Illinois District American Turners
Best Regards to All Turners:
Welcome to the 2019 season at Illinois Turner Camp: #105 and counting!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as the new Illinois District President and thank you to Scott Lau for his years of service as the President. I would also like to thank the members for their continued support, enthusiasm, and involvement with the organization. Special thanks to all those people who volunteer their time and efforts to make our events possible, and to help keep our maintenance, administrative, and housekeeping expenses to a minimum.
The Illinois District Council and the Camp Committee have been collectively planning and working on the calendar of events and all of the various activities for the upcoming camp season. The accomplishments and achievements of the past years would not have been possible without the ongoing efforts of our volunteers and our outstanding staff. In particular, gratitude is extended to all the committee members who work effortlessly so that the social and cultural events will continue to enhance the ITC experience.
Please read and review ALL of the information in the enclosed packet. The three volunteer duties that have been assigned to your cottage are in the packet. While a reminder card is included in your packet as a courtesy, it is still your responsibility to look through the schedule to confirm your assigned duties. If you have any scheduling problems with any of those duties, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to make arrangements with another cottage owner to cover your absence and ensure that there is no conflict. The changing or switching of any bar duties must be approved by the Bar Chair, Kevin Dahm. All of the volunteer and paid bartenders must be Bassett certified and their certification must be renewed every three years. If your certification date is older than June 2016, you will need to renew your certification and provide a copy of it to Shawn Stevenson and Kevin Dahm.
Please remember that the NO SHOW fine for someone missing their assigned duty is $250. The Camp Committee hopes to never assess any fines on our members, but due to the large number of no shows over the past years, it has been necessary to implement this fine. Absenteeism from a duty puts your fellow cottage owners and members in a bind and causes problems with the functioning of our events. So, please be responsible, do your duties, or if necessary, make proper arrangements in advance for your duty to be covered.
Take note that the cleanup days for the Raths and the pool are scheduled for the first two weekends in May; with the exception of Mother’s Day. The cleanup crews begin at 9 am and snacks and lunch are provided for the workers. Keep in mind that any work that we don’t get done with our volunteers still needs to get done, and we will have to hire outside resources to accomplish the work. Ultimately what this means is that the more we pay for hired help, the more we all will pay in October for our ground lease. Our Facility Manager, Dave Cross has been working really hard to remodel the Cicero woman’s bathroom and to get camp up and running for the new season. If you notice that there is something which needs to be taken care of around camp, you can contact Dave at 224-800-3636. Please make sure you leave a detailed message, and he will follow-up. You can also go online to the District website; Illinoisturners.org and use the “Report a Facility Problem”. These requests are electronically sent to Buildings and Grounds to be reviewed. Volunteers are always needed to pick up debris and branches around camp, so please contact Dave if you are available to help out. If there are other issues that you feel need to be addressed, please feel free to attend a Camp Committee meeting and discuss those issues with the committee.
The 2019 camp schedule and food service have been enclosed in this mailing. Scott Lau has been diligently putting together the Restaurant and Entertainment schedule for the season. There are some delicious new specials and some old fan favorites every Friday but the first one. Donna and Cheryl are making Sunday Dinners great again with three offerings, and Tom Webb will be adding some spice to the Saturday night grill. This year Founders Day is scheduled for August 3rd; come early for the parade and festivities, and plan on staying for the Sauerbraten or Pork Roast dinner. Phenix, the premier Chicagoland Octoberfest band will be performing at the Rathskeller. Scott also has entertainment planned for every Friday night, and a DJ lined up for Saturdays.
Be sure to review the camp calendar for specific events and mark your calendars for the following: the camp program begins June 10th, Family Fest is June 29th, the 5th annual Turner Trot and Water Show are July 13th, the National Turnfest is in Fort Wayne, Indiana from July 24th-27th, and the camp season will wrap up with the Final Show on August 10th.
On another note, we have two cottages that will be up for auction; Cottage #52 will be offered at a starting bid of $1,275 and Cottage #124 will be offered at a starting bid of $1,400. These amounts includes the $150 coupon book, pool tags, and participation in the camp program for your children. If you know of any friends or family members who have been a member of a society for at least one year, they would be eligible to purchase a cottage. All bids must be submitted to Ashley Livingston by June 1, 2019.
In closing, this year the Cottage Owners meetings are scheduled for June 23rd, July 21st, and August 18th; with the New Cottage Owners at 9 am and the regular Cottage Owners at 10 am. Please keep in mind that these meetings serve as an opportunity for the cottage owners to stay well informed about what is going on around Turner Camp.
Respectfully,
Art Stevenson
Illinois District President
Cottage Owners President
