A new year is upon us. Much has changed in our world and much has remained the same. The Yacht Club is immersed in tradition that goes back 117 years. As we look to the past, we can see the path that brought us to the present. Let us not follow the path to see where it may lead, but let us go where there is no path and blaze a new trail. It is with this thought, that I welcome the Membership to this new year.

Allow me to introduce to you the New Bridge. Vice Commodore Fred Schnoor, Rear Commodore Richard Meyer, Fleet Captain Steve Cooks, Secretary Bob Bahney III, and Treasurer Valinda Vincent. The Trustees PC Bob Bahney Jr., PP Jill Cooks, PP Kay Drake, Richard French, Steve Nagy, and Ed Skoch. The Ladies Auxiliary President Jill Cooks, Historian PP Muriel Eian, Fleet Chaplin Georger Smith, and Fleet Surgeon Gabriela Kaplan MD. We embark on a new unified beginning. I look forward to serving you this season as your new commodore. I welcome back the management team of Noreen Roth as club manager and Charles Roth as facilities manager. Welcome back also to Sharon Conte adn her "Simply Sharon" staff who will be providing our food service again this year.

The club belongs to the membership. The price of success is hard work. The dedication to the job at hand and the determination that whether we succeed or fail, is whether we have applied the best of ourselves to the task. I have witnessed the tireless dedication, commitment and expertise of our members and their families to the club. I express to you, a special thank you.

A great big thank you also goes to the Year Book Committee: PC Reni & PC Kris Miller, Connie Miller, Pati & PC Raymond Arth, Secretary Bob Bahney III and to my better half Alice. Behind every successful Commodore is a whole group of people pushing him/her forward.

As we reflect on the cover photo of PIBYC, the oldest yacht club on Lake Erie, let us remember why we come to this island paradise. It is for the "sun, fun, and fellowship". I look forward to having an enjoyable season, so please join me. Vice Commodore Fred and Fleet Captain Steve have the "affairs afloat" in order and have some great boating activities planned this year. I hope they can keep me afloat. "Affairs ashore" have been scheduled by our Rear Commodore Richard.

I invite all our members and their guests, along ILYA and AYC members, to enjoy and experience PIBYC's rich heritage, warm hospitality and promising future. "You may not be able to direct the wind, but you can adjust the sail."

- Michael J. Kreutzberg