December 2006 - Pontchartrain Yacht Club

Volume 39 Issue 12
The Chart December 2006
PONTCHARTRAIN YACHT CLUB
December 2006
Commodore’s Corner
Thank you everyone for turning out
to the Annual General Meeting. On
behalf of the Board, I do thank you
sincerely for your vote of confidence, supporting “the slate” and of
course, the Board Members themselves for stepping up to “the
plate”. Just to reaffirm, the individual “Chairs” and Flag Officers will
remain unchanged and therefore,
what you see is what you get and
what you
get is a
Board not
only dedicated to
the future
wellbeing of
the Club
but totally
committed to
making a
difference.
Congratulations to
all our
trophy
and
award winners. Check out our website for photos and details.
Sailing-wise we have had another
busy couple of months. I covered
LPRC via PYC Events [thank you
Georgia] but it’s worth repeating.
PYC sailors dominated! Ken
Buhler of “Jalapeno” fame was
awarded the coveted “Red Jacket”;
“The Bear”, “Frigate”, “Beer
Goggles”, “Esprit de Vie”,
“Touche” and “Impulse II” were
all top-end finishers at the finish of
the 2-weekend series.
Highlight for me personally, was
being selected along with Janie and
Gene to represent Pontyc at the
John Curren “Fish” Class Regatta, a
weekend of racing at Buccaneer
YC. Bucyc boasts over a dozen of
these beautiful, graceful and ageless
20’ 6” long yachts most of them
wooden hull and mast, some built in
the ‘40’s. Each year, 10 of the
owners kindly make their boats
available on a rotational basis to all
GYA Clubs for this particular regatta, which includes changing
boat and skipper for each of the 3
races - with the opportunity to win
the most wonderful trophy of all.
Naturally, it’s a “Fish” boat, over a
foot long and made out of solid
silver! You can see every detail of
sails, lines even the internal beams,
knees and recently valued at
$48,000! Unfortunately, we didn’t
win it but by the same token, don’t
have to worry about security issues
either! Certainly a great learning
experience, much “feathering” and
quite excitingly wild when gibing
the huge, 216 sq. ft. gaff rigged
mainsail on an over-length boom,
in 15 knots of wind, gusting to 20!
I’m not exactly sure, but I do believe Janie hit a “High-C” and on
more than one occasion too!
Commodorial thank you’s of the
month go out to our tree-limbremoval-from-roof and havechainsaws-will-travel team, David
B., Dennis C., John W. Also, our
noble volunteer booth-ers at
“Wooden Boat Festival” Vaughan
and Stefani Sollberger, Snoann,
Liz and Ian Jones, John and Michelle Ernst, Gary and Celeste
Thorson; tent, equipment and
“Optimist” delivery services
performed with courtesy by
Joe Huffman. And, one mo’
time, our valiant LPRC Committee, namely Dennis
Cheuvront,
Janie Eshleman, Pat Ross and
Leigh Wanless plus all the
noble volunteers constituting
our “just show up” team, Joan
Buhler, Charlotte Ergun,
Janie and Ben
Eshleman,
Stephan Howden, Ann &
Joe Huffman,
Snoann Jones,
Gail Ledet,
Joel & Mary
Lindsey, Jenny
O’Hara, Mary
Patterson,
Celeste &
Gary Thorson,
Nancy &
Chuck Wyllie,
Frank Young,
and last but by
no means least,
David & Julie
Bolyard for
their many contributions. Take
a well deserved bow guys, we
couldn’t do it without you.
Many social events in the
works, especially the upcoming New Year’s Eve fiesta
grande. CC and I look forward
to welcoming all y’all but
please, let’s get the syntax
right. It’s “Commodore’s Ball
and Pig Roast” people! In any
case, the smell of burning
shrimp boots maybe upsetting
to some and besides, I have yet
to see a pig who learned how
to dance!
Read on to find out what’s
been going on and will be going on at our fine, friendly
double-width club, premier
trailer park of the south.
Yours aye
Kelvin
Membership - K. Vaughan Sollberger, Jr.
New Member Welcome!
Natalie, Chad, Abagail (5), Marshall (7)
and Dominic (2). These members moved
to Madisonville earlier this year and are
interested in participating in Junior Programs and racing.
