. This is designed to allow our members to sign up early for in house events, and plan themselves accordingly with volunteer opportunities.
I wanted to extend a special thank-you to Murray and Birgit Pearson along with their group of volunteers who helped make this summers annual HCC golf tournament/dinner a huge success. This off season event continues to grow in popularity and provides our membership a fabulous get together with friends during the summer.
I asking all members to reach out to family members, friends and work colleagues. Speak to them about HCC and how great a place it is to a part of and encourage them to join up, even if it’s in our LTC program.
Last but not least mark this in your agenda now: Friday Sept. 14th 2018
It’s HCC’s annual Wine & Cheese open house for it’s members. Events director Peter Smith has something special planned that I’ll divulge at a later date. Stay turned, as you won’t want to miss it !!!
Wishing you all a safe and wonderful summer !!
Sincerely
Blake Sinclair
HCC – President