The Year We Lost the Roof (Almost)
by Roger Wilson, President 1970-71
(ed note: This is one of a series of historical reflections writen by past and present members for our 50th anniversary season)
The year of my presidency was the winter of the record snowfall, a record which stands to this day.
In February it snowed nearly every day! One day I received a call from the Ladies president to report that the roof was making very strange noises. I told her to vacate the premises ASAP! At noon I went to the club and a number of the laminated beams had opened up due to the snow load. That night volunteers with shovels cleared the roof. Ken Ballard, a member who owned and operated a heavy equipment company, used a front end loader to pull the snow away from the quonset on both sides.
His invoice was $600.00 plus and fortunately he was not in a rush for us to pay. We had no money. With a mortgage, expenses etc. we cleared $100.00 in a good year.
We went to a special assessment of $5.00 per male member. The ladies felt slighted and contributed $5.00 each. For many members the family faced a total of $10.00, a large some for a few of the people.
All in all this made my year as president a memorable one.