To Walnut Heights Swim Club Members: February 22, 2014 I hope you all enjoyed the holidays and looking forward to the 2014 swim season — although it would be great if we had a bit more rain before we get started. The Board has put the 2014 calendar together and we are planning a ‘soft’ opening work party for April 5th to once again get ready for our WHO Swim Clinic to be led by a fabulous coach, Skip Mann. Our work party is scheduled for April 26th weekend. Our Opening Day will be May 10th and we will have food, snack and drink for all that may feel inclined to come on down (for this day let’s hope for no rain and please look for an ‘evite’ at a later date). Our closing is scheduled for October 5th of this year. The opening work party schedule is attached along with the gate duty schedule. For those families assigned to help with the opening but want to ‘buy out’ of their duties they may do so for $150 but must contact Nicolle Cannon no later than the weekend prior so we may plan accordingly. Families failing to show up for these duties will be fined $200. For the third year in a row, and after much debate among the board members, we have decided to keep our annual dues the SAME at $470. We continue to feel good about our financial health of the club in large part due to the strength in membership of our swim club and WHO swim team. We did decide to make a minor change in the fees associated with group parties. For parties less than 25 people the fee will now be $75 (from the $50 in prior years) and any party over 25 people will require Board Approval. For clarity, parties are reserved on first come first serve basis and have access to the BBQ area (although the BBQ will need to be shared with other club members who may want to use the BBQ). Please contact any Board member for further information. Catherine Brooding will continue to be our point of contact for party reservations at the facility. After May 10th lifeguards will be on duty Saturday and Sunday through June 15, and every day in the afternoons during the summer vacation while school is out. We are pleased to continue to offer expanded lifeguard hours as our Club membership grows. Maintenance Items –With the replacement of the main pool pump to a more efficient variable speed pump and the repair of the main water line to be behind us for the start of the swim season, we continue to look for improvements to our Club to make this a welcoming place for all of our members. Items we are looking to spend money on include chairs, umbrellas, BBQ, and addressing the chipping of the pool deck. Along with the general maintenance projects performed as part of the opening work party. This year is a transition year for most of our Board members, including myself. We NEED YOUR HELP. The swim club is only as good as the energy that is being put into it. Yes, it is volunteer effort, but the sense of community and personal reward of contributing back to our community is something that is hard to remunerate. I believe we have a community that is appreciably difficult to duplicate and this is due to the energy of the many friends, neighbors and families that I personally know. Please do not be surprised if you get a full court press from some of the Board member to help with our transition. You may contact any of the Board members on the numbers provided in the attached directory. I want to thank you for your continued support in making the Walnut Heights Swim Club a safe, fun, community oriented facility for our families to enjoy. I would like to especially thank our current board members Stuart, Darren, Marlene, Catherine and Nicolle. Warm Regards, Michael Brooding