Klub Karaoke at SSYC

By Tom Gale, Director

If you think America's Got Talent, you might be very surprised to hear the talent at SSYC.  We've had half a dozen Karaoke nights since last February and they get more popular each time we do another one. People you'd never suspect -- like Shawn Kerlin of the Blue Pearl -- make you swear Janis Joplin herself was in the house when she sings "...Busted flat in Baton Rouge, headin' for the trains, Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans..." .  Shawn also absolutely nails "Me and Bobby Mcgee".  Other members like Pete Engel, Becky Archibald, Rosemary Wehnes with daughter Laura, and even bartenders Renada and Miranda do great vocal renditions and get everybody in the room dancing. 

Encouraging everybody with her own beautiful voice is Bridget Lenz, wife of member Larry Lenz who also graces us with a song or two.  Bridget has been the DJ/Hostess for our Karaoke nights from the beginning and is quick to jump in and lend vocal support when a performer loses the melody or can't find the key (which is rare). Bridget even makes me sound good when we do "Summer Nights".  Her harmony is magical.

So mark your calendars as we go into the fall and winter with the following "Klub Karaoke" Schedule:

• Saturday October 22nd
• Saturday November 19th
• Saturday January 28th
• Saturday February 25th
• Saturday March 24th

You can also access the dates at the SSYC website calendar.  I have recently acquired 12,000 karaoke songs, so come on down, have we got a song for you!

From the Helm

We had a good turnout at the September Annual Meeting.  Elections, of course, were held at that time and the slate proposed by the Nominating Committee was approved.  Congratulations to all the returning Officers and Directors. 

Committee reports were all positive and some of the best news was perhaps the information that our restaurant and bar revenue is much better than budgeted and ahead of last year’s totals.  Thanks to our staff for making our time at the club enjoyable. 

Gerry Hedtke brought up a valid point at the meeting.  We aren’t as diligent as we should be about keeping the drive-through and walk through-gates closed.  The drive-through should always be closed and locked while the walk-through should  be closed but un-locked during daylight hours.  Let’s all be a little more alert to this.

With the fun season winding down, activity around the Club grounds will be picking up.  Everyone should be alert to boat skids, trailers masts and related activity going on.  Parking will also become an issue so plan on losing your favorite spot to boat storage.  We also probably have room for a few more boats, so contact the office for a contract.  And, contract holders -- call the office ASAP if you haven’t made your haul-out appointment!

General Manager Pat Nora has a number of neat promotions going this fall (see the From the Manager article for a quick summary).  Watch for further posters and e-blasts and make sure to participate.  This is also the time for some of our more ‘formal’ celebrations which are coming soon: Change of Watch, Winners Dinner and Power Boaters Ball.  Make your reservations at the Club Office.

The end of my two terms as Commodore is fast approaching and I’m looking forward to serving as the SSYC Recording Secretary.  Thank you for your vote of confidence in electing me to that office.   I’ll keep this, my second to last column, short and hope to see you all at Badger Saturdays, Packer Sundays or just anytime at the Club.    

Children’s Halloween Party

By Helen “Cookie” Mueller, PC

The SSYC Juniors, with help from the SSYC Auxiliary, will be sponsoring a Children’s Halloween Party on Saturday, October 22^nd

Grab your little ghouls and witches and stop in at SSYC between 1:00 - 3:00 for an afternoon of games, crafts and Halloween snacks.  Children between the ages of 2 and 10 are welcome.  Prizes will be given for costumes.

RSVP to the SSYC office at 481-2331.  Cost is $4.00 per child.  Adults are free.

Please bring non-perishable food items to donate to the Bay View Community Center Food Pantry.

Powerboaters' News

The Cruise to Racine Yacht Club was held during the last weekend in August. There were eight boats in attendance, including two sailboats.  The seas were rough and many of us stayed an additional night, heading home on Monday.  We were saddened by the news of a  young boy drowning during our watch.  This event was run by Dick and Nancy Grabowski and Dick and Shirley Harvey. 

The car show was held over the Labor Day weekend.  All of the food was sold and the car show was a success despite the rain.  Thanks to Jerry Hedtke and his crew for running another wonderful event.  

Jerry is also running a quiet, but well attended, ice-breaker cruise this fall.  Check with Jerry for the date and availability.  

