Thanks to our great staff at RHYC for another delicious dinner last night. My personal favorite was the baked potato bar with lots of yummy toppings, including freshly crumbled cooked bacon! It was also great to see folks we haven't seen for awhile.

Another terrific aspect of the evening was the music our own Mr. Pie provided for most of the evening. What an inspiration he is for us all!

The new fireplace has added so much ambiance to the bar area, to say nothing of the toasty warmth it provides. If you haven't stopped by to enjoy it, I encourage you to do so.

Your support of our club is much appreciated and we hope to see you there soon.

Sue Caswell

Thank you so much to our many members and guests who participated in our annual holiday party. Through the collaborative efforts of several folks, the club looked festive and inviting, especially the new facing on the bar and the corner gas fireplace, Dan, Kathy and their elves did an outstanding job providing delicious food and drink and the taste-tempting offerings contributed for the evening were over the top!!

However, the most meaningful aspect of the evening, in my humble opinion, was the scene set by friends catching up, new members and guests meeting current members and an aura of good things to come for RHYC!

May your holiday season be filled with many blessings.

Sue Caswell

From our Commodore, Dyer Harris ...

The Annual Commodores’ Dinner was Saturday, November 14, with more than seventy members and guests attending, filling the dining room.  The attendees included several past commodores and/or surviving spouses,  Mr. Pie Edwards, Dick and Marvel Evans, Ms. Patsy Reihl (Aubrey), Ms. Manick Burton (Russel), and Chuck and Linda Parry.

The 2009 season sailing program awards were presented for Junior Sailors by Sailing School Director Chuck Parry,  and the Sunday Club Racing awards by Vice Commodore Lee Urbani.

Junior Sailing:
    Stradley Award    Sarah Ranney
    Troutman Trophy    Connor McCue

 

Club Racing:
    1^st Place - Ralph Sponar (Windmill)
    2^nd Place - Dyer Harris (Windmill)
    3^rd Place - Chuck Parry (Lightning)      

    4^th Place - Lee Urbani (Lightning)
    5^th Place - Scott Ranney (Windmill)

The Annual Club Member Recognitions were presented by Commodore Dyer Harris.

The Sportmanship Award for significant contributions to the sailing programs went to Connie Ranney and Denise Tontarski, for developing Women’s Sailing (Learn to Sail classes, and the Friday Evening Fun Sail Series).

The 70^th Anniversary Award for general volunteer support of the club went to Harry Murphey, who has been front and center for almost any chore needed, from grounds maintenance to facility clean up post parties to arranging and bringing to RHYC major regional catamaran racing events. Harry is an active Hobie catamaran racing sailor.

Dinner and service was terrific, due to new Club Manager Dan's leadership and skills. A good time was had by all.  We welcome the new club season.  Enjoy pictures of the evening online thanks to Carol!  http://photos.rockhallyachtclub.org/GallerySlideshow.aspx?gallery=281139

A sizable group of RHYC members, new and existing, gathered at the club last Saturday for a delicious dinner, prepared by our new manager and his capable staff. Although our primary purpose was to say farewell to John, welcome Dan and our new members, it was also an evening of camaraderie and friendship. The cheery fire in the fireplace set just the right ambiance for a gathering on a chilly fall evening. There is a wonderful tradition of folks getting together at RHYC and I, for one, look forward to many more memorable events. I hope to see soon!

Sue Caswell, Social Committee Chair

Big news for Summer 2010:  The Rock Hall Yacht Club will host the 2010 US Sailing Junior Olympics on July 10-11, 2010.  The goal of this event is to promote the enjoyment of sailing and development of skills to young sailors as well as provide an Olympic pathway for talented junior sailors.  We expect that over 100 sailors ages 8-21 from all over the region will attend.  We'll mix Olympic style competition and learning with fun for all.  The plan is to have Optimist (all classes including Green), Laser Radial, C420, and Windsurfers classes in the Regatta.   Stay tuned for more information here and on our RHYC website.  For general infomation about Junior Olympic sailing, please visit US Sailing JO website.  For specific information on our event at RHYC, please contact Wanda or Chuck via email at jo2010@RockHallYachtClub.org.

Our Saturday, March 28th, our First Annual Spaghetti Dinner and Sailing Seminar was a resounding success.  Following an informative seminar by Jon Wright, our RHYC Sailing School kids served a record number of club members and community members a terrific homemade meal by volunteer chef Harry Murphey.  The meatballs were outstanding!  We had compliments coming in from guests that night and emails and even txt messages ever since!  Thanks to all that attended and all who volunteered; this will definitely be an annual event!
                 

Spring is almost upon us on the wonderful Eastern Shore! We have had some great times at RHYC recently including the Super Bowl Party, Dinner for Lovers and most recently the Wild Game Dinner which was a great success! In addition, our Thursday Night BYO Hors D'oeuvre Nights have been showing increased attendance and delicious treats supplied by members and shared by all.

Why not bring a hearty hors d'oeuvre to share this evening?? The weather forecast is great! What better way to cap off your day? Whip up a tasty treat and come spend time catching up with fellow RHYC members over a beverage. Bring along a friend or two and show them how friendly the RHYC is!

Thanks to club manager, John and all of the staff for continuing to provide the great service RHYC has become known for!!

Hope to see you all at the club!

