July 1, 2020
The Club boat is to be named “Knot Mine”. P/C Allan Williams’ suggestion attracted the most votes and his prize is bragging rights as well as having the honour of having Mrs Williams perform the christening ceremony at the SGM on 6th August.
This got me thinking about what is “ours” and what is “not ours” and it struck me that when we are talking about RHADC, it is our Club. Our members and staff define the Club: the culture, the behaviour, our ability to enjoy the Club and its facilities, and our collective responsibilities. So, when we pay our dues and our bills on time, we are helping our Club. If we try to avoid stepping up, either in what seems like trivial ways, such as walking by someone’s trash on the marina and not moving it; or by taking ice and forgetting to sign a chit, or taking more than we really need, thereby emptying the machine so that the next member to come along gets no ice; or in more meaningful ways such as trying to seek out a membership category in which one doesn’t, strictly speaking, belong, or worse: resigning one’s membership but then continuing to use the Club and charging on a family member’s account instead, or by allowing non-member friends to use our berth, then we are hurting the whole membership community. This is a time when we are all, to some extent or another, hurting. We have been separated from our families; some of us have lost our jobs or are on reduced hours and thereby reduced incomes; all our normal activities have been suspended or curtailed and we are struggling to come to terms with what life will be like in the coming months, and years. Being part of a community, the RHADC community, brings a feeling of normalcy, of belonging and we all need to be assured that every other member of the community is doing his or her part in keeping it all together – for all our sakes. To this end, our Treasurer has committed to working with any member to assist where necessary. Please do get in touch if you need a bit more time to pay some bills. This is your community and we all want it to be a healthy one.
Elspeth Weisberg, Commodore