Jason Fergurson was elected Commodore of the Waukegan Yacht Club on December 10, 2020. He recorded the following address:

Greetings to WYC Members and the boating community.

I was voted in as Commodore of the Waukegan Yacht club on Thursday night.  I would like to say thank you to everyone for the Trust that you have placed in me.  I understand the Yacht Club has a long history, and I intend to continue the tradition of it being a great Yacht Club.

We have a number of issues that are being addressed at present.  I know there are a lot of pressing issues in the minds of the members and I would like to address a few of them here.

I know that the most pressing issue is the lease with the Waukegan Port District.  At this time, I have reached out to the Port District to let them know that we would like to meet with them.  I have assembled a small committee.  Our committee is meeting tomorrow night at 730 via zoom to work on the details to begin the negotiations with the Port District.

We have heard some dissatisfaction about the lack of Yacht Club Reciprocity.  That issue has been resolved.  We are added to the book for 2021.  We had an anonymous donor pay the fee for us.  We thank them for their donation.  

There was an issue that the Board is working on with the Insurance on the building.  We did not have sufficient cash to pay the premium the last few months, and all of the Board committed to paying their 2021 dues now, so that we could have a policy in place.  I would like to thank Joanne for working with us on that.

We have also formed a committee to look at our options as a restaurant.  We know that is a big deal for the Port Authority, as they want us to be an operational restaurant, and for all of our members and the community as a whole.  Bo Harper our Vice Commodore has been diligently working on this issue and I anticipate some great things coming from his house committee.  

Howard Fasnacht is working to assess the needs of the building.  His committee as Rear Commodore is looking to find problems in the building and assess repair costs.  This committee is also working to make sure the building stays in good working order.  I anticipate he will do excellent work, as he has in years past.

Christian Olsen has formed his Treasurer committee and is working to address the issues related to the current club expenditures.  This committee has already been formed and are doing the things that need to be done to keep the club running.  Christian has a tough job, as there are a lot of bills and not a lot of capital.

Johnathan Gaetz is working to keep and maintain all of the minutes.  We are holding a lot of meetings (as most of the committees have scheduled meetings this week) and he is doing his part to make sure that this process is as transparent as possible.  

Jim Maivald is heading the Sail committee and Social committee.  He has some really great ideas as to how best to continue to make sailing fun.  He is looking into the boats that we have with the potential of a 2 person round robin match race frostbite series.  Jim is on the board for another year as well as being our club webmaster and is doing a great job of filling in for all sorts of roles.

Kris Kaminski is on the board and the Club owes Kris a big thank you for stepping in as Commodore after the unfortunate passing of Jim Hellquist.

Jonathan Burba has been made a director as well as Nikki Sullivan.  Both of these people will be a tremendous asset to our Board of Directors as we move the club forward.

One thing that I would ask all of our members to be aware of is, I have asked all of the Committee chairpersons to form a committee.  So they may reach out to any of you to join the committee.  A lot of roles have been filled in the past by just one person, and sometimes that can be a lot for any one person to do without getting burned out.  I am of the opinion that small committees will offer differing perspectives and share the workload to find resolutions to Club issues in a way that lays out a concise solution to the Board that can be voted on and approved.

I’m sorry to have lost Jim Hellquist as Commodore of the Waukegan Yacht Club this year.  I did not know him well, but Jim is the reason that I am in the Yacht Club.  He will be missed by all.  I hope to be half as good of a sailor and community leader as Jim.

As we continue to try to fill the needs of our members, feel free to reach out to myself or any other member of the board if you feel you have an issue that we need to be addressed..

Jason Ferguson
Commodore
Waukegan Yacht Club