Attendees: Bill, Susan, Gloria, Nick, Kevin, Hannah, Antonio, Ryan (May be missing one or two others).
Known Absences: Janet, Linda, Carrie, Heather.
Meeting opened at 7:05 by Ryan
Item 1) Treasurer’s Report and Member Status.
Please see the email for this information, or contact Ryan. We don’t like sharing finances online.
2) What we do well/what needs improving/general skiing notes
Overall feedback has been very positive on our first month. We additionally have received numerous emails about how well the Learn To Ski day this weekend ran, and we picked up 6 new members already from the event and another 3-4 that are interested in joining. Many people are also asking when the next one will be. . . .
We all agreed that one of the biggest things that has helped us this season is the radio communication between the drivers and the docks. With Point Breeze being a busy waterfront, we all think this has helped us keep things safe and moving along.
However, we can work on improving some things and here are a few things we will try to implement.
- a) We want to be a little better getting skiers ready to go and avoid ‘downtime‘ – with the days getting shorter – this is going to become more important.
To do this, we will be asking someone to be the facilitator on shore, to keep track of the sign up lists and try to make sure the ‘next skier’ is ready with skis on. If the next skiers equipment is being used, then the “next person up” should be ready to go.
Its just too much work for the safety officer to do both jobs, so we will be looking for an adult or young adult (one of the teens) to help out with this task nightly.
This again, is to help us be more efficient so that we can achieve our goal of getting all skiers two runs in per night if possible.
- b) Group skiing or groups in the boat
We have been inconsistent on this a bit this year. The issue is if we should allow groups of people (friends) to all get on the boat together and ride out to ski in a small group. From what I understand, one night it was allowed, but the next night it was frowned upon.
The Collective is trying to walk the tightrope of allowing skiing as we want to do it, and managing COVID and the recommendations to “social distance”. Hence where I think we have been inconsistent with this.
AS IT STANDS NOW – so long as the driver, spotter, participants and their parents are all fine with going out in a single boat together – the “Collective” will allow this practice to continue.
HOWEVER, Ryan has taken an action to contact the Webster Board of Health for advice on if this practice should continue. We want to be SAFE and to HAVE FUN, but we are also a non-profit and have eyes on us, so we need to balance Fun, Safety, and our public image (We don’t want complaints that might get us shut down). We just want to make sure that we are doing everything “right”.
Please be patient with us. I hope this will all go away by next year and we can do doubles/triples skiing and even do a little bit of “show skiing” if there is interest.
- c) Contact Tracing/Spotter List
One idea that came up was a “log” of skiers behind each boat that would be maintained by the spotter or driver. This “Log” would have the skiers name, and would keep track of “ski things” like the speed the skier skis at as well as rope length, etc. It will also keep track if the skier needed to be “picked up” and placed in the boat during the run.
In addition it also provides us with a log where if (god forbid) someone does get COVID, we know who skied on that boat and can have people contact-traced. Hopefully this does NOT HAPPEN, but we want to take action where we can.
We understand that we might be going a tad “overboard” with precautions, but again – we feel its better to be safe than sorry. We also feel this “log” will help the skiers as we can know the speeds and things they like without needing to “guess” or constantly ask the skier.
- d) Any further suggestions or concerns can always be directed to myself or one of the board members (Nick, Carrie, Linda, Heather) and we will address it the best we can.
3) Glen Echo Club Plan/Status
As has been discussed, we are “expanding” and will be starting to set up ski days and events at Glen Echo Lake in Charlton beginning in July. I believe this is a “win-win” for both us and Charlton moving forward.
We have made a deal with the Glen Echo Lake Association (GELA) to try to resurrect the “Glen Echo Skiers” that was a club that disbanded in2013. As part of the deal, The “Collective” will provide insurance and certified people to help start up a club on Glen Echo.
The Collective will inherit the old Glen Echo Skiers equipment and will have full use of the Slalom Course at Glen Echo so long as we remain respectful of the other skiers on the lake (They have designated times where they “own” the water ).
The GELA will help our club at Glen Echo, but we will be independent from them. The only thing that GELA asks is that we don’t bring outside boats onto Glen Echo unless we clear it through them first, as they are concerned about the spread of invasive weeks and to the fact that Glen Echo is a private lake closed to the public.
We expect/hope that we will bring more people into the Collective at Glen Echo – which means some more revenue for the club and more equipment and resources that we can share. More people means more people to help do special events such as tournaments, clinics, and shows moving forward as well.
As part of the deal, we will allow people from Webster to ski at Glen Echo and vice-versa on designated ski nights/days. However, I personally expect that most people will “stick” to the lake closest to them for general skiing and only really migrate in larger numbers for special events and clinics.
Again, I think this will be a “win win” and a great chance to expand our club without really taxing resources on one pond/site. I’m sure there will be growing pains, but I think the pros far outweigh the cons.
We will kick off the Glen Echo “chapter” on July 11th with a Learn To Ski Day at my home on Glen Echo. We are tying to limit the event to residents for Glen Echo to give them first crack at it.
4) Safety and Driver Clinics
Ryan will try to start scheduling Safety and Driver Clinics for July/August. With COVID going on, it might be difficult to get training this summer, but we will try.
5) Ski Clinics/Tournaments/etc
Fun Tournament: We discussed doing a fun tournament at the end of the year, but the feeling is that most skiers might not be ready for ‘fun competition” right now. This idea has been tabled for now, but might come back if members want to pursue it.
Kevin brought up an idea of investing in a “min course” that we could set up on the fly. Some more investigation will be needed to see if that can be done and at what cost.
Team Challenge: The “Team Challenge” event that used to be hosted on Glen Echo was also discussed, again – probably too late to attempt to do anything this season – but Ryan will talk to people “in the know” about potentially bringing it back for 2021, again if we get interest and the GELA has no issues with it.
Slalom Clinic: We discussed doing a “slalom” clinic again this year. We might have it on Glen Echo if we can get a “good slalom boat” to pull. If not, we might work with what we have in Webster. I have asked Kevin to coordinate with Blake on when might be good times to do something. We may also try to see if Tom Harvarnek from Webster may also be willing to help teach the clinic.
We also want to point out for those that may have missed the news that Blake won the Mens 1 division in Slalom at this past weekend’s tournament in Twin Lakes, NY! Congratulations Blake!!!
Other Clinics:
Ryan had reached out to Sammy and Mike Goncalves about doing a Wake Surfing clinic, and they are all for it if there is interest from the club. Last year, it was $50 per person for the clinic for about 3 hours. The event was “small” with only about 6-7 people for the event to make sure everyone had ample time to try it. It was a lot of fun . . .
Wakeboarding clinics were also discussed, but we don’t have the equipment right now or the people wakeboarding to really make it happen this season. Things could always change.
Show Skiing also briefly mentioned, and if there is interest in the off season we can discuss setting up pool practices if COVID dies down. We’re far away from discussing that in any detail though and I would need the members to tell me if they even want to pursue that. I know there are some that have 0.0% interest in doing any show skiing due to past experiences, so I don’t want to force it on anyone!
That was about it. Meeting adjourned at 8:35pm
Leave A Comment