In case you have not heard, Joe Mckeever, Wolfgang, Thamm, Peter Quigley and myself have been reelected to your Board of Directors. Your board in turn elected Adam White as Treasure, Michelle Wootton as Secretary, Wolfgang Thamm as Vice President and myself as President(Otherwise I would not be writing this blog. ;-)) I want to thank Charles Norman and Tom Stevenson for running as candidates. I’ve asked Tom to act as a liaison with the township. It is time to insure we have a good working relationship with the township. It is important we have someone who knows who to contact when an issue develops and keeps abreast with the goings on within the township. Charles Norman has agreed to take over charing the Long Range Planning Committee Thank you Tom & Charles.
The next year is going to be a challenge. We are still rebuilding our membership. We have 81 regular members and 10 student members. Don Clinger has been doing an excellent job of managing our waiting list and recommending new people as the instruction schedule allows. We have the challenge of managing the proceeds of the conservation easement. We need to set up the structure to manage the funds for the future of PGC. We only have one shot at this so we have to get it right. We are engaging a legal firm that deals extensively with non-profits to understand the tax implications of this transaction. We also need to plan on how to minimize tax on the income from investing this windfall.
The next steps of the Conservation Easement is to sign an agreement of sale. Then a base line document will be produced by a third party. This document details how we have been using the land over the last ten years. Thanks to our on-line flight log we have good records to show the number of flights and tows. What we do not have good records of is use of the glider port by members in their private power planes. We will be asking you to dig into your logbooks so we can document private plane use at PGC. We expect closing sometime in early 2022.
Despite the challenges of this year we have done well. We are rebuilding our membership, the Cross-country team has been absolutely on fire, earning over 20,000 points in the OnLine Contest. We’ve had nine new first solos, four new Private Glider Certificates, four new Commercial Glider Certificates and added two new (previously licensed) sign offs. In addition we have two new tow pilots. Number of flights and instruction, while not quite up to 2019, has recovered quite nicely.
Fall clean up is December 4th and we will have a pot-luck cookout in the picnic area that same evening.
Winter is coming but don’t let that keep you from flying. If conditions are flyable we will fly. The cross county team has had a successfull safari at Beltzville and are planning other winter activities.
Trailer slot #28 is for sale $6000, contact Michelle for additional information.