Lake Murray Welcomes New Bridge

By P/C Debra Allen, AP

“It has been a wonderful year around the sun and a good year to steer the good ship Lake Murray Power Squadron. You make it what it is and to each of you fair winds and following seas,” with that Lee Ayers, SN, turned the podium over to D/Lt/C Paula LeMond to swear in the squadron’s new leadership.

“I am honored to have been elected as your commander for the incoming watch,” Charlie told those gathered for the Change of Watch ceremony, which was held on 11 November at Saluda Shoals Conference Center. “I want to thank you for your confidence in electing me and my bridge; and thanks to all the committee chairs who have agreed to serve.

“On behalf of the incoming bridge, I would like to assure you that your best interests will always be our number one priority,” Charlie pledged, noting that the coming year holds many questions and uncertainties. “Because of this, I appeal to the membership that we join together to at least make this watch a memorable and fruitful one.

“We are all here tonight because we have one thing in common. And that is our passion for boating. It’s through this passion that we have forged a bond of friendship and respect for each other and therefore have become a family; a family with an incredible home with an incredible view.”

Charlie went on to identify his main goal for 2012 is “to have fun and to seek out opportunities for service to increase the recognition of our squadron both in the USPS community, the community at large, and in turn I hope that we will increase our membership.”

However, there is more to be done, he said, citing the squadron’s large decrease in membership in the past several years. “Our members have felt the economic impact of the today’s economy and so has your squadron and now we must decide on how to best spend our money.” One approach, Charlie said, will be to include more events at Flotilla – potluck dinners, socials and more, all designed to have fun and cost members less money. He also encouraged members to participate in person or by submitting ideas to the boating activities planning meeting that is scheduled for 23 January at Flotilla.

One of the year’s most important projects will be to initiate a rescue plan to preserve Flotilla Island, which is slowly being washed away. “Flotilla needs our help,” Charlie said. “We must start a campaign to stop the erosion of our land. The current sea wall has worked well for years, but it is in need of repair and additional rip-rap is needed. This is not an easy task, nor a cheap one; it is one that will take us years to accomplish and a lot of member man hours.”

In closing, Charlie reminisced about his recruitment by LMPS member Alison Rosenberg and being asked by his wife after that first dinner meeting if he knew what they had gotten into. “I said no, but if they boat and party like their meetings it should be fun. Well, it has been fun, as well as educational. Henry Ford once said that, ‘Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.’”

Before swearing in Lake Murray’s new commander, D/26 Administrative Officer Paula LeMond delivered brief remarks on behalf of D/26 Commander Bob Boal. She had three points to emphasize. The first point dealt with several educational items: recognition of the strong educational achievements that had been made this year in the district; the new boat operator certification program that is underway in the district and throughout USPS; and the importance of operations training at a time when more short-time members are being asked to assume leadership positions.

The second point that Paula relayed on behalf of the district commander, was the concern over membership. She noted that while the district added 200 new members during the year that 265 members failed to renew, resulting in an overall decline that could not be compensated by the growth of the Hilton Head and Long Bay squadrons. “Retention is the key issue – it has always been an issue and will continue to be the problem that we must solve,” she said.

The third point that the district commander wanted the squadron to know about is how USPS is working to exploit social media as a means of recruitment. He asked Paula to encourage the squadron to review how this tool might help in its recruitment and retention efforts as the organization as a whole must look to appeal to a new generation of boaters.

In other business during an evening that concluded with an After Change of Watch party at Flotilla, new member certificates were presented, while P/D/C Eric Pearson was presented the D/26 Order of the Mariner and Jon May received his Certificate of Educational Proficiency. Before adjourning to Flotilla, Charlie announced that $515 had been donated during the evening to benefit Harvest Hope Food Bank.

Continuing the celebration to welcome the squadron’s new bridge year, several members stayed aboard their boats Friday evening and enjoyed breakfast cooked by the commander. It was a beautiful weekend for boating and during halftime of the Carolina football game, which several members were watching on a TV setup under one of the picnic shelters, the new commander lead the first cruise of his watch year.

Monday found Cdr Charlie back in the kitchen preparing a spaghetti dinner for 32 bridge officers and committee members who gathered at Flotilla that evening to discuss plans for the new watch year. Click on a thumbnail below to see the wonderful time that members enjoyed throughout the weekend as they toasted the hard work of 2011 Commander Lee Ayers, SN, and welcomed Commander Charlie Bruce, SN, onboard.