February 2025

Commodore Clawson

Ahoy crew!

January 25th was Swinomish Yacht Club’s Annual Commodore’s Ball and if you weren’t there, you missed the boat—The LOVE BOAT! The crew was ready and waiting and as First Lady Ronda and I arrived, we set sail with our SYC family on a magical cruise ship themed evening dinner cruise. La Conner Seafood & Prime Rib provided the delicious dinner fare and The Davanos provided our live music entertainment with lots of dancing.

Ronda and I were so surprised and delighted by the decorations and cruise boat theme. The Commodore’s Ball committee knocked it out of the park! A total home run! Many thanks and our love and gratitude are due to many people:

A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Incredible Crew!

Past Commodore Greg Lenke & Former First Lady Brenda Lenke
You command a tight ship and a worthy crew! Thank you for your leadership, dedication, attention to detail, and oversight in pulling off the party of the year.

Rod & Kara Moore
Rod, your craftsmanship is amazing! The personalized Adirondack deck chairs and ship’s wheel deck for the photo booth were incredible. And Kara, thank you for your patience while those projects took precedence over home remodeling!

Aaron & Shelly Jensen
From decorations to props, the slideshow, and making the cruise theme a reality—every detail was perfect! Special thanks for the laser printing, the yacht rock playlist, and, of course, DJ AJ—who ROCKED!

Ken & Jame Witzel
The CASINO was a fantastic success, thanks to your hours of planning and dedication. Keeping the entire theme a secret was no small feat!

Mitch & Jill Ruth
Thank you for bringing the Lido Deck to life and for hosting us before the Ball—you truly are the hosts with the most!

Anna McCall
Your talent shines! The floral arrangements were breathtaking, and the table setup was sheer genius.

Keith & Leslie Christensen
Thank you for taking us boating back in May 2020 and setting this all in motion! Your time, help, and enthusiasm made this event truly special.

Dessert Team
A special shoutout to Shelly Jensen for leading the dessert efforts, and heartfelt thanks to Linda Beam, Mary Pfost, and Barb Hoy for the delectable desserts. How did you know our favorite was crème brûlée?

Jerry Carr
We missed you at the party of the year! But we truly appreciate all your hard work alongside Greg, Brenda, and the crew.

Tracy Carr
Your experience and guidance with the club and past Commodore’s Balls were invaluable. Thank you for sharing your insights with the team!

​Pep & Felicia Lowe
You were missed! Even from afar, your involvement in the planning and continued commitment to our club and board mean the world to us. You are an invaluable resource, and we appreciate all you do!
To EVERYONE who played a part—whether big or small—thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Your creativity, energy, and effort made this the best theme, the best props, and the best party ever!

Ronda and I are so very blessed and thankful to have found a group of such wonderful people and such amazing friends. Each one of you in the club holds a special place in our lives and in our hearts. Thank you for your camaraderie, your friendship, and your love of boating!

Here’s to a great year ahead!

Tyler Clawson - NJoy More 
Commodore

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​Vice Commodore Jensen

Commodore's Ball, New Leadership, and Spring Adventures!

It’s with great excitement that we congratulate Tyler Clawson on his new position as Commodore of the Swinomish Yacht Club, and a big shoutout to Ronda Clawson as our new First Lady. Tyler has been a valuable member of the club for years, and we’re thrilled to see him take on this leadership role. Ronda’s support and dedication will no doubt continue to make the Clawson family a cornerstone of our club’s success in the year ahead. We look forward to all the great things they will do to make this year unforgettable for all of us!

A huge thank you is also in order for the decorating crew who worked tirelessly to prepare the clubhouse for the 2025 Commodore's Ball. The attention to detail, creativity, and hard work truly transformed our space and made the event even more special. Your efforts don’t go unnoticed, and we are so grateful for your dedication to making our club gatherings shine.

Equally important is the cleanup crew who stayed late and came back early to ensure the clubhouse was cleaned up and ready for future events. This extra effort plays a crucial role in helping us maintain our budget, allowing us to stretch our event dollars further and keep costs down for everyone. Thank you for your time and commitment!

On another note, the weather is finally starting to warm up, and the days are getting longer! That means it’s time to dust off your boat and get back out on the water. Recently, we had the pleasure of spending two wonderful nights docked at James Island with friends, and it was an absolute blast. The views were breathtaking, and a few hikes on the island made for some great outdoor adventure. The dogs had a blast on the beaches and trails, too!
Having such a close marine park with a year-round dock makes it feel like a true getaway—just a short distance from the busy pace of everyday life. If you haven’t had the chance to experience James Island yet, I highly recommend it.

Looking ahead, it’s clear that the SYC is in for an exciting year, both on and off the water. With a full calendar of events on the horizon, I can’t wait to see everyone out enjoying all that the club has to offer. Here’s to a fantastic year of great friends, beautiful views, and plenty of adventures on the water!

See you out there!

Vice Commodore Jensen 

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Rear Commodore Witzel

I will whole heartily agree with my fellow Commodores, Saturday was a blast and enjoyed by all. It was fun to surprise Tyler and Ronda and help make their night so special.  Now I’ll ask everyone to help make the rest of his year in charge the best one yet. 
 
As Rear Commodore, one of my jobs is to help find hosts for away events and/or assist them once a host has volunteered.  I am happy to say that our first 2 away events have hosts! Vickie Birney is hosting the Spring Cruise to Friday Harbor and Jan and Randy Zack are hosting the Steak Fry.  Both these events are always fun in large part because of our hosts.  If anyone would like to help, please consider reaching out to them.  A large part of what makes our club great is the willingness of our members to support each other and lend a hand where needed.

Cheers,

Rear Commodore Witzel

Notice From Officers & Directors!

Cleaning Services: As a Board, we have decided to stop hiring someone to clean our clubhouse after our events.  Oftentimes, we did such a great job cleaning we figured we could find a better way to use the money than to have Edgar come in and finish what little was left to clean. That said, when you volunteer to host, please know that cleanup is part of the event.  If you have questions about this, please reach out to the Vice Commodore as part of his role is to help any Clubhouse event host and our Clubhouse Manager with the information and assistance they need. 

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Open Board Positions: We have 2 open Board positions.  We are still looking for a Communications Director and a Web Content Director.  Both these jobs sound like a lot of work but can be rewarding.  As Communications Director you would get to create the Newsletter and event flyers (as needed).  As the Web Content Director, you would work with our Webmaster to keep our website up to date and inviting to the public and our members.  Please reach out to anyone on the Board if you would like more information on either position.

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Port News: This past summer and fall, Dale, Brent, and Greg met with Charlie Knapp, the Harbormaster for the Port. They have been working to document the many Club / Port agreements that were either not written down or the documents were lost. One of the items discussed was building another fire pit that we could use during our events since the old one had been removed many years ago.  After much discussion, the Port agreed that we could submit a proposal for their consideration. Since we finally had a maybe, we looked into the location and cost of building it.  After getting some rough quotes and discussing the number of events we would use it for compared to the cost, the Board decided to table this idea.  ​​

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MEMBERSHIP DRIVE GOING ON NOW!!!

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​Upcoming Events

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