Winter Letter 2014

Dear Glenwood Members;

It is time to start getting ready for spring and summer. Over the past few months the pool has been empty and all of our furniture is stacked and stored, but the Board has been busy preparing for the upcoming season.

We will tell you all about it at our Annual Member Meeting – mark your calendar for:

Thursday, March 13, 2014
7:30 PM
Knights of Columbus Hall on Rosensteel Avenue

At the meeting we will hold Board of Directors elections, share Swim and Dive Team news and get you geared up for longer days and sunscreen. Below is some background information in advance, but more details will be provided at the meeting.

STAFFING – We aren’t sure of the numbers yet, but we do expect to have many returning lifeguards as well.

Now is the time for prospective new guards to become certified. Many classes are offered through the Montgomery County Recreation Department. We always have lots of young pool members interested in joining the staff and do our best to accommodate them, but please note that we simply can’t hire everyone. Anyone interested in guarding — even if returning from 2013 — should send an email to Sandy Kweder at p_e_coyne@yahoo.com or just to managers@glenwoodpool.org.

SWIM & DIVE TEAMS – Jeremy and Kelly Butler will be back to lead our swim team coaching staff this summer, and assistant and pre-team coaches will be announced by April. The parent reps this year will again be Karen Clark, Nancy Foster and Jack Niemczuk who, along with Treasurer Lisa Gray, look forward to mobilizing our awesome parents in support of the MCSL’s most enjoyable summer program.

2014 marks the last season for the dynamic duo of Nancy Enderby and Elizabeth O’Kelly as parent reps for the Glenwood Dive Team – thanks to them both for all their hard work these last three years. Shadowing Nancy and Liz this summer will be incoming Reps Ramona Butchko and Lisa Wagner. Head Coach Noah Ehrlenberg will return, and assistant coaches are being identified.

The first draft of the 2014 Swim Team calendar has been posted on the website, with updates to follow. We will again have on-line registration in mid-May for returning swimmers ONLY; ALL first-time swim team and prospective pre-team swimmers MUST be screened in person after the pool opens. The practice schedule for this year will remain the same as last year’s (also on the team website). You can find news for Dive team at its website here.

In the very short run, save the evening of March 7, 2014 for the return of the Glenwood Winter Dance, to be held at the Knights of Columbus 6:45-10 pm. No dinner, no frills — just a DJ with good tunes, a dance floor big enough to accommodate all your best moves, and the company of our super Glenwood community to bring back a taste of sweet summer!Organized by swim team families, the dance is open to all Glenwood members.

BUDGET – Also available on the Glenwood website is a budget summary with final numbers for 2013 and plans for 2014. We will review it at the Annual Meeting, but it will be helpful if you have already reviewed this report. Some highlights are worth mentioning here.

  • We continue to control expenditures well and manage major capital improvements that will maintain the quality of our facility and grounds. Last year’s major improvements included extending the terracing along the north side of the pool, as well as purchasing new tables, chairs and umbrellas.
  • The pool’s capital reserve fund is in good shape as well. . Rebuilding our capital reserve has been a priority in recent years, and now that we are into our 10th year since the last major renovation, we want to be sure our long-term financial health is sound to maintain Glenwood for future generations.
  • Projected capital improvements for the 2014 season include improvements to our property entrance, new caulking for the coping stone border surrounding the main pool repairs to our stairs at the back of the property and some mundane items like functional foot showers!

DUES 2014 – A notice of dues will be sent to you with the spring mailing. In keeping with our program to introduce regular, small instead of large, episodic dues increases, and our continuing expectation for rising costs, dues in 2014 will be raised by 3%.

Family Unit Individual Family of 2 Family of 3 Family of 4 Family of 5+
2013 dues $345 $475 $590 $665 $715*
2014 dues $355 $489 $607 $685 $736

*An additional $25 charged for each additional family member over 5.

DIRECTOR ELECTIONS 2014 – There are positions for 11 elected Directors on our Board of Directors, each of whom serves for a two-year term. The Membership Director and one representative each from the Swim Team and Dive Team serve as non-voting members of the Board, as well. Elections will be held at the Annual Meeting. If you are an active Glenwood (adult) member and would like to run for a seat on the Board, please contact Board@glenwoodpool.org, as soon as possible.

As of today, the election slate planned for a vote at the Annual Meeting is listed in the LEFT column below. If new candidates step forward between the date of this letter and the meeting, this slate will change. Directors who will continue another year of their term are on the RIGHT. Again, if you would like to run for a seat on the board, please contact us as soon as possible.

You may notice that there is a new name on the slate for election, that of Dave Coyne. In April of last year, we lost our wonderful longest serving Board member, Marie Slattery. Marie’s love for all things Glenwood, and her phenomenal memory of Glenwood traditions and policies, served the Board and pool community in ways that can never be replaced. Our new swim team record board will be named in Marie’s memory, and a lavender crape myrtle will be planted on our grounds this spring in her honor.

Shortly after Marie’s death, Dave offered to serve on the board in her stead. A professional fundraiser and consultant for educational institutions and other nonprofit groups, Dave was the Glenwood Swim Team parent rep for several years; last year he and wife Tanya ran the Swim-for-Tim swimathon, and their kids Jordan and Jackson have been lifeguards and members of the swim team. You’ll often find Dave wielding a chainsaw on clean-up days at the Big G and a beer at the regular Men of Glenwood gatherings. Dave is honored to serve in the “Marie Slattery” Glenwood seat, and we are grateful for his willingness to step up and join the board.

Director positions for election 2014 Continue to serve to 2015
Dave Coyne (vice Marie Slattery) Tim Hermans
Brian Slattery (President) Sandy Kweder
Roland Schrebler Joe Carnell
Steve Schrier Leslie Flynn
Chris Ginter (Vice President)
Denise Weston (Treasurer)
Dave Kreischer
Other Representatives (non-voting)
Dive Team Representative – Nancy Enderby
Membership Director – Kathleen Enright

SPRING CLEAN UP – It takes dozens of members to keep Glenwood running all year. Much of the work is done by the Board of Directors over the course of the entire year. However, spring and fall clean-ups need many, many of you to help out. Increasingly we see our volunteer numbers dwindling at these events and the same people seem to show up season after season. YOU ARE GLENWOOD AND GLENWOOD NEEDS YOU! This spring we will plan our clean-up weekend far in advance of what we have done in the past. As part of this, you will be contacted and asked to make a time commitment to help out, perhaps even to a specific task team. Board member Steve Schrier will be in touch!

I hope to see you all at our annual meeting so that we can get our 2014 season off to a good start. Please bring your copy of the proposed budget (also posted on the website). The Board and I will have more details about all of the items above, summer planning and, of course, will hold our annual raffle for FREE dues for 2014. In case of inclement weather, CHECK the WEBSITE for information about whether we will reschedule the meeting. www.glenwoodpool.org.

Sincerely,

Chris Ginter
Vice President

If you would like a hard copy of this letter, you can download it here.