2019 Late Winter President’s Letter

Dear Fellow MVCC Members,

Welcome to another exciting season at Mountain View!  Despite having several feet of snow still on the ground here in Greensboro, preparations for an exciting 2019 season are already well underway.  We open in just two months!

Thank you all for your continued support and enthusiasm, with special thanks to those members who donate additional funds above and beyond their dues and those members who volunteer the time and effort that make our social and sporting events possible.  Those volunteer efforts are critical to minimizing our expenses, expanding our offerings and helping us realize our founders’ vision of a friendly, family-oriented club that provides access to a broad segment of our community.  

We are planning a range of exciting activities for 2019—I enclose the latest version of the summary calendar that will appear in our annual members’ handbook. We also have begun adding these details to our on-line calendar (www.mvccvt.com/club-calendar/master/), which will be updated on a regular basis throughout the summer. Please check it regularly!

Please take particular note of and mark your calendars for two brand new fixtures:

• The inaugural MVCC Open Tennis Tournament, scheduled for June 27-30, which will be open to competitors from around the region and show our extraordinary clay tennis courts to their very best advantage.
• Our first Member Guest Day, planned for Saturday, July 13, which will include golf and tennis competition, as well as an informal lunch and buffet dinner.

More information on these exciting new events will be circulated in coming weeks—we’re hoping that each will provide the opportunity to introduce friends and potential new members to MVCC’s wonderful course, courts and social life!

As part of our continuing efforts to keep our volunteer-run operations efficient and low cost, this year we have not emailed individual dues notices and instead have introduced a members-only web portal called “ClubExpress”, which requires you to log in and generate your own customized 2019 dues invoice.  If you believe you did not receive an email containing instructions on the log-in and invoice generation process, please notify Janet Showers Patterson at [email protected].

Please also mark your calendars for our Annual Meeting, which will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 10.  As always, the meeting will include the opportunity to elect a new class of directors, as well as important reports from our officers and committee chairs, including a more detailed discussion of the following topics:

Members:     During 2018 we welcomed eight new members but nevertheless saw a decline in our dues paying membership from 244 to 236 members.  This is the principal factor behind the 3.7% average increase in our dues for 2019. We continue to promote Club membership among our wider community and explore alternative membership structures, but we very much rely on you, our members, to recruit new members from among your family, friends and acquaintances.  

For those of you with grandchildren or other young relatives or friends who spend time in Greensboro but are not MVCC members, consider a gift of a full season “Under Age 21” playing permit, which is priced at $320, plus tax, and provides full access to our facilities and activities.  In any event, do let us know of potential membership candidates and invite them to visit your Club!

Revenues:    Our overall revenues in 2018 increased by 5.9% to approximately $294,000, reflecting the positive impact of exceptionally good weather on non-member (guest, visitor and permit) fees, as well as gains in rental income and generous additional donations and bequests from our members.[1]  In addition to ongoing member recruitment, we continue to pursue marketing efforts aimed at increasing the number of our guests, visitors and playing permit holders, including through cooperation with local organizations that bring visitors to our area. 

Expenses:    Our expenses increased in 2018 by 3.7%, resulting in a small accounting loss of approximately $4,800.  This loss, however, reflected our decision to use our positive revenue performance and strong cash position to accelerate the cleaning and re-staining of the exterior of our Clubhouse. Excluding this decision, our 2018 cash operating expenses would actually have declined from the prior year. Cost control continues to be a major focus for us and, as necessary, we will make operating adjustments in response to our actual revenues, particularly as these may be affected by weather and the amount of guest and visitor play.

Capital          We remain debt-free, with a very healthy restricted capital reserve and operating cash

Structure:     buffer, together totaling nearly $155,000 at year end 2018.  Our 2019 budget contemplates drawing down our operating cash buffer by approximately $11,000, which we believe is prudent and will leave us well positioned to weather any significant and unforeseen decline in revenues or increase in expenses.

Facility          We continue to make regular and measured investments in our course, courts and

Investment: facilities.  For 2019, your Board has approved a net capital budget of $40,511 that includes replacing aging maintenance and irrigation equipment, installing the next phase of our tennis fencing upgrade, and proceeding with the foundation and window work on our maintenance buildings that was not completed in 2018.

Tennis:          At its January meeting, your Board approved a proposal to offer a $350 tennis permit, aimed at attracting additional tennis players to MVCC during the 2019 season. We are hopeful that this initiative will lead to renewed interest in our exceptional clay court facilities and our enjoyable programs of tennis round robins and tournaments. 

Our achievements during 2018 would have been impossible without the efforts of our outstanding staff.  We look forward to welcoming back Steve Rogers (our PGA Golf Professional), Steve Parker (our Greens Superintendent) and Laura Laramee (our Tennis Pro), and working with them to provide our members with an outstanding range of golf, tennis and social activities. 

In coming weeks, you will receive further information regarding the Club’s schedule and events. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call me at 802-363-1355, email me at [email protected] or speak to any of our board members or committee chairs, each of whom are listed on our website.

