Keep it Simple, Retain the Crystal Experience, Think Green

The second clubhouse input meeting resulted in a good discussion and some solid direction for the board. Attending were Carl & Billie Hays, Eric Benne, Ron Ferguson, Mike & Christy Schmidt, Gretchen Delaney, Craig Smith, Mike Jackson and Jim and Melodee Walker. All that attended participated fully in the discussion and added meaningful comments.

The big ideas coming out of the meeting were (1) keep it simple (2) retain the Crystal experience and (3) Think Green. Its great to have some guiding principles and these are excellent.

Gretchen Delaney got us started with her observation that as Dylan sorta said, the times have changed. 30 years ago, club parties were in vogue; not just at Crystal Lake but in society in general. Christy added that we are more of a cocoon society now; we like spending time at home and those homes take up much of the functions of clubhouses of old. Dave Riley pointed out that club parties have been averaging less than 50 attendees for many years now; Dave wants to size the facility to handle club needs which means seating 50-60 for dinner with the provision to shoehorn in say 20 more. Craig Smith added that he and his wife have hosted numerous private parties and a room of this size would fit their needs. We discussed the possibility of members wanting to host parties for their businesses. We agreed with the point made at the first meeting that today's firms have grown and for the most part their needs are beyond the space we at Crystal could accommodate. Mike Schmidt made the point that his company has meetings of about 20 for which the clubhouse as we've discussed would be an excellent location.

We moved on to discussing the kitchen and quickly came to agreement that a catering kitchen with plenty of counter space along with refrigeration, cleanup facilities and a simple stove and over are what we need. Mike Jackson said that this type of kitchen would be at the low end of the cost range. Dave Riley made the point that we needed to incorporate buffet serving and we were able to move on to a discussion of outdoor space.

The clubhouse plan calls for a fairly large 3-season room on the north end. Mike Jackson explained that the difference between 3-season and 4-season may be mostly in the name and less in the cost. Dave & Linda Riley stated the most used room in a Midwestern house could be the screened in porch. It brings the outside in while leaving the bugs out. Mike agreed that going to a screened in porch would cut costs, but there would still be a roof and the ongoing maintenance costs of screens. We discussed briefly the possibility of going to just a large deck, but those pesky bugs kept coming up. Carl and Billie pointed out that we could screen in the lower level, i.e. the pavilion that will be created under the elevated north end of the clubhouse. This would provide the functionality of the screened in porch without the need for a roof and with better access for the picnickers. A good suggestion and one worth considering.

Carl made the final point of the evening and it was a good one. He would like the club to incorporate green technology in the new clubhouse. He feels this is in keeping with our tradition and given the low level of usage, a solar system might pick up a good share of the future electric costs. Jim Walker added that green could also mean a reflective roof. There was general agreement that spending more upfront could reduce ongoing operating costs and we should seriously look at these options.

Thanks all in attendance. Your ideas and input were valuable. In one hour we accomplished a lot.