The only remaining event this year is the Power Boater’s Ball on November 12^th.  I hate to think that it is time to pull our boats out of the water, but it must be that time of year. 

As always, if you have any interest in running an event or new ideas for the ones we do, please let me know.  If you are new to the club, we really want to hear from you concerning your participation in the Powerboater’s activities.  Call me personally on my cell at 414-397-4151.  We want your participation. 

On August 20^th many volunteered their boats and to help feed 77 children and their “bigs” for the Big Brother/Big Sister boat ride.  Doug and Pam Reading took the helm on this project, and a project it is to coordinate getting the boats and arranging the riders.     

Do not hesitate to contact me if you have an interest in running an event, or if you have any suggestions for ways we can improve any of our former events.  New ideas are always welcomed, as are new boating friends. 

Hope you are enjoying the summer.  See you at the Club.    

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Cruising Fleet News

By Don Doggett, Cruising Fleet Co-Captain

Aloha Cruisers and Cocktailers, it’s time we wrap up another sailing season.  This year, the summer cruising season was shortened by a late arriving spring, funnel clouds and what feels like an early winter.  However we did manage to get one weekend cruise in this season, despite all of the unforgiving weather.

Sailing vessels “Rust”, “Mystique” and “SummerHours” left the horseshoe dock under sail and headed to Racine on August 27^th just before noon. There was plenty of wind and heavy following seas to push us along. Our heavy cruising boats still managed to arrive there in “rockstar” time.  We visited with fellow SSYC members and found the crew of “Heavy Metal” was also there enjoying Racine’s cocktail circuit! Although, we had a rough ride back home, we eventually made it home safely with cruising stories to talk about.

Next year, we are planning more cruising adventures and extending invitations to cruise with other local cruising groups in the Milwaukee Bay area. Join us on Thursday, November 10 at 7pm in the upstairs dining room for the Cruising Club’s year-end meeting and award recognition. The boat which has traveled the most miles will be awarded the South Shore Yacht Club Cruising Trophy. This trophy will be awarded each year and all long-distance cruising members will be eligible for this honor. Bring your log books to compete for the most miles ventured!  Pictures of you and your boat in different ports will help the judges so bring those along, too! 

Additionally, we will be putting together a roster of all the members and the places they’ve been and would like to travel to. The form will be available at the meeting and the roster will be given to all Cruising Club members.  Perhaps crews looking to see the same port can arrange to travel there together. 

Enjoy the last few weeks of sailing! See you in November.

T-10 Fleet News

By Christopher Moll, Fleet Captain

As we enter the long stretch of our off-season, many of you might be considering what your next move will be in an effort to satisfy your sailing and boat ownership needs. In doing so, please consider the following ideas:

• A T-10 is a well balanced seaworthy boat that is user friendly, easy to sail, and very rewarding to the skipper and crew.
• Milwaukee Bay has a very strong T-10 fleet with a rich history and bright future.
• The T-10 is a family friendly racing boat for people of all ages. In the Milwaukee fleet it is common to see crew ranging from 6 years old to 66 years old and everywhere in between.
• Our Milwaukee fleet is very social and camaraderie is always high.
• One-Design racing is a lot of fun and eliminates the frustrations that are inherent with handicap racing. The level of competition and quality of racing in our local fleet is simply fantastic.
• Right now is a great time to pick-up a T-10 given the trend toward a buyers’ market.  You should be able to acquire a solid race-ready boat in the $15,000 - $25,000 range which is very affordable by today’s standards.
• The design and construction of the boats is relatively basic and clean making maintenance projects user friendly and handy for the do-it-yourself skipper.
• Maintaining a competitive set of sails is easy and relatively inexpensive as the boats are set-up with a class jib, main, and spinnaker. No other sails are necessary.
• If you are looking for the excitement of competing in a very large one-design event, you can typically find 30-40 T-10’s competing annually in the Chicago NOODS, Verve Cup, and Mackinac race.
• If your program yearns for national level competition, the T-10 National Championship regatta is held in the mid-west each year and right here on Lake Michigan about every 3-4 years.

