Event

BY TRICIA DONEGAN

The Prostate Cancer Golf Event and After Party was a huge success because of the tremendous support we received from our community. The volunteers on the committee worked very hard and as a result we exceeded last year’s net profit. The Prostate Cancer Foundation and the U of M Rogel Cancer Center for Prostate Cancer Research each received $3,873.60.

This year we added two other events besides golf, thinking outside of the box, which garnered us some additional revenue. On May 24, 83 golfers took to The Royal Golf Course for a

4-person scramble with grenades! Have you ever tried to throw a golf ball? Doesn’t go very far but it’s a lot of fun trying! In keeping with our theme of “Cigars & Bourbon” each division winner received a cigar box with a sleeve of golf balls, shot glass, cigar, cigar holder and a wine stopper. For the Women we substituted the real cigar for a bubble gum one, and the cigar holder for a bracelet from Luu & Frankie’s Boutique. The wine stoppers and cigar holders were donated to the event by Ken Jewell. He is a masterful woodworker and very generous. We had 36 hole sponsors this year and we are grateful to them all, especially: Rick Kempton and Coldwell Banker Realty who additionally donated golf towels for each golfer; Denise Webb & Century 21 Whitehouse donated the swag bags and all the goodies in them; Harold Wolf and the CLA donated the wristbands; Ice Mountain donated water for our participants; Kelley Reitzel and Big Rapids Realty donated the koozies and also hosted a Sip ‘n’ Shop event. And Carlleen & Brian Rose hosted a shopping spree at the Old Pioneer Store and Emporium (Kilwin’s). We cannot thank these people enough for their generosity. We received 30 bottles of liquor and wine for our Liquor Raffle from people in our community, and this year we changed things up and reaped more revenue for our bottom line. Thank you to everyone who donated. We would also like to thank Lindsay Halcomb and the CLPOC for donating coffee mugs, bubble gum cigars and four wine glasses with the CL logo on them!

Our Silent Auction was packed with great options from a tasting and tour of the Iron Fish Distillery (including a fifth of Iron Fish Bourbon); golf packages; Tequila & shot glasses; a wine basket from Gwinn Girls; a custom-made putter; a unique liquor decanter and some other great options. We received a tremendous amount of gift cards that worked out very well, coupled with other items for great auction packages. Unique to this year’s event was a donation of some very highend liquor. This was part of a collection that a couple in CL donated in memory of their son. It was part of his collection that they inherited after their son died. These were used for a Live Auction and we appreciate their generosity.

The golf was fun but let me tell you about the food! Ryan Rasmussen put out a pasta bar that was the best buffet food many had ever tasted! I got comments, Ryan got recognition, and everyone enjoyed their meal. John Elenbaas of the CL Camera Club was on the course and inside capturing photos of the event for us. Thank you, John.

Most importantly I want to thank and acknowledge the great team of volunteers who made this such a success: Jim & Denise Webb, Dick & Therese Lee, Pete Zeimis & Lynn Tracy, Tim & Renee Hojna, Janet Lieckfelt, Lisa

Hodges, Karen Schultz, Cheryl Fierk, Elayne McCollum, Laurel McLean, Joan Florian, Bruce Fredrick and our Golf Pro Dennis Wolf. You all rocked it again this year! Thank you.

Canadian Lakes Debuts Its Mobile App

The tee time function is the most used and most popular function. The app itself could not be easier to operate and the membership has received their fair share of instructions from my department through the Member Bulletin and individual emails, phone calls, and visits. I do believe if anyone is still having login troubles then it is a password issue and that is a very easy fix for my department, we will just reset your password and it grants you immediate access to the app and the member website. We still have a couple of remaining items we are patiently waiting for to allow our tee sheets to talk to the events we set up in the system. These items are not something we can fix; we are relying on Northstar to polish out those bugs. Over time you will see little improvements to each function the mobile app has to offer.

Canadian Lakes Annual Election

My department helps coordinate and manage the electronic side of our election each year. We are also in charge of preparing the layout of the paper ballot. There are many other moving parts and the election is not an easy task. In the past you could opt-in for online voting, which many people took advantage of and signed up electronically. This year we are asking each member again if they would like to vote electronically in this election and going forward. We need to repeat this process this year so your choice to vote electronically or not can be recorded in our new software (Northstar).

NIGHTS OF LIGHTS (NOL)

It feels weird to already be talking about NOL again…feels like we just finished with last year. After all the summer fun, activities, and events, my department will once again resurrect the NOL Committee. NOL takes a lot of work and a lot of volunteers to make sure it all runs smoothly. There will be much planning taking place over the next few months. Many logistics to cover with Facilities, Maintenance, and Safety from parking to capacity. I’m talking about planning Member’s Night, Festive Fridays, Cocoa Bars, etc. We have a wonderful group of volunteers that will help plan these very popular and fun events. Stay tuned over the next few months and we will start reporting our plans and dates. NOL is a very exciting season for many of us, our families, and our guests. Be ready for another awesome season!