June 2025 Newsletter
Editors: Mary Lu Hodgins & Anne Martin | | Dockmaster, Larry Travis
Now that the weather is finally breaking, I’m sure those of you that have a boat are eagerly getting it ready to launch. You may have even been to your dock to see what shape it’s in and what type of fender board you will need due to the slightly higher water this year. In addition, there may be debris in your slip or close to it that could be a problem when you come in. We’ve tried to keep all slips clear but logs or other debris come in at times. If you find that your dock is in good shape, you may want to thank Paul and Donna Petrie for doing the majority of the work (replacing poles, leveling docks, strengthening stringers, etc.) for their effort on behalf of the club and individual dock occupants.
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As of today, all fingers from 0/1 to 36/37 have been rebuilt to accommodate the members we have with boats. The fingers from 38/39 to 46/47 are in bad shape but can be restored to useable condition if there were members willing to assist with this effort. Although we don’t require mandatory work hours, we are still a working club, and that helps keep our expenses down. These docks are used for our Youth Sailing classes and reciprocal club members visiting OOYC.
Please remember that the area at the bottom of the hill is used for loading and unloading of your car. It is not a parking lot. Please respect this rule.
Additional work:
We have almost completed setting up the T Dock. Work to be done is cleaning the Blackstone grill and assembling the second new grill. Any help with these would be appreciated.
Club Cruise:
The club cruise that was being planned from Cobourg, west to Toronto starting on June 28th is cancelled due to lack of response. We needed to make reservations far in advance with some of the clubs we planned to visit. Those reservations were needed by each individual boat owner or captain. For those that did respond, we will re-schedule for later in the summer.
We look forward to socializing on the T Dock again this year and please feel free to join us.
Larry
DockMaster@OOYC.org
| | Fleet Captain, Darren Leonard
FleetCaptain@OOYC.org | | | | Youth Sailing Director, Becky Almeter
I’m proud to report that the Youth Sailing Parking Space Raffle proceeds were close to $2000! That is an amazing show of support from our club and community. These funds will allow us to keep our program moving forward and comes at a time when we really need the financial support. This is a year that is going to be heavier on the expenses due to our recent investment in new (to us) boats, along with reduced enrollment. Every amount of funding will help the program through years like this while we invest in our future.
The winners are:
Chris Zimmerman
John Brown
Melissa Taylor
Bill Vosteen
On behalf of all of our sailors, instructors and supporters, THANK YOU! We greatly appreciate the outpouring of aid to the program!!
Becky
YouthSailing@OOYC.org | | |  |  | | Treasurer, Tim Quirk
As of 6/6/2025 Bank Balances are:
Operating Account: $49,112.97
Money Market: $14,793.75
Youth Sailing: $10,998.14
All Expenses are paid to date.
Workers Comp Audit is complete, and we only owed just over $271 so that’s a win. We are currently in the process of NYS Statutory Disability and Paid Family Leave annual report billing and I am collecting information to pay our Q2 2025 NYS Sales tax which is due on the 20th of this month.
Our Shared boat has its NYS registration renewed through 2028.
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Membership dues continue to be coming in from new and current members, THANK YOU.
A Huge Thank You, once again, to Christine Zimmerman for loading all of our chit cards so that they can be used at our wonderful new restaurant and for her continued support answering all my questions.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to call/text me at 619-708-0397 or email me at treasurer@ooyc.org.
Tim
Treasurer@OOYC.org | | Vice Commodore, Jeff Thuman
We have had a successful start to the season regarding the restaurant and bar. Our staff is doing a great job operating the bar and dining room. The overall vibe of the beginning of the season is upbeat and fun!
I’ve received a lot of positive feedback regarding food quality and taste as well as some constructive criticism. Chef Cortney and I meet each week and review the previous weekend, make the necessary adjustments and do what we can to address every complaint.
The feedback from several members has been incredibly helpful and supportive of how the first few weeks have gone. Our
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attempts to create a pleasant, fun and welcoming atmosphere seem to be working. I’m so pleased with all the hard work that has gone into making this season a distinct change from last year.
Attendance has been steadily improving and has ranged in the mid-twenties to the high thirties. I would like to see the clubhouse filled with members, guests and friends. We need to serve around 50 people per night to support the operation in its current configuration. We hope to see you there next weekend.
