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November, 2023
The official (and ONLY) online publication of the BIRCH LAKE YACHT CLUB |
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Please note:
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Boo who? Halloween, October 31 ... first snow at Birch Lake ... looking north from my home at the north shore, 1:45 pm.
Commodore's Comments
The piers are almost all in, and the last of the boats are leaving their docks. The herons, geese and swans are winging their way south, leaving Birch Lake perfectly calm and peaceful. The occasional fisherman bolts across the lake disturbing the still waters, but that’s OK. The beauty of Birch lake is welcomed to be shared by all.
The big news here is that the landing received a much-needed makeover as a fresh cover of asphalt was laid, filling in the multitude of potholes and crumbling pavement. Some grumbling was voiced by many residents, including myself, as the county chose October 16th, prime boat-removal time, to complete the project. However, we are all grateful for the improvement.
Thank you to Bob Waddle who has completed the task of keeping all AED‘s on the lake up-to-date. Hopefully we will never need them, but they are there and ready if the time arises. With the seasons, change and cold weather approaching another big thank you to Ron and Bob Niezgodski and Bud Hall for volunteering to close the yacht club and drain the pipes. A thorough cleaning of the club was done before hand by a group of women lead by Sandy Vitale. Thanks to Vickie Rogers, Carla Chester and Patti Russwurm for helping out.
Looking back on the summer of 2023 Birch Lake brought many of us fond memories of family and friends. For somehow however, the memories are bittersweet as they lost loved ones and suffered through that pain and tragedy. Others found themselves stricken with serious health issues and accidents. Speaking on the behalf of the yacht club officers and board members, we share in your grief and suffering, and hope that next year brings peace to our shores.
In closing, “may the memories remain, and the views stay the same“ on our Golden Pond.
~Commodore Sue
Birch Brains win again at COA trivia contest
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Sheffiecks, Troegers, Chesters and Garceaus took home the first place prize for the 3rd year in the row. That’s a lot of trivial information in their heads!
Karen Brovold and Steve Playa are volunteers for the Handy Helpers. They joined other volunteers for their trivia team.
Barker Kids of the Month
Congratulations to the Russwurm's (north side) youngest granddaughter Clara Boecher for breaking her school's Cross Country record. So proud of her hard work!
Summer Barker delivery route delivery help needed
The Birch Barker is in need of a person to delivery about 35 printed Barkers per week for 15 weeks next summer (Memorial Day through Labor Day) on the far south side of Birch Lake (from approximately the Yacht Club to the turn around). If you can help, please contact Ron Niezgodski at 574-532-6710 or email birchbass1@gmail.com
Fleet Captain's Corner
Soon after the sailing season ended on Birch Lake, Jackie and I flew to Gdansk, Poland, located where the Motlawa River flows into the Baltic Sea. Due to its strategic location, Gdansk has had a long and eventful association with sailing, and with ships of all kinds. Today, it is a prosperous place, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Poland, and has been lovingly and meticulously restored since the devastation of World War II and the communist years that followed.
Gdansk has been occupied at least since the Bronze Age, around 2,500 B.C. The pagan inhabitants were baptized in 997 A.D. by St. Adalbert of Prague, at a time when Gdansk was becoming an important center of trade. By the 1300's, trade had expanded and the city joined the Hanseatic League, a powerful medieval federation of merchant towns in northern Europe. St. Mary's Church, perhaps the largest brick church in the world, was built between 1343 and 1501. The Gdansk Crane is an imposing wooden tower designed and built in the 1300's, whose top projects out over the harbor. Inside the building, two enormous "hamster wheels" were walked by men instead of hamsters, to power the cranes that unloaded the sailing ships. Miraculously the building still stands, and was undergoing renovation when we visited.
The beautiful and opulent Artus Court was completed in 1350 as a social club and meeting place for the aristocracy and wealthy merchants. Its name was taken from the popular medieval legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table that inspired its members, and it was the most famous of many such clubs in Poland. It features a number of very detailed large models of old wooden sailing ships, all suspended from the ceiling.