            Best regards,

            Rick Ely

President

 

 

2019 MVCC GOLF, TENNIS & SOCIAL CALENDAR (as of March 12)

(Call the Pro Shop (533-7477) to confirm dates or where weather is questionable. Please review our on-line Calendar (www.mvccvt.com) for additional info)

 

May 11 (Saturday)      Opening Day:  First day of Pro Shop operation

July 13 (Saturday)    Member Guest Day (Golf, Tennis and Buffet Dinner)

August 10 (Saturday) Annual Meeting in the MVCC Clubhouse (1:30 pm)

October 7 (Monday)   Columbus Day: last day of Pro Shop operation

 

Golf

Every Tuesday            Men’s Golf Clinic (2:30 pm until September 3)

                                    Men’s League Golf (tee offs from 4:00 pm)

Every Wednesday      Women’s Golf Clinic (9:00 am until September 4)

Women’s Day Golf (10:00 am—call Pro Shop for current week’s format)

Every Thursday          Men’s Day Golf Scramble (shotgun start at 9:00 am)

Every Friday from

June 28           “Freestyle Friday” (3:30 pm—call Pro Shop for current week’s format)

June 8 (Saturday)       Masters Memorial Tournament (9:30 & 1:30 Shotgun Starts)

June 28 to Aug 25      “Ringer’s” Golf Tournament (sign-up in Pro Shop at any time)

June 28 to Aug 11      Men’s Match Play Tournament/Single Elimination Championship

July 4 (Thursday)        President’s Independence Day “Best of Four” Tournament

July 7 (Sunday)           “Funky Fourth” Mixed Couple Golf Scramble 1:00 pm

July 5-27                     Women’s July Handicap Match Play

Every Thurs from

July 11            Junior Golf Clinic (1:30 pm until August 29)

                                    Junior Golf Play Day from 4:00 pm

July 13 (Saturday)    Member Guest Day (Golf, Tennis and Buffet Dinner)

July 20 (Saturday)      Men’s Senior Stroke Play Championship (over 55)

                                    Men’s July Handicap

                                    Junior Golf Club Championships   (tee-times from 12:30 pm)

July 27 (Saturday)      Parent Junior Golf Club Championships (12:30 shotgun)

July 28 to Aug 13        Women’s Golf Championship, Stroke Play     

Women’s Senior Golf Championship (65 and over), Stroke play

July 23 (Tuesday)       Men’s Eighty and Over Tournament and Luncheon (10 am to 1 pm)

August 2 to Sept 2      Men’s August Handicap

August 3-4                  Men’s Golf Championship, Medal Play (reserved tee times from 7:30 am)

August 10 (Saturday) Founder’s Day Yellow Ball Tournament (shotgun start at 8:30 am)

August 14-31              Women’s August Handicap Match Play

Sept 3 (Tuesday)        Ladies’ State Day (reserved tee times from 9 am)

Sept 15 (Sunday)        Tuesday Evening League End of Year Golf Tournament (10 am to 3 pm)

Sept 16 (Monday)       Men’s Senior Canadian Golf Tour (reserved tee times 10 am to 2 pm)

 

 

Tennis[†]

Every Sunday from

May 26            Sunday Round Robin play (10 am to 12 noon)

Every Weekday from

            June 17           Adult Cardio Tennis Sessions (1 pm to 2 pm)

Junior Tennis Clinics and Lessons (9:30 am to 12 noon)

• Ages 4-7: (9:30 -10:00 am)
• Intermediate: Ages 8-12: (10:00-11:00 am)
• Advanced: Ages 13-19 (11:00 am to noon)

Every Tues from

            June 18           Women’s Day Tennis (9 am to 11 am)

Every Weds from

            June 19           Men’s Day tennis starts (9 am to 11 am)

Every Friday from

            June 21           Adult Tennis Clinic (8:30 am to 9:30 am)

                                    “Freestyle Friday” Tennis (3:30 pm—call Pro Shop for this week’s format)

July 13 (Saturday)    Member Guest Day (Golf, Tennis and Buffet Dinner)

June 27 – 30               Inaugural “MVCC Open” Tennis Tournament: Doubles –Men’s, Women’s

                                    & Mixed

July 15-17, 22-24       

    & July 29-31            Junior Tennis Camps (9 am to noon)

July 25-28                   Club Championships:  Men’s & Women’s Doubles

August 1-4                  Club Championships: Mixed Doubles; Senior (55 & over) Men’s &

Women’s Singles & Doubles

August 8-11                Club Championships: Men’s & Women’s Singles

Social Events

Every Tuesday            Mahjong (1:00 to 4:00 pm)

Every Thurs from

            June 27           Kid’s night: pizza for kids, BYO for grown-ups (5:30 pm to dusk)

Every Friday from

            June 21           Freestyle Fridays: BYOB following golf and tennis (5:30 to 7:30 pm)

May 26 (Sunday)        Spring Fling (BYO Cocktails and Hors d’oeuvres to share)

June 13 (Thursday)    Early Bird Pot-Luck

July 5 (Friday)             6^th Annual Cocktail Throw down (5:30 to 8:30 pm)

July 13 (Saturday)    Member Guest Day (Golf, Tennis and Buffet Dinner)

July 20 (Saturday)      Trivia Nite & Pizza (5:30 pm)

July 26 (Friday)           July Lobster Bake (5:30 pm)

August 6 (Tuesday)    Over Eighties Luncheon (11:30 am to 1:30 pm)

August 7 (Weds)         Ladies’ Night (5:30 to 9:00 pm)

August 14 (Weds)       Men’s Night (5:30 pm)

August 16 (Friday)      August Lobster Bake (5:30 pm)

August 30 (Friday)      “Final Fling” Freestyle Friday (5:30 pm to ????)

Sept 14 (Saturday)     “Hangers On” Potluck Dinner & BYOB (5:30 pm to ????)

[1]  Federal law requires me to say here that payments to MVCC are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.

[†]           Tennis Professional Laura Laramee is available for private lessons from early June throughout the summer and can be reached on 802-673-7947.