A Play-ett by Lee Urbani (way, way off Broadway) ACT 1, Scene 1, Curtain Lifts: The stage is set within a lonely remote isolated encampment on the moors on the Eastern Shore of a body of water somewhere in Scotland. The players are costumed for a cold, dark and windy night, the encampment is dimly lit, and the fires are low and flickering to conserve the fuel. Just then the trusty and good looking well dressed King’s Advisor burst through the door and calmly states “What, what’s that, I hear at the encampment’s wall?” “Tis nothing.” was the Exchequer’s reply. “Nay, I do believe it is a faint but growing clamor of discontent from the masses, it is a winter for discontent after all” the Advisor countered. “Ha” said the King “let them eat cake, and wash it down with a shot of Mede, that will calm them” “But wait, my liege there are no cakes to be eaten, there is no Beverage to be had. Alas the cook fires are all out, the tavern is closed and the “Barbarians are at the Gates” Dear King!” Advises the Advisor The crowd rushes in, swords, pitchforks and clubs come out, fight ensues, everyone dies. The Curtain Drops; Act 2, Scene 1, Curtain Lifts: We have traveled many miles and many years forward in time, it’s still a cold, dark and windy night, of course. And the bleak and desolate encampment is now the Bar at the RHYC. It is dark; we are in fact under a modern onslaught. Well not the RHYC, but the Board of Directors for sure - for making the difficult decision to close the Club House in January. In fact the onslaught of members seems to be growing and instead of “Barbarians at the Gates” we have “Members at the Website”. The BoD may have been overly cautious by closing in January, but only time will tell. And please keep in mind that in this scene no one dies! While I do not make light of your well thought out comments, I do believe a little levity is in order and we should share some of the facts with our Members that perhaps we did not do before. The YC is in fact not closed; you can still enjoy the grounds, walk your dog, work on your boat, stroll along the waterfront or go for a frostbite sail. The Bar and food service is closed, we made that conservative and difficult choice for one reason; we will cut our utility and payroll costs by a minimum of $5,000.00 for the month of January. We all feel the pinch of these difficult economic times. We may need those 5 G’s as we work our way through these turbulent waters. On the other hand we can promise the membership this much; should the strategies (this being one of them) put in place control costs, and we have all the confidence they will, we will be able to open the Club for January of 2010. The Members side of the bargain is to fully patronize the restaurant during the dark days of next January. Deal?

Happy New Year to all as well. Yes, those who attend the club on Thursday Nights (and weekends) will definitely be going through a state of withdrawl this month with the RHYC being closed. No Tom, you are not alone. 

Here's hoping everyone has a safe and happy new year and don't forget they are planning a Super Bowl Party at the club! Until then, watch the play-offs and get ready for what should be a fun re-opening party at RHYC.

Date line, Rock Hall, Maryland:  Flash, the rumors of the death of classy, enjoyable and well attended events at the Rock Hall YC were greatly exaggerated!!!

This fact was up held once again, and just like the recently concluded and successful Oyster & Ham dinner, the RHYC Commodores’ Dinner proved the skeptics wrong.

The Club House dinning room was decorated to the hilt, with YC Burgees on most tables and Flag Officer Burgees on the remainder and colorful appointments around the room. A big “thank you” goes out to the Event volunteers, Sally Powell, Connie Ranney and Dawn Urbani for their effort to make the place look great!

All the Ladies in attendance looked very pretty; not to be out done, all the guys shaved and most even had a tie on (Blue Blazers must have been on sale, too).  Relative to what one would expect to see at the YC, everyone in attendance was “dressed to the nines” and having a great time.

What can one say about the meal?  Simply this: you could go to any fine dining establishment on the Eastern Shore and then maybe for twice the price, enjoy a meal that great.  A big thank you goes out to John Conley and his staff. 

 

And let’s not forget the entertainment, that erstwhile self described “Guitar Picker” Chris Cerino (rumor has it he actually works for the Sultana Project, but who ever believes musicians?) performed original music.  All the songs had something to do with experiences on the Eastern Shore, boy that Fire Alarm in Chestertown really has to go.  That segment of the evening was worth the total price of attendance. 

Then of course the Vice Commodore had to follow all of that and keep everyone away from the bar (which is a full time job by itself) while he gave out the Seasonal Club Racing awards.  Ken Noble, received 4^th place overall, with Lance Williams winning 3^rd  place. Then of course, we had a difficult time because, guess who (Chuck Parry and Dyer Harris) tied for 1^st place.  To break the tie the V/C was asked to flip a coin and the winner of the coin toss would get the top honors.  Of course the V/C’s wife never lets him go to the club with any money, so he did not have any coins.  Chuck Parry tried to tell everyone that he gave all his coins to some charitable donation bucket at the gas station; which no one believed.  And we knew that Dyer never carries pocket change, only big bills.  But the YC manger John Conley came to the rescue by stealing a quarter from the tip jar on the Bar and the coin toss was made.  Of course Chuck won but Dyer protested by stating that under the RRS no two headed coins were allowed; the protest committee will convene shortly to consider the matter, stay tuned for the results.

The evening concluded with the Commodore Dyer and former Commodore Chuck making RHYC’s Top Annual Awards.  The “T. Allan Stradley” Award for demonstrating the desire to compete was earned by Sarah Ranney for her perseverance in junior sailing over the last 6 years.  The “James S. Troutman” Award for the RHYC High-Point Junior Sailor went to Nate Ostrander.  The “Sportsmanship Award” one of the two top YC annual awards was made to Joe Manley for his contribution to the Club Sailing Program.  And the “70^th Anniversary Award” for all around contribution to the success of the YC went to Rick Marshall, for all the work he put in this year ranging from pouring concrete to manning the kitchen when there was an emergency need.

Congratulations to all those award winners, from the all of the Board and Flag Officers, well done!

The formal events of the evening concluded, everyone (well most) adjourned to the Bar to put more two headed quarters in the tip bucket.  A great time was had by all.