The oldest known model ship from the Artus Court is a model of a felucca, and is now in the Museum of Gdansk. (Readers may recall the history of the felucca from last year's column about our trip up the Nile River in Egypt.) The Museum of Gdansk's felucca model was recovered from the rubble of the bombed-out Artus Court at the end of World War II, and its story testifies to the wide-ranging trade of the Hanseatic League. In 1575, the Brotherhood of Shippers in Gdansk paid a grant to a Gdansk sailor who had come back from Turkish captivity in the Mediterranean. Upon his return to Gdansk, the sailor carved the felucca model as a votive offering in thanks for being saved; and in order to disgrace his torturers, he carved the Turks' heads as a decorative element on the transom of the model ship.
Gdansk was under Nazi control from 1937 until the end of World War II. The famous shipyard became a factory for building U-Boat submarines for the Nazis, where Polish people were worked to death as slave laborers. Adolph Hitler visited the city three times. In March of 1945, Gdansk fell to the marauding Soviet Army, and most of the buildings in central Gdansk were heavily damaged. At St. Mary's Church, the roof timbers caught fire, the roof collapsed, the bells fell, and all of the stained glass windows were destroyed. Yet the 410-foot main tower survived, from which this photo was taken of a devastated Gdansk in March, 1945.
We visited the Solidarity Museum next to the shipyard where Lech Walesa, now age 80 and a former President of Poland, and his Solidarity movement faced down the Soviet Union during the 1980's. Highlights include a reproduction of the conference room along with life-sized black-and-white film of an actual tense negotiation when Walesa, hard as granite, won a written agreement for the release of prisoners. The museum also showcases exhibits about the crucial support of Pope John Paul II, the Polish Pope whose faith is widely credited as being a primary cause of the fall of the Soviet Union.
78 years after World War II ended, we climbed the main tower of the fully restored St. Mary's Church and took a photo of today's reborn Gdansk. Photo 6. And we had an early dinner at Lech Walesa’s favorite restaurant, aptly named The Gdansk. It features Polish food, and model sailing ships hang from its ceiling, just as in the Artus Court of the 1500's.
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 ~F.C. Steve |
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Registration for Camp T 2024 is open now!
Registration for Camp Tannadoonah 2024 is now available! In 2023, many camp sessions were full and had a wait list, so it's a good idea to sign up early for next year to make sure you get a spot in the session(s) you want. The early bird discounts are valid until the end of the day on November 30.
Early Bird Discounts
If you register and pay the deposit by the end of the day on November 30, 2023, you will automatically receive the early bird discount for each session. This year's discounts are $25 off regular overnight sessions, $35 off Super Week, $15 off Mini Week, $10 off day camp sessions, and $50 off CIT sessions.
Other Discounts
Check out our discounts page for all of the discounts offered this year. There are sibling discounts, and multi-week discounts available.
Tell Your Friends
Don't forget that you earn credits every time you refer a new camper, so start talking to your friends about what you love most about Camp Tannadoonah!
BLYC Dues, Contribution & Donation Form
$____ - BLYC Member Dues ($30 / year)
$____ - BLYC Associate Member Dues ($10 / year)
$____ - Homeowners’ Assoc. ($10 / year)
$____ - Sailing Fees ($15 / year)
$____ - Building Improvement Fund
$____ - Fireworks Fund
$____ - Water Quality Program
$____ - Milfoil/Loosestrife Eradication
$____ - Safety Committee
$____ - Other non-party related expenses
$____ - BLYC Roof Fund
$____ - BLYC AED Fund
$____ - Misc.
Total contribution:
$__________________
Include your name and address and make checks payable BLYC and mail to:
BLYC, c/o Deb Spratt at 18100 Farmington Hills Drive, South Bend, IN 46637, or go online to HTTP://BIRCHLAKEYACHTCLUB.COM to pay dues and/or make donations
July 6 - FIREWORKS
August 17 - Southwest Michigan
Interlake Regatta @ Birch Lake
BLYC Classified Ads
SERVICES:
I do sewing and mending at fair prices - zippers, hemming, small alterations; call Kathy at 476-9317
FOR RENT:
Birch Lake cottage for rent: Three bedroom, one bath cottage with tub and shower. New granite kitchen, new stainless appliances with dishwasher, washer and dryer. Nice pier with big platform. Plenty of parking. Possible ski, pontoon, row boat, and sailboats available for rent. Sleeps six in beds, room for more. Contact Pat McGann call/text 574- 532-5377.
