NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS

All the ornaments, turkeys and dinners for this year have been taken.
Containers are now located at the Recreation Center and Administration Office where donations of non-perishable food items, cleaning products, paper products, toiletries, stocking stuffer items and/or wrapped candy may be deposited.

These containers will remain in place until December 11th and the contents will be added to the holiday dinners which will be delivered to 12 families on December 12th.
Thanks to all of CWL for your generosity this holiday season!

If you have any questions please contact either Bonnie Marron at (815) 765-2030 orcanoe@ameritech.net OR Sandy Morse at (815) 765- 2377 or morse712@aol.com. 

Thanks Dale Mediema for the pics!

Dale, Sandy, and Bob getting 'er set up for display. Jim Brefeld was of course there as usual helping out, including taking this picture.

Dale wanted you to see the elaborate wiring system

And there she is, ready for viewing!

A Christmas smile

Remember last year's? Beautiful!

Our display starts the 29th at Sinnissippi Park in Rockford and continues through Christmas on weekends plus the 24th and Christmas Day. The drive through hours are five to ten P.M. No charge but donations are accepted. Don't miss it!

Welcome home, Karl

Karl driving in the 4th of July parade

At last report Karl Steiskal was to come home today, the 27th. Not quite in time for Thanksgiving but I'll bet there is a lot of thanks giving today.
Karl has had a rough road for a while with his health but he toughed it out and now is back home in Candlewick. There is no place like home. Best wishes.

A worthy caiuse

Upcoming event

Weekly Public Safety report

In my effort to keep you worrying

 This past week I read an article in Psychology Today indicating researchers are unmasking microbial roots of mental illnesses. It seems something as minor as a sore throat can breed anorexia, Tourette's, O.C.D., and even schizophrenia.  Researchers estimate that infectious organisms cause from ten to seventy five percent of serious mental disorders. Many mental diseases thought to be genetic can be linked to infectious microbes.
 In other words, not much one can do to prevent these illnesses but the thought of genetic roots can scare you to death. This subject is now near and dear to my heart with my family situation.
Ken

A Sunday Smile

A photo from Rich DeVries

Rich tells me the Belvidere High School Ensemble put on quite a show for the Flames last Thursday. It was enjoyed and appreciated very much!

I should have made notes

 I watched a story on channel 17 regarding the substantial losses the public golf courses are taking in Winnebago county. The numbers were shocking. I could not find the story today so this is from memory....
 For each round of golf the taxpayers of Winnebago County pay $17.00 of the cost. Aldeen is the nicest course and also has the steepest losses. Young people are simply not interested in golf as they were in the past so this situation is not expected to change. 
 They plan to close no courses at this time but losses continue to mount.

Does this sound familiar? We face the same situation here in Candlewick. Year after year we have substantial losses from Savannah Oaks. What can we do? Nothing. We will run the course as tightly as possible while maintaining a good golf environment and eat the losses. We are in much better shape than last year due to outsourcing course maintenance but through October we have sustained about $55,000 in losses. I know the rumor keeps floating around that we are making money at Savannah Oaks. Absolutely untrue. We are simply losing less.
Ken

Let's help these fine folks get a Thanksgiving meal at the county's expense this year looking out between bars!

West gate hours

As a holiday accommodation our west gate will open early Thanksgiving Day from noon to eight p.m. Have a happy Thanksgiving.

Board meeting notes for your purusal

Board meeting notes... November 17, 2015

Maria Kaske and Kathy Carr were given service awards. We are fortunate to retain good long term employees such as these.

The AQUA update... Joel (from Aqua) indicates the lift station above below the dam will have minor construction this fall but the major work will come in 2016 with the project finished the second quarter. Teh fire hydrant for the dog park will be delivered shortly.

Finance Commission reports write offs in the amount of $111,499.65. This is a large amount almost exclusively due to lots being sold to the county for unpaid taxes. There is no reason to carry these on our books as an asset when they are almost certainly non-collectable. Accounting adjustments total $203.17.