Current Applications for Resident Membership:
Scott and Susan Illing of Madisonville
Gary Lee Thorson of Mandeville
Tom and Donna Miller of Mandeville
Rick and Lori Murphy of Covington
Robert and Karen Christ of Abita
Springs
Bruce and Kathy Lowrey of Covington
(on hold by request of applicant)
Current Applications for re-joining as
Resident Membership:
Buck Abbey of Baton Rouge
Ambrose and Julianne Amedee of Mandeville (in need of Sponsorship)
Current Application for Junior Member:
Alex Craik of Mandeville
Current Application for non-Resident
Membership:
Chris and Kim Lopez of New Orleans
Topics to be discussed
at our upcoming Membership Committee
meeting include the
Membership Process,
Responsibilities of
Sponsors, Membership
PYC Packet, and Longterm follow-up with
new members, in addition to the interviews of
the applicants above.
Please contact a Committe or Board member to express your views on these issues,
as well as the Current Applicants.
In past meetings with new applicants, we
have stressed the need to have volunteer
participation and get some new faces at
clubhouse to help out. Thank you to all of
the volunteers that have stepped up and
let's be sure to motivate the others, because
it's what we are about - and it's fun! If you
would like to help out, please give me or
Bridget Jarvis a call.
The next year of 2007 is beginning on a
positive note, as we are growing in numbers and participation level is strong. The
2006 year has been productive in member
and new member support of sailing and
social events with good turnouts and involvement by all...Special thanks to
Bridget to put up with all of us to put these
events on!!! and to celebrate the closing of
2006 and welcome 2007, we will be hav-
ing a Couchon-de-Lait, and
based on how good it was
last year, this one is gonna
be great! I'm sure Bradley
and Tom Jarvis, Mark
Cooper and Gary
Thorson are already gathering materials for their
next pig smokers!
Next year also brings on a
special responsibility to all
of us to keep our growing membership
active and participating in all of the activities that we have to offer. The Membership Committee and Social Committee will be working together to make
sure that we have plenty of events to
help this condition and keep us on track.
Once the new club is in place, we'll be
thankful to have the additional help and
the new families to meet.
I'd especially like to thank our Membership Committee for helping make all of
the refinement in the Membership Process possible this year: Chuck Wyllie,
Celeste Thorson, Phyllis Danielson,
David Bolyard, Bob Lipscomb, Terri
Hamilton and Tom Quinlan have offered their time, great advisement and
guidance this year toward our new membership process and our new club. Next
year is certain to be equally as challenging, and I'm looking forward to help
them keep the course!
[email protected] - Stacie Palazzo
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is starting to enjoy the
holiday season! Although this time of
year is very hectic for most of us, it
can also bring us together with friends
and loved ones we don’t see often
enough. If you haven’t been to the
club in a while, December is a great
month to come in and catch up with
old friends and even make some new
ones. Hope to see you around!
ο
and not worry that your bill has been paid?
Contact the office to find out how to set up
direct draft on your checking account. PYC
offers ACH payment on either the 5th or
15th of the month. It is very easy, just
fill out a consent form and submit with a
voided check.
When paying your monthly statement,
please write your account number on the
“Memo” line of your check it helps me
allocate the payment correctly.
In observance of Christmas,
please note that the office will be
closed Friday December 22nd and the
bar will be closed Sunday December
24th
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year,
ο
Stacie
Want to avoid finance charges
Page 2
T H E C H A R T D EC E M B E R 2 0 0 6
Holiday Trivia
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated in Britain, Australia, New
Zealand, and Canada. It falls on
December 26th, which is also
St. Stephen's Day.
The holiday may date from as
early as the Middle Ages, but
the exact origin is not known. It
may have begun with the Lords
and Ladies of England, who
gave Christmas boxes/gifts to
their servants on December 26, or
maybe by priests, who opened the
church's alms (charity boxes), and
distributed the contents to the poor
and needy
St Stephen is the patron saint of
horses, so Boxing Day also became
associated with horse-racing and
hunting.
