Dear fellow Montauk Club members:
Well, we've kicked off our 130th year and we're off and running. Things got started with our Annual Meeting on May 9, followed by a very well-attended New Members Night on the 11th. At the Annual Meeting we elected the following new Board members to three-year terms in the Class of 2021: Tom Anglin, Bob Gilbert, Douglas Moore, Frank Poe, and Jeanne Stellman. Mel Brender and I were re-elected to three-year terms in the Class of 2021. Nadia Bartolucci was elected to fill a vacancy in the Class of 2019, and Dennis Baker was elected to fill a vacancy in the Class of 2020.
At the Board meeting on May 30, we elected officers and committee chairs. Among officers, who serve one-year terms, I was re-elected as President and Earl Black was re-elected as Secretary. Douglas Moore was elected Vice-President, replacing Suzy Marquard; Bob Gilbert was elected Treasurer, replacing Lisa Finstrom; Leslie McKinley was re-elected Assistant Secretary; and Lisa Finstrom was elected Assistant Treasurer, filling a vacancy.
Among committee chairs, who also serve one-year terms, Douglas Moore was elected House Committee Chair, Bob Gilbert Finance Committee Chair, Nadia Bartolucci Entertainment Committee Chair, Leslie McKinley Membership Committee Chair and Communications Committee Chair, Douglas DeFeis Long-Term Planning Committee Chair, and Dennis Baker Reciprocal Clubs Chair.
I look forward to working with all of our newly elected Board members and committee chairs, and I know I extend to them the best wishes of the membership and staff.
I've said often that the committees are the engines of the Club's business and growth. We've worked hard to push the business of the Club down to the committees and that effort is paying off. More members are involved in the Club's business and we're building leadership for the future. But we still have far to go. A lot of people come to House Committee meetings but other committees get sparse participation. That is unfortunate, as each of our committees has a vital role in the Club, from recruiting and retaining members to providing a lively set of different kinds of entertainment, to getting our finances in order, to making sure our outreach and branding are timely and top-notch, to partnering with other clubs and with hotels and gyms to provide additional benefits to members, and to running the Clubhouse well. There is a committee for every interest and time commitment, and we need the committees to reflect the talents and the interests of all our members. If you have a question about a committee, please ask me or the committee chair. Committee meetings are posted on the Club calendar on our website and noted in the weekly eblasts.
Lastly, my broken-record moment: If you have an idea, you own it. Don't leave your great idea to levitate, hoping someone else will grab it, because it won't happen. Bring your idea to a committee meeting where it can acquire form and be realized. We need everyone's ideas and participation to keep our Club growing.
It is my privilege to be the President of our Club and I look forward to meeting and working with all of you.
Michael Cairl