July 2019 – HCC President’s Newsletter

This newsletter is designed to update you on work underway this summer as well as upcoming events. I’d appreciate if you could take 10 minutes to read it carefully.

Our club has several financial challenges ahead, things like a new roof and upgrades to some mechanical systems to name just a couple. Your Board of Directors are working hard to address these issues but we can’t do it alone. We are looking at innovative ways to gain revenue but it’s going to take help from the entire membership. I am grateful for the incredible support from members who pitch in to volunteer on committees, run spiels, manage leagues and all the many services needed to keep the club running smoothly. I encourage everyone to continue to look for opportunities to support your Board by volunteering and by attending fundraising events as much as possible. With the help of volunteers, we can reduce some of our financial pressures and offset some of our need to raise membership or building capital fees.

HCC Annual Golf Tournament – June 22nd, 2019

Many thanks to Murray and Birgit Pearson and their volunteers for organizing our club’s annual summer golf tournament at Irish Hills Golf and Country Club. The most pleasant surprise for me was that we had seven past presidents and six honorary members in attendance. I want to acknowledge the many local businesses who donated prizes for the event. I truly hope participants recognize the generous contributions of these companies and patronize them in the future.  Next year’s event is set for June 27th at Irish Hills. 

WINE & CHEESE – Friday, Sept. 13th, 2019  –  Theme –“ Let’s Rock the House! “

HCC has an evening extravaganza planned for its members! Please mark your calendars and plan to attend, you won’t be disappointed! This will be a major fundraiser for the club. I encourage all members to participate and get some friends together and make it a party! Doors open @ 7:00 pm. The music starts at 8:00 and goes until 11:30 pm. Musical performance guest – “ Sidewinder”, featuring the HCC’s own Shawn Lynch on lead guitar. Volunteer opportunities will also be available.

HCC Club Calendar & Website Design Changes 

Our club season-long calendar has now been posted to the website. I’d like to especially thank member Andrea Leganchuk for preforming a masterful job of revamping the overall look, feel and functionality of our website.  Members will be pleasantly surprised with the upgrades and the ease of navigation.

CARP FAIR – Sept. 26th – Sept. 29th, 2019

The club is presently looking for a member to take on a leading co-coordinating role for the Carp Fair.

Membership Director David Bird along with member Stephanie Birtwistle are planning a major promotional drive, primarily geared around attracting new members to our club.  Their focus is on the LTC, Day-timers and our Youth/Bantam and Little Rocks Program.

Stay tuned – both Stephanie and David will be looking for volunteers to help make these initiatives a success.

Try 2 Curl – Saturday, Oct. 12th, 2019

HCC will again be offering a Try 2 Curl event to build on last years success. This format introduces people in our community to the fun and social sport of curling at no cost. I was so pleased last year when many of our seasoned and experienced curlers stepped forward to help out with this initiative. It provided a huge boost to our Learn to Curl program registration.  This event will be spearheaded by both David & Lidia Cormier.

HCC – 2019/20 – SEASON OPENS FOR CURLING – Tues Oct. 15th, 2019  

HCC will open on Tuesday, Oct. 15th, 2019.  Match director Jim Collings and membership director David Bird are encouraged by the early registration process to date. Approximately 75% of last year’s membership are returning with returns still coming in. The early registration helps our match director and conveners with league organization, especially when it comes to scheduling. If you haven’t yet registered for the upcoming season please don’t delay. Should you have any difficulties, have questions or concerns please feel free to contact membership director David Bird directly. League play will be following the new 5 rock free guard rule beginning this fall.

HCC – CURLING CLINICS – Sat. Nov. 2nd & Nov. 16th, 2019

Members have been asking about curling clinics to upgrade their skill development and gain better knowledge on the strategy of the game. Well, we’re answering the call! I’m pleased to announce that Lidia and David Cormier have graciously agreed to develop and oversee two curling clinics early in the year.

Each will be open to HCC club members at a minor cost:

  • Sat. Nov. 2nd, 2019 – Time  4- 6:00 pm  – “ Skills development ”
  • Sat. Nov. 16th, 2019  – Time 4 – 6:00 pm – “ Strategy for success.”

