March 2024 Town Hall

by Tony Grosinger

On March 6th 2024 approximately 25 members of the club gathered in the hall to do some brainstorming. The goal was just to get ideas down on paper so that they can be prioritized and planned in the future.

Town Hall Meeting

Town Hall Meeting

The board of directors put together the list of categories and the community filled in the all the ideas.

Thank you to Mark Gasser and Joe Mentor for facilitating.

  • Activities
    • Movie night
    • Ping pong
    • Use activities to attract people and build membership
    • Piggy-back on the OIYC pancake breakfast in May
    • Linkage with waterfront
    • Lack of parking – have to pay OIYC $50
    • Calendaring improvements – double booking with YC
    • BBQ (community outreach)
      • Olga days
    • Garage sale / rummage sale (Fidelis used to do this)
      • Deer Harbor had once mid-winter that was a huge success
    • Dance
    • Karaoke
    • End of season tool cleaning and sharpening
      • Jim Hamilton volunteered to bring his sharpener
    • Sip and paint
    • Guest lectures
    • Car & boat show
    • Cooking
    • Joint event with DHCC
    • Approved for-profit events.
      • We are in a smaller county so there are some exceptions.
      • Art classes, music classes, dance classes
      • A Saturday market might be allowed too.
      • Petitioning the county can be a strategy for adding more allowed activities.
      • Arthur mentioned that if you go through Parks and Recreation we might be able to do a dance.
      • Nancy had more information from her time as VP.
  • Building Improvements
    • A deck on the east side of the building extending to ground level on the north end.
    • Replace the kitchen.
      • A paint job in the kitchen would also go a long way.
      • Three compartment sink. Commercial dishwasher.
      • Joint project with the OIYC
    • Infrared heading panels or heat pump
    • Floor
    • Engineering study (or just an inspection)
    • Turn on the heat from your phone.
    • Replace the single pane windows.
      • Alternatively, adding shutters could protect the existing windows and improve their insulation.
    • Grant mentions that staying with in the purview of maintenance is easier to get through county approval rather than remodel.
    • New storage closet on the north end of the building.
    • Replace the hot water heater.
    • Restroom improvements.
  • Building Maintenance
    • Replacing siding on the north end of the building.
    • Address the leak between the kitchen and the north end of the building.
    • Use the compressor the blow out the water lines on cold days.
  • Funding
    • Could the historical society help us with fundraising since we’re a historic building?
      • Similarly, could the historical society host their meetings at our hall?
    • Grants
      • Bill Bangs
      • Need a needs analysis first
      • The county has a historic building preservation fund that can fund 50% of projects.
    • Convert Sail Orcas into a separate renter rather than being under the YC umbrella.
    • Advertise for rental of the hall. Chamber of commerce?
    • OICF bi-annual funding campaigns
    • Raise member dues
      • Sliding scale
      • Introductory rate, or the opposite - grandfather existing members at lower
    • Different funds that members can donate to
    • Membership capital campaign – direct asking
    • Increase membership
    • Make household double individual rate
    • Sell bricks
  • Governance
    • Build out more committees
      • Architectural
        • Colin Baden
        • Arthur
      • Membership / Welcoming
    • Encourage external groups to be committees, for example historical society or fidelis
    • Invite DHCC to one of our meetings
    • Review bylaws and articles of incorporation.
  • Membership
    • Solicit the OIYC to become WSCC members (add-on to your OIYC membership?)
    • We should make it more clear that membership is open to more than WS residents.
    • Must attract younger people to become members.
      • DHCC has had success with this. Talk to them about what they did.
    • Work with realtors to have them introduce new people to the club
    • Arthur asks to have a physical invitation he can hand out to people he meets.
  • OIYC Partnership
    • Kitchen remodel
    • Articulate shared goals and vision
    • Ensure the OIYC liaison attends our meetings
    • One set of common glassware, dishes, etc.
  • Use/Expectations
    • Update kitchen instructions (e.g. don’t rinse food down the drain).
    • Update cleaning rules in hall rent agreement.
    • Discourage or ban single use plastics during events.
  • Vision/Goals/Mission/Objectives
    • Keep the building standing
    • Grow the organization
    • Group activity - have members write down a list of what the hall means to them.
    • Set by example what community can be.