With a successful shakedown cruise behind us, Shelter Bay Yacht Club kicked off the boating season with an Opening Day that was a spectacular success despite a foreboding sky threatening to rain on our celebration. Past Commodore Ken Olsen was the Master of Ceremonies for the outdoor events that included a salute to the colors, hoisting of the Bridge members’ flags, blessing of the fleet, introduction of past commodores and tolling of the bell for the members who sadly had ended their voyage with us in the past year. A ritual blast of the ceremonial cannon kicked off the really fun parts of the event, happy hour, dinner and the live auction.
Those attending eagerly perused the many fantastic items on display for the raffle and silent auction. They stuffed raffle tickets into the boxes for each item and logged their silent auction bids. As usual, our generous donors had served up a feast of valuable and useful items to hope for and bid on. Ron Kostanich did his usual stellar job of soliciting many of the donated items. Our volunteer ticket sellers sold nearly $1,700 worth of raffle tickets, not all of them to W.C. Harvey.
Dinner was an excellent barbecued feast catered by Double Barrel BBQ. For dessert there were S.B.Y.C. branded iced cookies from La Conner’s Classic Cookie Shoppe that were delicious but almost too pretty to eat. Hats off to Double Barrel and the Classic Cookie Shoppe for a superb meal.
Jon and Debbie Galbraith, who once again stepped up to make this very complex event a success, thanked all the many volunteers who gave their time, talent and treasure to our club.
With Master of Ceremonies and wily auctioneer W.C. Harvey donning a variety of prize-related costumes and leading the 118 people in attendance through some VERY spirited (and competitive) bidding, lucky winners (including one "silent bidder" who called in via Zoom!) went home with some great prizes. Many of the prizes were social functions that will be hosted by the donors, so members will be able to gather with other members and continue the sense of community and club beyond Opening Day. Between the raffle, the silent auction, the live auction, and the online auction, total proceeds from this year's event handily bested the previous record from 2023.
This year’s Opening Day is on record as the biggest Opening Day in our club’s history. It is emblematic of the resurgence of Shelter Bay Yacht Club from the dark days of the pandemic. It is a testament to the dedication of our volunteers who make our club worth belonging to. Special thanks go to Jon and Debbie Galbraith who once again did a masterful job of organizing and promoting the event, even while they are busy coordinating the 2024 cruises in the absence of a Fleet Captain. "Bravo Zulu" Jon and Debbie.
Note: The great slide show that played during the event can be viewed here