LTC & Saturday night U5 League  – 10-week program – Oct. 19th – Dec. 21st 2019

Your Board understands the importance of retaining and increasing our membership. We historically have a 15% annual turnover of members which happens for many good reasons. We need to constantly grow our membership to offset this turnover. While your Board is working on ways to achieve this, you, our membership is ideally placed to encourage friends, neighbours, co-workers etc to come out to try curling at our scheduled events such as the Try 2 Curl and Learn To Curl (LTC) initiatives. The LTC was started by Charlene Johnston three years ago and has grown into a huge success for our club.  I’m pleased that Dawn Rodney has agreed to return this year as program coordinator.  Dawn assembled an extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic group of instructors last year to help teach skills and basic strategy to our new members.

The proof was in the pudding:

  • Our teams kicked butt at HCC’s “ Kick-ass” U5 Colts bonspiel last February at our club.
  • We’ve seen a rekindling of our Saturday night enrollment. Last year’s graduate, Corey Mundy, has agreed to convene this league for the 2019/20 season.
  • Upon completion, graduates of the LTC program in December will automatically be given an opportunity to join the Saturday night U5 league for the remainder of the 2019/2020 season commencing January 4th, 2020  

HCC – U3 “Kick-ass” bonspiel – Dec. 28th & 29th 2019

HCC will be hosting its 2nd annual U3 -Colts “Kick-ass” curling bonspiel Dec. 28th 4 29th 2019. This event is scheduled during the Christmas break to avoid interfering with regular club curling.   Our club is looking to build on the success of last year’s event where HCC hosted 20 colts teams from other area clubs.  HCC gained notoriety for this event and made a substantial amount of revenue for the club. 

HCC’s NEW-YEARS EVE – DINNER/DANCE  Dec. 31st 2019

I’m pleased to announce that HCC will again be hosting a New-years Eve Dinner/dance at our club. The club is looking to expand on the success of last years event. Ask anyone who attended it was an incredible evening in large part due to the dinner that head gourmet chef,  Simon and his wife Jean Benton put on for our members. The music was fabulous and as a group, we danced into the wee hours of the night.   

YOUTH / BANTAM / LITTLE ROCKS

HCC is entering into its 2nd year, of a 3-year revitalization of our youth program led by Laurie Cotten who did a fabulous job last year.   She has plans for building on last years success. We’ve developed more quality coaches and a system designed to encourage and provide our youth with the skills they require to compete in a competitive environment, all in a fun-filled and positive atmosphere. Who knows, maybe we’ll again see HCC teams representing our club at the regional level.

NEW CLUB CLOTHING CURLING APPAREL

HCC will have a new look moving forward with our new club logo. Everything will be posted in due time.

NEWS UPDATE –   THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS & NEW CLUB MANAGER

Sadly, Rick Young, Simon Benton and Trina Hanniman have stepped away from the Board due to time restraints and other personnel reasons. Each has proved guidance and played a key role in putting HCC on the path to success.  Trina Hanniman as club secretary and the only female voice on the Board had worked tirelessly on various committees. Her commitment, attention to detail and innovative ideas will be greatly missed. 

Happily, Katrina Cotten has stepped forward as our new communications director. Katrina’s youthful enthusiasm and social media skills are a welcomed addition!  The board of directors will be actively searching for new members who might be willing to take on a leadership role with our club, primarily as a secretary.  

I am pleased to announce that Peter Smith has accepted the role of Club Manager, responsible for overseeing all HCC events and volunteer opportunities, starting with the Wine and Cheese event to kick off the curling year.  Over the past 25 years, Peter has contributed much to our Club, handling various Board positions (including President) and organizing a good majority of the events at our club at one time or another.  In addition, Peter has played an instrumental role on the board for the Canadian Brier and the Roar in which took place in Ottawa.  Peter also active in the OVCA in Ottawa.

In closing, I’d like to wish everyone a wonderful and safe summer holiday season. I’ll look forward to seeing each of you at the Wine & Cheese –“Let’s Rock the House”! on September 13th, 2019. 

Blake Sinclair
HCC President