**************************
Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas,
Saint Nick, Father Christmas,
Kris Kringle, Santy, or simply
Santa is a mythical gift-giving figure
in various cultures who distributes
presents to children, traditionally on
December 24, Christmas Eve. The
popular American form Santa Claus
originated as a mispronunciation of
Dutch Sinterklaas, which is a contracted form of Sint Nicolaas (Saint
Nicholas). Saint Nicholas (Greek:
Νικόλαος, "Victory of the people") is
the common name for Saint Nicholas of Myra, who had a reputation
for secret gift-giving, but is now
commonly identified with Santa
Claus or Father Christmas. He lived
in 4th century Myra in the Byzantine
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Empire's Lycia, the modern day
Demre in the Antalya province of
Turkey.
Among Orthodox
Christians,
the historical
Saint Nicholas is remembered
and revered.
In the West,
St. Nicholas
is a patron of
sailors and
thieves, because his
relics were
stolen by
sailors from
his tomb and
transported
to Bari, Italy. In the East, he is more
remembered for his defense
against the Arian heresy.
Father Christmas is a well-loved
figure in many countries and predates the "Santa Claus" character.
"Father Christmas" is similar in
many ways, though the two have
quite different origins. Using 'Santa'
in places that predominantly call
him 'Father Christmas' is often
viewed as an Americanism , although they are generally regarded
as the same character. Father
Christmas is also present instead of
"Santa" in Albania ("Babadimri"),
Armenia ("Gaghant Baba"), Denmark ("Julemanden"), Hungary
("Mikulás"), Italy ("Babbo Natale"),
Lithuania ("Kalėdų Senelis"), Brazil
("Papai Noel"), Portugal ("Pai Natal"), Romania ("Moş Crăciun"),
Russia ("Ded Moroz"), Germany
("Weihnachtsmann" or "Nikolaus"),
Scottish Highlands ("Daidaín na
Nollaig"), France and French Canada ("Le Père Noël"), Ireland
("Daidí na Nollaig"), Finland
("Joulupukki"), Norway
("Julenissen"), Sweden
("Jultomten"), Bulgaria ("Dyado
Koleda"), Turkey ("Noel Baba"),
Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Deda Mraz"), Spain and
Spanish-speaking Latin America
("Papá Noel"), Afghanistan ("Baba
Chaghaloo"), Iraq and South Africa
("Vader Kersfees"), Chile (Viejo
Pascuero), Malta ("San Niklaw"),
Egypt ("Papa Noël"), Iran ("Baba
Noel").
Santa’s Raindeer are: Dasher,
Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet,
Cupid, Donder (or Donner), and
Blitzen.(Rudolph is a later addition)
*****************************************
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights or Festival of Rededication or "The Feast of the
Maccabees”, is an eight day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th
day of Kislev, which may be in December, late November, or, while
very rare in occasion, early January
(as was the case for the Hanukkah
of 2005–2006). It celebrates the
revolt against Greek rule in Judea
and the day the Temple in Jerusalem was rededicated to God by the
Jewish people. The festival is observed in Jewish homes by the kindling of lights on each of the festival's eight nights, one on the first
night, two on the second night and
so on.
T H E C H A R T D EC E M B E R 2 0 0 6
2006 Photos
VOLUME 39 ISSUE 12
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The Chart Ads
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Social
We should have something for everyone
this month.
We have a ladies luncheon…. we have a
Christmas boat parade and party…we have
a children’s Christmas party…. we have an
adult Christmas party … and last but not
least, we have a very untraditional New
Years’ Eve Commodore’s Ball, complete
with pig roast!!
Friday, Dec. 8 at 11:00 is our Ladies
Luncheon with vendors for your shopping
pleasure. Invite your friends and neighbors
and plan to spend the afternoon with us.
Saturday evening, Dec. 9 at dusk will be
the Mandeville Boat Parade and the Old
Mandeville Business Assoc. walking parade
which will end at our Club. Come eat, drink
and be merry!
Bring an appetizer and a gift worth $20,
enjoy some cocktails and be prepared for
some crazy, Chinese Christmas Fun on Sat-
December at a Glance
● Friday December 8 - La-
dies Luncheon
as we purchase the pigs, rent the tents,
etc.
urday, Dec.
16 at 7:00.
The children’s
Christmas
party will be
that next
day, Sunday, at
2:00. This
is THE party
of the year
with Santa
and elves
arriving by
boat!
(Sneak a gift to the Club for Santa to give
your child.)