The standing at the end of October is Operating cash of $594,748.18, Operating investments of $785,372.36, Reserve investments $3,366,654.14. Total investments $4,152,026.50 and Total cash of $4,746,744.68.

We are currently under budgeted expense by $168,477.55 and over revenue budget $29,904.79, meaning we are “to the good” by $198,382.34 fiscal year to date.

Lake Management reports the fish for stocking (walleye and smallmouth bass) were delivered October 24 , the dam inspection is complete and the written report will be forthcoming, leaf collection was huge this year with plenty of volunteers showing up to help.

The Rec Commission reports TOT program has two parents and three TOTs, after school is averaging eighteen kids per day, preschool five to six kids per class, pickleball has two to five participants, dance has six in the four to seven year group and seven in the eight and above.

The golf course update indicates irrigation lines will be blown out soon, the equipment is being cleaned and maintained for storage, the greens are in good shape and rolling well, and the entire course has been fertilized. Things are going well.

Savannah Oaks clubhouse reports the activities have been doing well to date and they are on shorter fall hours with the closing for the season set for December 31^st after the New Year's eve party (meaning they will actually close January 1!) The course through October is losing $40,000 less than last year mainly due to the outsourcing of course maintenance. Our net loss for the year is running about $55,000.00.

Your Maintenance Department is getting the vehicles winterized and the trucks set for plowing. Tree removals are complete, buildings are winterized as needed, new lamps and camera are set, the dam and weir is being inspected, winter buoys are installed, thrusters are out and stored for the winter, and other normal duties.

The Outpost information gathering is continuing but no new report at this time. General plans are drawn up and an early cost estimate is expected shortly. Blueprints will need to be drawn before going out for firm bids.

The Caledonia Road clean-up was a success with plenty of help showing up, making it an easy job. We are all set now until spring.

Halloween Trick or Treat was discussed. We asked for input from the property owners who have a preference for Saturday or Sunday. The majority feel Sunday works best with some comments regarding the number of people working Saturdays plus a letter from our postal carriers, who are concerned about kids and cars all over the streets when they are trying to deliver mail. It is dangerous as well as difficult to make deliveries. The decision was made to keep it as is on Sundays.

Our new Candlewick website is up and running with data being transferred to the new site. This will take a little time due to the amount of material to transfer. It is being tweaked as well.

The subject of who is to be invited to the volunteer appreciation dinner was discussed since some felt they were missed this year. The decision was made to invite all who volunteer regardless of hours worked.

The board voted to to close the office December 26^th due to it being Saturday on the Christmas weekend and little traffic is expected.

Discussion was held regarding parking of boats that are not owned by the property owner on vacant lots. The decision was made to have a resolution ready for first reading at the next regular board meeting to iron out any rough edges before passage.

The General Manager was given the go ahead to sell miscellaneous property from the restaurant area that will not be used in the future.

Discussion was held regarding whether to have firm open and close dates for the golf course or go by weather. The problem is if we do not have firm dates the budget will have to be padded to cover the additional expense just in case. This will effect the dues assessment. If the man hours are not funded we are exceeding our budgeted amount and that is not to happen except in extraordinary circumstances. The board decided to ask our G.M. To make a projection of cost of another thirty days of open course to see the impact on the budget before making a decision.

A property owner asked for authorization to rent a property due to a paper he said he filed prior to the deadline for rental requests. The board voted to deny the request due to his ability to see the rules in the paper as well as his initial mailing.

A request was received to use our facility for a study on falls in the elderly. Due to the time and usage involved and precedent for future requests the board voted to disallow this request.

Requests were received to post flyers for a church Thanksgiving dinner and flyers for a food drive by the Belvidere Police Department. The board decided to give the authority to the G.M. To make the decisions on this natter going forward considering conflict with other projects as well as available space.

Be sure to watch for official minutes printed in your Candlewick Paper.