The_Gillespie_Times_001 - Page: 10 of 18

The BSO Training Group has been working on developing training classes for Crewman and Coxswain certification on and off for more than year and been integrating most of the information piece meal as time permitted. One of the team members has taken on the chore of formatting the training materials similar to the Sheriff procedure. The Fall/Winter time frame is when we can concentrate on getting the BSO up-graded and provide hands on experience for some of the advanced courses.

Normally we don’t have a lot new members applying to be BSO’s so we have been just working new members in as catch can. Recently we have quite large group applying to become Boating Safety Officers and we need to provide them the opportunity to get on board as soon as we can and there is a lot of training that they must go through before they can be useful in the program. As a result, the Sgt. asked that we put together a plan to give the New BSO an opportunity to take the mandatory classes twice a year, so the training group is identifying the training segments in order of need, and then scheduling them so the New BSO have an opportunity to take the classes necessary to at least get on a boat. This will be a busy period as we have our normal fall / winter advanced activities that we look forward to.

Whew!!! Ed hurt his back again, trimming one of the Mediterranean Fan Palm trees. Ed has a problem getting up and down and the tree needed a lot of trim. Ed had to give up his morning walk for a week, as there was no way he could make it. Ed says he will be more careful next time. Don’t want to do that again.

By October the weather has cooled and the snowbirds begin to come back to Havasu for the winter, so this is a busy time at the Club with events like Casino Night, Oktoberfest, Halloween, Club Elections, Thanksgiving, Commodores ball and Christmas Party and New Years Party. One of our new members was a professional auctioneer and the Burgee Girls just had a December Cake / Pie auction and our new member really put on a show and made a few bucks for the Club. Ed is hoping to see him get involved in other things as well.

These are always Fun Times and we have a beautiful Clubhouse, but since we are basically a volunteer organization it takes a lot of people to run the Club, so this year they even squeezed in a Tom & Jerry “Open House” to introduce the Public to our Club. Hopefully this will attact some new fresh membership.

Ed never got a chance to take our boat out on the lake and give it a test cruise after we had it fixed. The Club’s new Flt Captain Power has plans to get us back on the water this year so maybe we will get a chance to experience some fun on the lake. Actually Ed gets more than enough time on the water with the Sheriff Boating Safety Program, but it is not the same as when you’re out partying, fishing, etc.