Before announcing which club is the winner of the first annual Friendliest Reciprocal Reception
Award, let me say that failure to win this award does not mean that said club did not give Members
a friendly reception. I can not stress enough that all the clubs nominated :
TYC, Port Madison YC, Swinomish YC, Vancouver Rowing Club :
treated Members very well indeed.
And there were some nice spots with a reputation for friendly people that did not even get nominated. The DeMeyers, who visited every club, refused to nominate any club; they were treated so well everywhere that they could not pick just one. So you can see that choosing a winner was hard.
The club we chose has a great location, eh. They have excellent facilities which are open to their guests. They have a reputation for being friendly that, Members tell us, is well deserved. This year's Award goes to Vancouver Rowing Club. We took into account not only this year's testimony, but also visits by Members in years past. They were nominated by Bill Arney, of Janus, and all agree, this is one great place to stop.
SSSS Members continue to surprise me. When I proposed the award for visiting the most reciprocal clubs, I did not seriously think anyone would make it to all the clubs on the list. Well Balder not only went to all twenty-one clubs, they even went back to several!
There was no question who received the Award for visiting the most clubs. Congratulations to Balder. We presented them an Award Certificate and a SSSS hat (of a brand new color) at the December Meeting. They received the real rewards of winning this award at some twenty-odd spots this summer.
I want to end this by thanking all the clubs that have us as guests. Their hospitality is appreciated. And I want to urge you to take advantage of it. You may make some new friends.
Steve Worcester, Sugar Magnolia