The Island Country Club

Last week began with the heartbreaking news that a longtime member of the Club and a very good friend to many, Ken Kleeman, had died. Later in the week we received news of other members and good friends afflicted with serious illness. Too many of the events scheduled for the week were rained out or rained on. And then, on Saturday afternoon, the rains briefly stopped, the sun broke through and that most joyous of life’s events – a baby shower – was celebrated in the Great Room. The cycle of life in a single week – the Best Little Country Club in America is truly graced.

And herewith the news:

News of the Clubhouse:

Longtime member Ken Kleeman died on Sunday, June 12, at the age of 83, after a brief illness. Ken was born and lived most of his life in Charleston, West Virginia, but he and his wife of 60 years, Joy, moved to Massachusetts recently to be nearer to family as his health declined. Ken and Joy were frequently at the Club for social events, and he was seen often on the golf course with his great friend, Jim Plotts, where they never ran out of new things to say to each other. A virtual memorial service was held yesterday with several members of the Club in attendance. Our condolences go out to Joy and their family, his many friends on the Island and in Charleston and to all who loved his conversation and his garlic!

An Island Country Club Board Meeting will be held Wednesday, June 22 at 4:00PM. Members are encouraged to attend and participate in the discussion but cannot vote. There will be operational and financial reports, presentations by the directors for our committees and discussion of some important Clubhouse maintenance issues. For your planning, the upcoming Board meetings are July 20, August 17 and September 21, all at 4:00PM. All Board Meetings are in the Great Room and will also be available on Zoom.

The Kitchen is Closed means The Kitchen is Closed. There have been some recent situations in which members have brought food into the kitchen that needs to be reheated, cooled, mixed or otherwise prepared. ABSOLUTELY NO! The Club has assured the Board of Health that there will be no food preparation in the kitchen. That’s a condition of getting a food service license back should that ever be wanted or needed in the future. If you are bringing food to the Clubhouse for any reason – Wine Wednesday, an event, to eat later – it must remain as is until it is consumed or removed.

Annie is away for most of this week, taking care of some personal matters. Patty, Diana and Willow “have the conn” as they say in the submarine service. Please treat them with the utmost respect and please be patient as they are clearly going above and beyond for all of us.

Get your Island Country Club logo golf towel at the Pro Shop. These will look great hanging from your bag and are designed to be useful not only to announce your proud membership in the Best Little Country Club but also to keep your grips dry in both rain and hot weather – both sure to return.

Liza Childs (unpaid spokesmodel) with our new ICC golf towels

The Club is a participant in Maine Golf’s DRIVE FOR KIDS in conjunction with this week’s Korn Ferry Tour professional golf event in Falmouth later this week. You can buy tournament wristbands this week in the Pro Shop to support golf programs in local Maine high schools.

Wine Wednesday will be held on Wednesday June 22, at 5:00PM, immediately after the Board Meeting. Social Director Jeannette Parker reports: The third Wine Wednesday of the season was a gathering of 20 members. Food was abundant and fabulous and a great variety of sweets. The door prizes were won by men this week: Tom Mehalic, Dan McLaughlin and Steve Moore. As members continue to return, we look forward to seeing you! No sweets this week, please – a special dessert will be provided.

Corks Are For Quitters

Wine Wednesday ~ June 22 ~ 5:00 - 6:30

Friends ~ Appetizers ~ Door Prizes

Swing By Fore a Fun Time!

That much cheering Baby Shower is a reminder that our Club facilities are available for rentals for special occasions – and we are off to a great start this season. On Saturday Abby Moody and Connor Morey celebrated both their engagement and expectancy at the Club. Wonderful gifts surrounded the Great Room and adding to the beautiful decorations as the guests arrived. Below are Abby, third from left, and women members of her and Connor’s family.

Erratum: Apologies to Ashley Emerson, whose graduation party was celebrated at the Club last weekend. Ashley, her family and friends were celebrating her graduation from George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill.

The Annual Lobster Dinner is Saturday, July 9. Chef (another title) Ryan Hayward promises freshly caught and prepared lobster and the traditional accoutrements at the remarkable price of $25, served at the Club. “Cocktails” at 4:00PM, dinner at 5:00PM. Signup in the Pro Shop or make a reservation at 348 2379.

The Club’s Facebook and Instagram pages are being updated frequently and are your best source for news about tournaments, events, food service and other updates from the Club. The Official Facebook page is Icc Maine | Facebook. The Official Instagram page is Island Country Club (@islandcountryclub) • Instagram photos and videos. Enjoy these pages, check them out often and many thanks, again to Willow Weed Eaton for taking on the design and administration of our new social media presence.

News of Golf:

The Masonic Marine Lodge Scrambles Tournament, scheduled for Sunday, June 19, was cancelled because of inclement (to put it mildly) weather. A new date hopefully will be announced soon.

Twilight League on June 12 was postponed due to forecast thunderstorms (better safe …;). Announcement of the make-up date will be made before tonight’s play at 4:00PM.

Presidents’ Cup play for men begins this week. This is a match play tournament, with 20 players participating this year. Players schedule matches each of the next few weeks at mutually convenient times. Should a match come up behind your group please be courteous and let them play through.