So whether you are interested in racing Saturdays, Wednesday nights, or the Nationals, the T-10 is a versatile family friendly boat that you and your crew will love. Feel free to contact any one of our fleet members for an exciting test drive this fall or spring.  Please take a look at our fleet as we would love to have you join us. If interested, contact me at Bluemoont10@aol.com.

Double Handed Fleet

By Bruce Nason, Commodore

For the fourth time this year our fleet was able to sail a complete three leg race.  Conditions weren’t the best, grey skies, a fresh breeze and a bumpy lake, but the 11 starters met the challenge.  Of course afterward was the annual fourth race Shrimp and Champagne Party.  Lots of ‘dishes to pass’ appeared and we again had more food than we knew what to do with.  We’re maintaining our status as the most well fed fleet at the Club. 

The first, second and third place finishers of Race Four were;  (1) Special Sauce, (2) Sabotage and (3) Zyklon.  Flags for all four races should arrive soon and I will deliver them to our winners.   The Season Series results are also posted on the outside bulletin board but the top three are:  (1) Sabotage, (2) Special Sauce and (3) Latis.  Congratulations to all. 

Carolyn and I want to thank our Race Committee volunteers; John Archibald, Pat Randa, Jerry Rakowski, Gary Mattson and Chris Gribble, also a big thank you to our food helpers Pat Rakowski and Heidi Gartner. 

No major changes are anticipated for the 2012 season but look for a meeting notice to be, perhaps, piggy-backed with either the PHRF or SS/SSS Fleet Meetings.  Again, to all who made this year’s four races a success, thank you.

From the Manager

Greetings:

Even as the season winds down, your club continues to be the place to go for food, drink and fun. Make note of these dates -- and introduce a potential new member to the club!

Saturday - October 8th - First Haul Out, Grounds Clean-Up and Change of Watch Party with music by “THE RHYTHM KINGS”

Saturday - October 22nd - Kids Halloween Party - also Karaoke nite

Saturday - October 29th - Member Halloween Party with music by “JAMMIT”

Saturday – November 5th - Slip Closing, Slip Work Party and Winners Dinner with music by “NEW REVUE”

Saturday – November 12th -Power Boaters Ball with music by “HEAT”

Saturday – November 19th- Seafood Buffet – also Karaoke nite

And don’t forget:

• Packer Sunday’s
• Taco Tuesday (Starting October 11^th)
• Watch for “Three Dog Night" - Thursday Pizza Night (starting soon)
• And. a series of Martini Nights (to be scheduled)

So as you can see there is plenty of fun to be had at SSYC!  See you at your club.

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Auxiliary Report

By Jan-Marie Weiler

Welcome to autumn and all the activities that it brings to us at South Shore Yacht Club. One of the events to look forward to at this time of the year is the Auxiliary’s Shipmates Night. This is when we auxiliary members invite our husband or significant other to have dinner with us. The Auxiliary always meets the first Tuesday of the month so that means October 4^th this year.  We always start those dinner meetings at 6:00 p.m. We will start the evening with a short business meeting and after the meeting invite our loved ones up for dinner and more.

Our entertainment this year will be renowned sailors Ken and Sandy Dzuibek. They will take us on a travelogue to an area of the Pacific Ocean they sailed with Richard Pieper. Get your atlases ready as we will go down under with them to an area of the Pacific Ocean most of us only dream of seeing. Can you find New Caledonia, Port Moresby or Darwin on the world map? After this evening, you will be much more informed about this region.

Dinner reservations are required. Call the club office to reserve your spot. Dinner cost is same as last year, $10.00 per person. Ladies who signed up last meeting, please remember to bring a pie for dessert.

Another item on our auxiliary calendar would be the Giving Tree. We do this every year as it is a part of our community outreach activities. Fran Aring has already been contacted by the organization that organizes this. We will again have some gift tags for children and some for seniors. Fran will have them at the November auxiliary meeting which would be November 1st. If you would like some gift tags but can’t make the meeting or would like them earlier, just call Fran and let her know what you are interested in.  We usually bring the gift bags to the December meeting which is December 6^th. These organizations like to get the gift bags for their holiday parties.

Also, coming up would be the nomination and installation of officers and board members at our November meeting. Don’t be shy, please volunteer to take one of the openings on the board. Fran Aring is coordinating this. Also on the nominating committee are Pat Rakowski, Karen Schmidt, and Mary Berg. Please give them a call.

