Vice Commodore,  Howie Mednick

Aloha,

It is said that if the first week of August be warm, the winter will be white and long. You folks on the Mainland where the winters are cold, better look out, ‘cause it’s been down right hot here in paradise. We are looking forward to the return of the cooler weather, and the Snow Birds.

Not many Vice Commodore events will be going on in August. If you are relying on the little yellow calendar that was published at the beginning of the year, please note that the Hukilau on August 10, the Taste of HYC Cook-off on August 17, and the Hollywood Night Party on August 23, have been cancelled. I see no reason spending money on events during the heat of summer when past experience has shown that they are not well attended. We may still throw in a few surprises – stay tuned. The Friday and Saturday night bands are still flourishing, so come on down.

Casino Night was fun for those who attended. The tables were filled with happy gamblers. Even the losers had a good time. I know, there are no losers at HYC, but on Casino Night, there were a few! The only real loser was my budget! There was music and pupus, and it was a great chance to get dressed up - a rare opportunity at HYC. Thanks to Jim Cavell, Bob Clifton, and Connie Gomez for their help with the evening.

July 4th was quite a spectacle. The rockets red glare, the "bombs" bursting in air …. The fireworks were stupendous. Some exploded into happy faces and I’d sure like to know how they do that! There was food – hot dogs, hamburgers, and steak sandwiches available from the galley. Thanks to Janet Mandrell and her volunteers for putting everything together.

Some of you were wondering why we bothered to recognize Bastille Day, and at this point, so am I, but the French did help us in our war of independence against England, and it was an opportunity to have some fine French wines, cheese and pastries. Mahalo to those who joined us, and to those who didn’t - raspberries. Many of you may not know it, but I am a connoisseur of wine, and I know a great Jewish wine – "I wanna go to Miami!" Yuk! Yuk! We still have a Beaujolais Nouveau Party scheduled for November 15. Be there as the Beaujolais Nouveau 2008 is introduced to the world. We’ll have French cheese too.

On July 11, Zac Sunderland, 16 years old, arrived at HYC on his quest to become the youngest sailor to single handedly circumnavigate the globe. He stayed for a few days, then was off to the Marshall Islands. We wish him and his family well. If you want to track Zac’s progress, go to www.zacsunderland.com.

I am really pleased to report that the new concessionaire is doing a fabulous job. They got off to a rocky start because they were shoved into a do or die situation, but the kinks have been ironed out and we expect smooth sailing from here on out. The food gets 5 stars from me, and the overall dining experience is so much more pleasant now. We have a restaurant we can be proud of, and one to which I would not be embarrassed to bring friends or clients if I needed to entertain or impress. If you haven’t eaten at the club lately, you need to. You will be pleased.

We are back on track with International Night which is the second Wednesday of each month. July was Greek food, which surpassed my expectations – OPA! August, the 13th will be Italian food. I can’t wait!

November brings us Seafest, a fund raiser for the Hawaii Youth Sailing Foundation. This year HYC will be the host of this event, and we have to out-do the previous host, who was WYC. I am soliciting to anyone who reads this bulletin to submit cash donations, or items that can be auctioned off. Surely some of you have businesses or know of a business owner who would be happy to make a charitable, tax deductible donation to help junior sailors learn the sport of sailing, safety awareness, master the principles of sportsmanship, apply for funds to attend national sailing competitions, and apply for scholarship money to attend maritime academies. Please send donations to HYC Attn: Seafest, or call me if you have any questions. Also, if you can volunteer for this event, please call me.

Mahalo

Howie Mednick, Vice Commodore

Hm49a@yahoo.com

347-0912