Chairman As many individuals do at this time of year, I often reflect on the past twelve months and look forward to the coming year with anticipation and hope. So, I hope you will indulge me a bit of looking back over the past year at our Club and thinking about the coming year. Last January, we saw increase COVID cases in the Naples area and in Marco Island. Although we did not shut down, we did have a reduction in activity around the Club from January through the spring season. As the number of cases dropped, we saw a return to more normal use by members. By fall, we were also seeing banquet business return and we ended 2021 strong! As I write this column, the new Omicron variant is spreading quickly throughout the country. In Florida, cases are increasing but we are not seeing a corresponding increase in hospitalizations. The new variant
Dave Everitt
seems to be less impactful...especially to those that are vaccinated and boosted. The increase in cases associated with the new variant has not yet translated to lower activity level at the Club. However, we continue to be vigilant. Throughout this past year, we have seen increased interest in membership in our Club. We continue to have former members return to the Club. More importantly, we have had many new members join that are either new to the area or have been in the area and have decided to consider membership. It has been exciting to see the new members join the Club and get engaged in activities! The growth in membership levels has caused us to consider establishing membership caps. The Board discussed the subject at the December meeting. Various aspects of the discussion included the impact on member access to the Club and service levels. The Board did decide to implement a wait list for Social Memberships that will go into effect on January 1. I will be sending out a note to the Club with more information on the subject before the end of December. We also completed the Riverside Marina project this past year. The project also included the replacement of the seawall, replacing landscaping and upgrading the Burgee restrooms. With the opening of the Marina in November, we were able to pay off the member financed loan in December. We have received our unrestricted certificate of occupancy and Dockmaster Mike and Port Captain Melanie have welcomed several transients to the marina in November and December. In the coming year, we will be developing a project to upgrade our Clubhouse. I previewed some of the conceptual drawings at our November membership meeting. If you were unable to attend the meeting, you can find the presentation on the MIYC Website. Look for more information on this project throughout the year. Finally, I want to thank all of you who contributed to the employee holiday fund. Your contributions enabled us to make a significant holiday payment to our employees that I know was very much appreciated. Our employees have been working hard throughout the year. Please take a minute to thank them for their support and loyalty to the Club. Dave Everitt
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