We are also looking for other members to step aboard the Ways and Means committee. This is a VERY important part of the Auxiliary. The main purpose of the Ways and Means committee is the sale of Queens Cup merchandise. This committee has been expertly handled for twenty plus years by Pat Rakowski, Fran Aring and Cookie Mueller. In 2012 they are going to step down from this committee. They are willing to offer guidance and share the bookkeeping experience they have from their many years on this committee.  Winter is near, but don’t turn a cold shoulder to this opportunity. Help your club spring forward and guarantee a bright future for the SSYC Auxiliary.

Grounds Committee Report

The storage sheds located on the south side of our property have been given a new roof. During the spring cleanup it was noticed that most of the rolled roofing was damaged. I would like to thank all of the members who volunteered to replace the roof. I would especially like to thank Warren Kruse who did most of the work while we assisted him. I would also like to thank Patrick Kuptz for donating the shingles. Anytime a donation can save the club money it is very much appreciated.

The old waste oil tank has been replaced with a new tank thanks to Peter Haase. Peter painted the tank and installed a drain funnel which will hold a five gallon bucket.

On September 14, 2011 the tent sustained some damage due to the wind tearing out a section of material located on the top of one of the center tent poles. The tent was temporally repaired. Hopefully the tent will hold up until the end of the season.

The Grounds Committee will be having a meeting at 7PM on October 6, 2011 to discuss the upcoming budget and repair items.

There will be a Grounds cleanup party that will take place at 9AM on Saturday October 8, 2011. Haul out of boats will start after the cleanup. Just a reminder that all of the boats which are located in the Dry Sail Storage and Dingy Racks must be removed by the owners before the Grounds Cleanup on October 8, 2011.

House Report

The outside stairs to the deck have been repainted with the help of Dick Harvey and Jerry Kedziora.

Just reminders to clean up a table in the lounge after you are done using it so the next person has a clean table to sit at.

As we enter the lift-out part of our season be aware of the operations going on and please don’t fall off any ladders. Also please refrain from cleaning boat parts in the bathrooms.

See you at a Packer game.

Short Bights

By Bruce Nason. Commodore

Let’s start this with congratulations to four of our young SSYC women sailors, a sister act to boot, who took Fifth Place in the National J30 Championship Regatta in Annapolis, Maryland a few weeks ago. Kate and Elizabeth Hayes and Whitney and Alison Kent (Team Rafiki) has promised to show off their trophy for a while at the Club.

What a turn-out for the Packers Bears game last Sunday. Team Wind Chaser organized the buffet and somehow we had more food than the 100 + fans could eat. I think Larry Mueller will be having leftover hot dogs for a while. If you’re not a regular at the Packers games, you should be down at the Lakeside Lounge with a hundred of your friends. Bring guests along; they could be future members of our Club.

Grounds Chairman (and Vice Commodore elect) George Artka had two significant work parties recently; one to replace the roof on our storage sheds along the South fence and the other to replace our waste oil tank. A newer tank was donated made to look brand new by Pete Haase. Remember the tank is for waste oil only….no anti freeze, old gasoline or other fluids.

Waterfront Services Chairman Jerry Rakowski just completed the installation of a state mandated fuel storage overflow alarm system. By doing the majority of the work with volunteers a considerable cost savings was realized.

Keep watching for posters and e-blasts for details of future Club events. There are many ways to have fun at South Shore Yacht Club!

  

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My Favorite Flag

This month’s favorite flag is the “X” Flag or Individual Recall     

It means that a boat has crossed to the course side of the line before her proper starting time.   There is one sound signal when displayed and NO sound signal when removed. The X flag is displayed until the earliest of the following: all boats over the line have returned correctly,  4 minutes from the start, or until one minute before the next start.                  

1^st Substitute Flag or General Recall Flag     

The TWO Sound Signals when the first substitute is displayed are in addition to the Start Sound Signal and One Sound Signal when it is removed.

Signaled when there unidentified boats over the line or subject to one of the starting penalties, or there has been an error in the starting procedure. The new warning signal for the recalled class will be made 1 minute after the 1st substitute is removed.                                                            

2011 Milwaukee Challenge Rowing Regatta

By Bob Franke

South Shore Yacht Club and members once again provided 5 crash boats and 6 personnel to assist in the running of the 2011 Milwaukee Challenge Rowing regatta sponsored by the Milwaukee Rowing Club on September 17^th, 2011. 

