The schism caused by the ongoing cell tower discourse left in its wake a renewed commitment by many neighbors to reinvigorate the pool. On November 11th — a few hours after Keith Robertory posted the cell tower survey results on the Rutherford Yahoo! group listserv — 75 pool members, a record number for attendance and energy, met at Little Run School for the Rutherford Pool annual meeting.
A sense of post-cell-tower-results relief permeated the meeting. Yet the crowd gathered nervously, waiting for the Board of Directors to affirm its intentions about the tower. A parliamentarian was secured to help keep the peace, and Pool Board President Tom Fleck opened the meeting. After a series of motions and parries to move the cell tower discussion to the top of the agenda, the meeting found its rhythm. Tom stated that the board would certainly honor the survey results that defeated the cell tower. A round of extended applause from the membership later supported Treasurer Joe Galdo’s motion to thank outgoing Board members Kim Grant (Secretary), Harry Hink (Operations) and Babette Korn (Membership) for their service.
Yet the real news of the meeting began more quietly, as members of the pool stepped up to offer their support. New board members Michele Wechsler (Secretary) and David Michael (Membership) were nominated from the floor and the membership voted in support. Wayne Verity was nominated to the board for Operations (he later accepted the nomination) and was voted in by the Board. A Ways and Means Committee was reestablished to support the financial condition of the pool. Members elected include Susan Taylor-Gol, Mary Revay, Alan Rabayda, Sladjana Duric, Ingrid Faoro, Adan Cajina, Abel Zhang, Kathy Carter and Wayne Verity. The group already had its first meeting on November 21st, and has suggested a Winter Raffle and a Chili-Tasting in February. In the meantime, David spoke at a meeting of the Hidden Creek HOA about membership in the pool, and he is preparing to launch an unprecedented membership drive for the 2010 season. Board member Kathleen Andrews (Social) is planning events for the upcoming pool season. Other returning board members gearing up for Pool 2010 and not mentioned earlier are: Todd Withington (Vice President), Mark Pasierb (Aquatics) and Paul Tiffin (Member-at-Large). And as you can imagine, the e-mails, meetings, and conversations driving these activities have just begun — and it’s only November!
We want our Rutherford Pool to become a place where all of us can gather to swim, cook out, play, and get to know our neighbors better. We look forward to welcoming all Rutherford area residents to the Pool in 2010. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in membership or have any questions. And also let me know if you are interested in helping with our membership development efforts — I can use all the help I can get!
–David Michael, Membership Director, RASCC
