Nearly 60 guests joined Committee, Management and Past Commodores at the bi-annual “New Members Cocktail Party” on Friday Evening.

Planning for the event was carried out well in advance by Membership Committee members Julie Walther and Sonia Johnson – given that the original date in March was postponed due to COVID restrictions. They did a fantastic job on their maiden voyage – a real credit to them both. Unfortunately when we finally locked in a date, neither could be here to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Julie was away with another pre-booked commitment and Sonia was isolating with COVID. None-the-less, the F&B team set up the ballroom to the plan supplied to them by Julie & Sonia, giving us a warm and comfortable backdrop for a very sociable and enjoyable evening.

Numbers were down on what was expected with the intake of new members since last November, but with current COVID numbers, we were not surprised. A number of SoPYC employees coming down with COVID recently, caused a few tense moments on Friday, but the planning of Julie and Sonia and a super effort from Tracy Perkins who is waving the flag of Membership Co-ordinator along with her raft of other office duties at present, had everything in place and ready on time.

The committee opted for a more casual approach for the event, shortening up the welcomes and introductions and deferring the individual presentation of Membership Certificates. This successfully created an atmosphere that was conducive for new and existing members to mingle and chat in a very relaxed environment. Bernie Kaaks was kept busy taking plenty of photos and also supplied us a great PowerPoint presentation of many sailing and power boat activities as well as land and club events. The drone footage supplied to Bernie compliments of club member Jim Henry was also a highlight of Bernie’s production, topped off by the 85” LCD TV that could be seen so clearly from everywhere in the room. The food was enjoyed by all and the F&B staff did a great job of serving and looking after our guests.

Special thanks to immediate past Chair of Membership, Angela Irving who has remained on the committee until her travel plans kick into place later in the year, John Spanos and Victoria Blanckensee from our committee for their efforts at the event. Our current members in attendance – Flag Officers, Members of The Management Committee and some of our Past Commodores are also thanked by the committee for their efforts to make our new members feel welcome and giving them an informative view of what the club can offer members.

A successful event can usually be gauged not only by the atmosphere created and the laughter and signs of enjoyment amongst the guests, but also by the numbers that remain, even after the event has officially concluded. From that perspective, I believe the committee and the club surpassed their previous efforts and set a new standard for our future New Member Cocktail Parties.

David Markham

Chair of Membership