President’s Letter 2015

March 5th, 2015

Dear Lincolnshire Swim Club Member,

Happy Summer 2015. OK, I know we are not there yet, but once the worst call and execution of a play in Super Bowl history concluded and sportswriters began the talk of pitchers and catchers reporting to camp in Arizona and Florida, my thoughts immediately moved to sipping a cold drink on the deck at the Swim Club! Yes, it has been cold. Extremely frigging cold, but it is going to warm up, sooner than we all think, and what better thought than hanging with family and great friends in the war m and inviting environment of our neighborhood swim club.

But before any more talk of this summer, let’s take a review of last year. First and foremost, another shout out to our award winning & league champion Windjammers! After a season of hard work and dedication, and some cold water practices – more about that later – the Windjammers took another league title. There are many, many people to recognize, but let me begin with the coaching staff: Head Coach AJ Block, (great leadership!), and her assistant coaches, Sarah Gershon, Juliana Holzer, Cheryl Xiang & Kevin Ewing, Benji Perez, Leah Bloodgood & Hannah Feldman, all provided coaching and motivation to put our swimmers in position to succeed. Members of the board, Kelly Dupont, Kathy Bedward, Tania Surane, Tami Stensby, Anne Potvin, Lisa Jagiello, Ingrid Michael, Tara Bock & Kristen Eastman whose countless hours outside of the pool were critical to a cohesive and smooth running team. And last but not least the parents. There is an awful lot of logistics to get the team where they need to be during the season with the sheer number of practices and meets, clearly your dedication has paid off. Again, my heartfelt congratulations to all on another great and successful season, your truly deserve it!

Additionally, while the weather did not always cooperate, we had a number of great social events throughout the swim season. From Flip Flop to Ribfest, both new and longstanding members enjoyed the company of their family, friends and neighbors which will undoubtedly last a life time.

Finally, in terms of last season, we did make a significant investment in the future of our club while putting to rest a bit of the past. The original heater which was installed when the pool opened back in ’59, breathed its last breath as we went to fire it up at the beginning of the season. While we had hoped to get through another couple of seasons with ol’ Blue due to the significant capital investment, however it did not happen. With that said, we moved quickly to install a replacement. At the beginning of the season there was some cool swimming, which I am truly sorry, but I am confident we have made a great improvement which will pay dividends (the warm swimming at the beginning of the season kind) for many years to come! Unfortunately this investment did not come without a cost. Good financial management throughout the year did allow us to maintain a strong financial position while not affecting the safety or service of and for our members however, this nonetheless was an unbudgeted cost that caused us to take on some debt.

Looking forward again to the 2015 season, I am extremely excited about the season ahead. We have another strong swim team coming back, a new heater to start off the year with a nice warm swim and will not only be hosting a number of great activities during the swim season, but throughout the year so as to enjoy the great social benefits of the LSC throughout the calendar year.

In closing, there a couple individuals to thank for their hard word. First, I want to highlight Elzan Ohlwein, who behind the scenes put a lot of work in to making the club look as great as it does, particularly with the flowers! Secondly I want to thank the members of the board, both past and present, for all their hard work and dedication, much of which goes without any recognition. For those stepping down, I’ll begin with John Tomassetti, who was responsible for building and grounds, which is a big job for LSC! Secondly, I want to recognize Kim Kutnick for her dedication and years of service as the Secretary, and her great work at Membership. It is critical for a club like ours to bring in new members and Kim did a fantastic job which many of you know, since she was your first impression of LCS. In addition, I want to extend a special thank you to Diane Lefebvre. Diane’s work and dedication to the pool and swim team has been unprecedented during my term. She did an amazing job in her work on buildings and grounds where year in and year out she made significant operational and cosmetic enhancements on a shoe-string budget. She also served as Vice President, where she was responsible for all the staff as well as the day to day interactions with the overall pool management – a BIG job to say the least. Both ladies will be missed, but I look forward to seeing them get a chance to enjoy the pool and relax a little bit for once!

This brings me to the current board. We have a strong team who I am honored to work with and we still have some opportunities for anyone looking to join and get involved. It is truly rewarding and challenging at the same time, and a great opportunity to meet with some friends and neighbors and get involved. The current board consists of:

Vice President: Caralee Levinson

Treasurer: John Rainis

Secretary: Melinda Simonson

Membership: Just filled, more to come on this position!

Swim Team: Kelly Dupont

Food & Beverage: Angelo Babbo - (who recently notified us, due to a professional issue, he needs to step down, and so we are looking for a replacement )

Communications: Paul Stankiewicz

Buildings & Grounds: Mike Steinberger

Social: Nadine LaPointe