BLYC Contacts
BLYC OFFICERS
Sue Davis (E) Commodore
574-993-6031 eyesnd76@gmail.com
Julie Dickey (E) Vice Commodore
574-220-9132 jdjuls@aol.com
Deb Spratt (N) Treasurer
debspratt@comcast.net
Mike Sheffieck (W) Secretary
708-220-1506 mcsheffieck@gmail.com
Steve Frew (E) Fleet Captain
708-285-2999 stephenbfrew@gmail.com
BLYC DIRECTORS
Dave Carroll (W) 574-850-8359
arrolldavid39@gmail.com
Barb Cassady (E) 574-229-9815
barbcassady49@gmail.com
Ed Chester (E) 476-1010
ed@chesterlawoffice.com
Karen Curtis-Miller (E) 574-261-6712 krcurtismiller@gmail.com
Bernie Garceau 476-9862
bgarceau@norcoind.com
Deb Hall (C) 219-765-8691
debbershall@gmail.com
Pat McGann (E) 574-532-5377
pat@mcgannhay.com
Ron Niezgodski (W) 574-532-6710
birchbass1@gmail.com
Laura Pence (E)
lpence3@gmail.com
Sarah Petty (N) .574-274-9202
sarahkpetty@gmail.com
Claudia Phipps (N) 476-7073
claudia2154@gmail.com
Vickie Rogers (C) 476-2383
tvrogers@frontier.com
Rick Russwurm (N) 476-2407
paramountp@aol.com
Ray Scholes (S) 567-429-9569
rqs72@aol.com
Scott Troeger (E) 476-9898
scott.troeger@btlaw.com
Phil Vitale (E) 476-1680
sailorphil@philvitale.com
or onlinebarker@gmail.com
Sandy Vitale (E) 476-1680
sv6102@gmail.com
Dan Waxman (E) 317-506-1680
DWaxman131@outlook.com
Denny Weesner (S) 219-765-8602
dkwees@cs.com
Sue Williams (S) (574) 298-2839
smwilliams226@gmail.com
OTHER ATTENDEES
Paul Fallon (E) Chairman, Water Quality
476- 1467 pauljfallon49@gmail.com
Blair Garceau (E) Chairman, Homeowners
476-9862 blairgarceau@gmail.com
Barker Funnies
Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, 'Lillian, you should have remained a virgin.' - Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, and to have the two as close together as possible.- George Burns
Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year- Victor Borge
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.- Mark Twain
By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, You'll become a philosopher.- Socrates
I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.- Groucho Marx
I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back.- Zsa Zsa Gabor
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: Alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.- Alex Levine
My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying.- Rodney Dangerfield
Money can't buy you happiness ... But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.- Spike Milligan
Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was SHUT UP .- Joe Namath
I don't feel old. I don't feel anything until noon. Then it's time for my nap.- Bob Hope
I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it.- W. C. Fields
We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress.- Will Rogers
Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.- Winston Churchill
Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty, but everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out.- Phyllis Diller
By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere.- Billy Crystal
And the cardiologist's diet: if it tastes good spit it out.
BLYC, Facebook and other social media
The Birch Lake Yacht Club DOES NOT have a Facebook page nor is it participating in any form of social media. If you see Birch Lake Yacht Club information on any social media, the information has not been provided, checked or approved by the BLYC, and may be incorrect or misleading. If you have questions or concerns, please check http://www.philvitale.com/Barker/BirchBarker.htm, or contact any BLYC director or officer (see “officer and director” information in any edition of the Barker).
THE BARKER ONLINE...
The Online Birch Barker is owned and operated by the Birch Lake Yacht Club. It is produced voluntarily (without pay) by Phil Vitale. You may subscribe to receive this e-mail monthly (or as regularly as I get it out) at no cost — and you can unsubscribe at any time — or simply add this site to your favorites and check it monthly for updates
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