Ladies Golf held its Opening Day and Luncheon on June 14, reported by ace correspondent (and member of the winning team) Sharon Hellstedt: Twenty-one ladies gathered on June 14 for the first day of the Ladies Golf season. They played a Scramble format followed by a potluck luncheon.

Results:

Coming in first at 35 strokes was the team of Marilyn Schroer, Emily Hawkins and Sharon Hellstedt. Second at 36 were Anne Douglass, Suzanne Banghart and Su Oliver. Third at 37 were Linda Rand, Linda Allen and Inese Moore. Low Putts were also won by Marilyn Schroer, Emily Hawkins and Sharon Hellstedt at 19, with the threesome of Linda Rand, Linda Allen and Inese Moore tying with Eliza Childs, Marilyn Mehalic, Jeannette Parker and Mikey Bannister at 13. Sharon chipped in twice!) and Emily once, the explanation for the extraordinary double win. Closest to the pin at 11’7” was Inese Moore.

Billings League played twice last week, a makeup round on Tuesday and a scheduled round at its usual date and time on Thursday, all reported by Ryan Hayward (whose pair finally didn’t finish in first place!):

Makeup on Tuesday

1st- Ryan Hayward/Vito Corsini

2nd- Will Morey/Cory McDonald

3rd- Baren Yurchick/Jim McDonald

4th- Doug Seibert/Tim Seibert

5th- Keith Hoover/Pete Grindle

Thursday's Results

1st- Will Morey/Cory McDonald

2nd- Luke Hartman/Chris Gross

3rd- Connor Morey/Andy Pratt

4th- Doug Seibert/Tim Seibert

5th- Baren Yurchick/Jim McDonald

Pin # 3

Pete Grindle 25' 5"

OVERALL STANDINGS

1st- Ryan Hayward/Vito Corsini 10 pts

2nd- Connor Morey/Andy Pratt 15 pts

3rd- Baren Yurchick/Jim McDonald 23 pts

4th- Will Morey/ Cory McDonald 24 pts

5th- Doug Seibert/Tim Seibert 28 pts

6th- Hugh Reynolds/Greg Sanborn 36 pts

Scrambles was played on Friday, June 17 as reported by Commissioner Mimi Gerstell: Four foursomes competed in Scrambles on June 16th. Low gross winners at 30 were Jack Shaw, Jim Plotts, Inese Moore, and Arthur Poitras. The low-putts prize went to the team of Steve Hindy, Ed Black, Joe Bruno, and Carol Shaw, with a total of 12 putts. When the group gets a little larger, we'll offer some additional prizes such as a prize for the tee shot closest to the pin. Scrambles will be played again on Friday, June 14. Signup in or call the Pro Shop (348 2379) by 3:00PM Thursday.

FIX YOUR BALL MARK! FIX SOMEONE ELSE’S BALL MARK! FIX BALL MARKS. Keith and the Grounds Crew are working hard to bring the greens back from the damage they incurred during the drought and power outage in May. It will go a lot better if ball marks are promptly repaired. Tools and instructions are available in the Pro Shop.

News of Tennis:

Tennis has News! The tournament schedule and other information, reported by Tennis Co-Director Linda Allen: Tennis tournaments are coming! The Lucky Draw, in which mixed doubles teams are randomly assigned, is a fun tradition that is open to members and non-members. It will be held the morning of Saturday, July 16th. The Mixed Doubles Club Championship will take place the morning of August 6th. This tournament is only open to members and the winners will have their names inscribed on the Club’s trophy! If there is enough interest, a Men’s Doubles Tournament will be held. Sign-up forms will be posted soon on the bulletin board.

“Find a Partner” sign-up sheets for adults and children will help summer visitors and members find tennis partners by posting their interest in playing. We encourage anyone wanting more court time to put their name and contact information on the list and reach out to others signing up.

Participation in Open Tennis has been light so anyone coming gets plenty of playing time. Guest fees have been lowered to $15 to encourage more participation so spread the word and invite your friends to come and play on Wednesday mornings and Sunday afternoons.

News of Bridge:

Bridge play begins tonight in the Clubhouse at 7:00PM. To remind everyone of how we do this, everyone should arrive before 7:00PM to decide on tables and start on time. You do NOT need to come with a partner NOR do you need to let us know ahead of time of your attendance. Just come. Entry fee is $1. We give half our proceeds to the Club and pay the remainder out to winners. We play 4 hands with one partner then switch around. If you did not receive an email about the start of the Bridge season and want to have your name added to the email list for future correspondence and updates, send an email to me at jmplotts@aol.com. See you tonight and many Mondays to come.

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Editor’s Note: Today is the national observance of Juneteenth, dating from the arrival of Union Army troops in Galveston, Texas, bringing the Emancipation Proclamation to those enslaved there months after the surrender at Appomattox ending the Civil War. As busy as we are, take a few minutes to think about what it must be like to suddenly, unexpectedly and without preparation be told “you are FREE!”

Sam Ostrow

Editor at Large

samsiccmail@gmail.com