Maintenance Shutdown Report

NEWSLETTER

October 5, 2007

Hello Everyone

We just wanted to touch base and bring you up to date on what’s happening. The Garden Party Committee met this week to discuss a number of issues.

Here are some of the topics discussed:

1. Christmas Night Dance - Once again we have reserved the Star of the Sea for our Christmas dance on Jan 5th, 08. There will also be the usual mini concert before the dance as we have done previously. Lucy will be arranging the entertainers for the mini concert so if you feel up to performing please give her a call; she would love to hear from you. Should be another great time.

1. Garden Party of 2008 - The new date will be from August 6-10 2008. We have decided after receiving a lot of input from various people to move the date into August. Some people like the idea of having the Garden Party closer to the traditional Lady Day date. I trust this will be to most people’s satisfaction.

1. Building Committee - We would like to solicit a group of people to head up a “building committee” to take care of the infrastructure (for want of a better word) in Merasheen. This committee would be involved in the following:

• Construction of the washrooms

• Getting the water running to the centre and washrooms,
• Putting the plumbing in for the washrooms
• Constructing a new path or steps up to the Centre

As you can see this involves a lot of work for a few, but not so much for many. If we had four or five people committed to heading up these projects the Committee would help in any way to solicit funding and to help in gathering volunteers when the work was scheduled.

We, the Garden Party Committee, are going to have our hands full planning the garden party of 2008; we definitely feel this new committee would be a great asset. We encourage anyone who feels they have the skills to head up or be apart of this committee (even if it’s just to hold a board or pass nails) to contact me (Val Power at 227-2237) before the end of October. We would like to begin the construction of the washrooms in April or May of 2008 and be able to use them for the Garden Party in August.

Each year most of us travel to Merasheen Island to enjoy its beauty for a few weeks of the summer, some of the more adventurous go out there for two months and more (our hats go off to you, and we are envious). Although we love the ruggedness of the Island

all of us are used to the simple amenities of running water and bathroom facilities, we feel it is a must for the community centre. The pathway really needs to be fixed up; a few of us have slid down that hill on our behinds to end up at the bottom filled with mud. We have some seniors, God bless their hearts, which have kept the place alive in the summer throughout the years. We feel we owe it to people who have invested so much time and love in the Island to maintain what was put there and to build on it.

In addition we have checked on the price of a mini excavator that we could rent for a week or two to facilitate the digging of ditches etc down by the Community Centre. If we rent this excavator and anybody wishes to use it when it’s not in use by the Committee, the machine could be rented to cabin owners for a minimal amount. This would lessen the amount coming out of our budget for construction. It would be a great time to dig a well or do some ditching by your cabin. If you’re interested please feel free to give us a call.

In closing, we will not be making it a practice to ask people for donations. We’ve had great support in fund raising for the garden party events. We have enough money now to cover the upcoming 2008 Garden Party plus a small amount to start the renovations at the Centre. Thank you all for being so supportive.

However, in saying that, we would like to encourage people to make a donation toward the construction and renovations planned at the Community Centre if they’re in a position to do so (no amount is too small). This will be a one-time expense and after completion it should be virtually maintenance free with the materials we are hoping to use.

This is a large endeavour both money-wise and labour wise. We need everyone to pull together to make this happen. Please support us.

You can send your donation to:

Doreen Ennis

Box 3 Site 6

Southeast, Placentia

A0B 2YO

Once again, there will be future updates as the Garden Party date draws near. There will also be an updated financial statement sent out after the Garden Party.

Valerie Power

On Behalf of the Garden Party Committee

Quote

By: Vincent Lombardi

Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.