As for January/February, I do know
that we’ll have our traditional Super
Bowl Road Kill Café and who knows
what else if some of our local teams
go to any Bowls.
● Saturday December 9 -
Boat Parade & OMBA
Party
● Saturday December 16 Gift Exchange
● Sunday December 17 Children’s Christmas Party
● Sunday December 31 Commodore’s Ball - Pig
Roast - New Year’s Eve
Party
Thank you, thank you and thank you
go to Erin Powell, Judy Jones,
Cathy Deano, Stefani Sollberger and
especially Jenny O’Hara for helping
me pull all of this together – you ladies are great!
Watch your e-mail for updates from
pycevents because as usual details are
in the works (call Georgia Young if
you are not yet on the e-mail list, 8924066)….
And then… there is New Years Eve, we
will have some of our awesome cooks roast
up our pigs and you provide the side dishes.
Price will be determined closer to the date
Bridget Jarvis
[email protected]
Construction Update - Commodore Troughton
Next, let’s do a recap of new clubhouse
construction updates, starting with the 1st
week of October. During a
most active month, the 2 lower
slabs were formed up and main
plumbing, roughed in. Simultaneously and continuing into the
2nd week, “caps” [6x4x2’ concrete] were installed over the
pilings [to support eventually,
the vertical columns] the elevator well was constructed and
fine fill was graded in then
covered with barrier sheets.
Re-bar mats were installed.
The 3rd week, steel cables were
stretched horizontally north/
south and east/west to create a
post tensioning system and
then on Friday 20th the 2 lower slabs were
poured, consuming 220 cubic yards of
concrete in the process. Week 4 included
forming up the upper-lower slab and tensioning the cables to provide additional
strength.
On into November, we are now the proud
owners of no less than 3 concrete slabs laid
over 203 treated wood pilings sunk “to
VOLUME 39 ISSUE 12
refusal” an average of 27’ deep down into
terra firma and a firm base for a substantially
strong structure.
By the time you read this missive, most of
the 48 columns will have been formed and
poured, concrete blocks raised up to build an
elevator shaft in fact, the beginning of a wonderful 3-D effect!
I would like to take the opportunity to
thank Ian [variety-Prosser] for his
dedicated hard work to date as
“Chair” of the New Building
Committee [aka Past Commodores] coordinating our architectural duo Messrs Piazza and
Mitchell with Spartan; sourcing
second line contractors, selecting
equipment and materials.
Ian, I think you will all agree is a
fine figure of a fellow. The figure
6 comes to mind or maybe it’s an
inverted 9 [?] In my field of
ocean transportation, not so much
a design for a figure-head but
possibly a ‘bulbous bow” commonly a build-on at the front end
of a ship in order to minimize
drag, at the rear end. Now we’re getting somewhere! In the construction
world a common response to a
weighty reference: “It takes a heavy
hammer to drive a long nail”. I am
sure Ian’s response would be “………
and it’s all paid for”!
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More 2006 Photos
VOLUME 39 ISSUE 12
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2006 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Commodore
More Club Contacts
Kelvin Troughton - [email protected]
PONTCHARTRAIN YACHT CLUB
Vice-Commodore
Emailing and email list
Jane Eshleman - [email protected]
Georgia Young
Rear-Commodore
[email protected]
Jay Conner - [email protected]
House & Grounds
1501 Lakeshore Drive
P.O. Box 633
Mandeville, LA 70470
Phone: 985-626-3192
E-mail: [email protected]
Administrative Manager: Stacie Palazzo
Webmaster & The Chart
Suzana Williams
Dennis Ledet - [email protected]
Social
[email protected]
Victoria Class
Bridget Jarvis - [email protected]
Juniors
Hew Hamilton
[email protected]
Suzana Williams - [email protected]
Share The Wind
One Design
Bill Ross - [email protected]
Membership
K. Vaughan Sollberger [email protected]
We’re on the WEB
Race
Joel Lindsey - [email protected]
www.pontyc.org
Small Boat Regatta Schedule
Sunday December 3, 10 & 17
Skipper's meeting at 1300 hrs
Race Starts at 1400 hrs
The water is COLD please wear
appropriate clothing!
In boating there‘s a “right of way”
In dentistry there’s a “right way”
Dr. Michelle LeBlanc
985-624-8011