A few changes and announcements…
- Weekend specials will be available every Friday and Saturday during normal service
- The reservation system has been fixed; I’ll be sending out an email with the link this week.
- The Commodores Ball date has been changed to July, 26th.Details coming soon.
- Thursday nights during the Sailboat Racing season are open to the membership. Cortney will be providing a simple dinner at a cost of $10 per person.
Jeff
ViceCommodore@OOYC.org
| | Marketing Director, Trish Brantingham
Sailing School Promotion
The membership campaign on Facebook has concluded due to lack of funds to continue. I do continue to post the ads featuring the docks and location but cannot boost them to an audience beyond those who follow our page.
On May 22, we started promoting the sailing school – both youth sailing and adult classes – on Facebook with funds from Youth Sailing. The objective was to generate clicks to the website for more information with the ancillary goal of exposure of the club to a wider audience. The results have been stronger than the results from the membership campaign.
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As of June 6, the youth sailing camp ad has reached 19,748 Facebook accounts and generated 346 clicks on the link to the website. The adult classes ad has reached 12,913 accounts and generated 283 clicks on the link to the website. Kim has not reported any registrations for either youth or adult classes as a result of this interest. My hope that this result was just a time lag is fading as the classes are set to start. I want to find out why so many people were interested enough to learn more but ultimately decided not to register. I’m not sure how to do that but am giving it some thought. The information on the website seems clear and appealing but clearly there is a disconnect somewhere. If club members have thoughts about this, I would appreciate your input.
| Rear Commodore, Larry Beneway
Despite the rainy spring the North East is experiencing, our two club work parties were successful in opening our club for the 87th season. I still have a list of projects that need working on so if you get bored trying to keep up with your lawn mowing let me know and we’ll pick out some projects that need attention.
It’s fun to see everyone again as we did a couple of weekends ago at the flag raising ceremony and restaurant dinner. Special thanks go out to Kim and her daughter for providing great voices for the ceremony. I look forward to more of these parties over the summer. We discovered a roof leak near the fireplace and I have contracted for a roof repair and gutter cleaning.
Larry
RearCommodore@OOYC.org
| | Website Director, Carl Engle
Web director and Event Committee article,
The Boating season is FINALLY in full swing! Plus…we have some exciting new updates on the club event calendar.
One major change is “The 2025 Commodore’s Luau” will be Saturday, July 26th. A huge thanks to Sue & El Roberts and Kim Hoffman who will be hosting this year. Be sure to wear your tropical attire, and look forward to live music, yard games, and a delicious, themed dinner by Riverside Retreat. Watch for the banner coming soon for more details such as the time and the ticket prices, but be sure to mark your calendar now, so that you are ready for what promises to be one of OOYC’s biggest nights of the year!
| | |  | In Just 2 weeks…Riverside Retreat will host OOYC’s “Sunday Brunch Buffet” 10AM-Noon, on Sunday, June 22nd! After brunch, if the weather cooperates, come hop on a boat and enjoy club comradery on the water… (several of us are always up for a Sunday Cruise) or join us for a rainy-day Euchre game or two. (We are always happy to teach anyone who’d like to learn the game!) | |
Remember, the website calendar is always updated with new and exciting activities. If you have an idea for a fun event…PLEASE don’t hesitate to volunteer to host…just contact me and we will add it. Let’s all work together to make OOYC our favorite place to spend the summer!
Carl
WebsiteDirector@OOYC.org
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Keep up with the latest posts on our Facebook Page, Oak Orchard Yacht Club at Facebook.com.
Check out the ads for OOYC which are in the current issue of Scuttlebutt and in the Orleans County Tourism Booklet.
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Bottle Returns to Benefit OOYC Youth Sailing
When you are at the club please deposit your returnable bottles and cans in the barrel by the dumpster or in the barrel by the laundry room. These will be dropped off at Upstate Bottle Return with proceeds going to OOYC Youth Sailing Program. Or you can drop your bottles and cans off at Upstate Bottle Return, 449 West Ave, Albion. Just tell them it is for the OOYC Youth Sailing Program. Every little bit helps.
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Member Boating & Club Event Photos
This is your newsletter so if you have any photos you would like to share of your boating activities or OOYC events during the season or over the winter months, email them to me (preferably in .jpg format) at marylu@hodginsengraving.com.
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