The Milwaukee Challenge is a rowing event that is held on the Milwaukee River from North of Cherry Street to the junction and then up the Menomonee River to West of 25^th Street.  Competitors assemble and start on the Menomonee River @ 25^th Street, race downstream toward the East, then make a hard left turn toward downtown, then navigate the many bridges including the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge which sits at a 25 degree angle to the Milwaukee River, then finish North of Cherry Street. 

This year’s event featured 12 classes of teams including collegiate, juniors and masters divisions.  Teams from UW Madison, UW Milwaukee, MSOE, Loyola, Purdue, along with high schools teams such as Camp Randall made up the 130+ 4 & 8 person regatta.  Over 1000 competitors in all participated in this year’s event.

Thanks again to Commodore Bruce Nason, Paul Dondero, Tom Dondero, Phil Blaufuss, Jerry Kedziora, Mike Blackwood and Bob Franke for volunteering for the day to make this event a success.

 

SSYC Boats and personnel assemble at Pleasant Street before 8am

Four person Women’s team passing under the Marine Bank sky wall

4^th year MSOE Eight Man team navigating the Wisconsin Ave bridge

Bay View History -- Street Names

By Sharon Cook

Two streets take us down the hill to the Club.  Do you know how they were named?? 

 Originally Division Street, the name was changed in 1887 to Nock.  Henry Nock was a Bay View merchant and village treasurer. 

Another change when Milwaukee annexed the area was Lake Street.  It became Iron Street to reflect the importance of the Milwaukee Iron Company. 

Provided in cooperation with the Bay View Historical Society…

Helping Hands

By Carolyn Nason

Here are a few helpful hints:

This little gem is from Mary Emery (Meltdown). Always keep several  get-well cards on the mantle, so if unexpected guests arrive, they will think you've been sick and unable to clean. Wow, truly one of the all time greats, Mary! Thanks.

If you like to cook with liqueurs or alcohol but don’t think you’d ever use a whole bottle, why not buy a mini instead? They are a lot cheaper and don’t take up much space.

If you’re planning a vacation, here are a couple “members-only” (easy to join) discount websites: http://www.jetsetter.com/sales  and http://www.tripalertz.com/pages/curtain . Give them a try and you might find a great deal. Oh, and don’t miss http://www.autoslash.com/ . If this site finds a lower rate, you are automatically rebooked for free. Such a deal!

Lose that chunky wallet. Upload snapshots of both sides of your health, dental and life insurance cards. Now you can keep those cards at home.

So you don’t wear that silver chain because it’s tarnished? Or wish you could change that gold piece to silver? Check out http://www.preciousbath.com/. They’ll re-plate costume jewelry gold, silver-colored rhodium or gunmetal ruthenium. Prices start at $25.

Why didn’t I think of that?! The next time you need to apply caulk in a tight space, try this tip. Use a heat gun to gently warm the caulk tip until the plastic becomes soft. Then bend the tip to the required angle and allow it to cool. Now you’ve got the perfect angle.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking. 

Can’t get that song out of your head, but can’t remember the details of who sang it?  http://www.allmusic.com/ is the site to visit to answer those nagging questions. It lists all kinds of facts about an album or artist, including title, tracks, genre, label, credits, release-date, and cover and artist images. You can search by song, album, group or classical work. The site covers all genres. So scratch that musical itch!

Eliminate electromagnetic interference if your TV and DVD player are stacked on top of each other by placing a sheet of aluminum foil between them.

No paper cups for muffins? Use parchment paper.

Speaking of parchment paper, do you know the difference? Wax paper is lightweight tissue paper coated on both sides with paraffin. Parchment paper is heavier nonstick paper that is treated with sulfuric acid and coated with silicone. Parchment paper is grease-proof and moisture-resistant while wax paper is not as moisture-proof. In the oven, you can use wax paper only if it doesn’t come in contact with direct heat (think lining a cake pan). Parchment paper can also be used to line cake pans but it can take the ovens direct heat. You can line baking sheets with parchment for making cookies, so they don’t stick, but don’t do that with wax paper.

As always, keep your hints coming.

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