Make Reservations for Annual Awards Banquet

The Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet will be held November 18th at the Eagle Eye Golf Club. Contact Lisa Winters to make your reservation. Reach Lisa by phone at 517-974-7349 or by email at lisa.winters@att.net. Please act soon because Lisa has an early November deadline to provide a count to Eagle Eye.

There will be a cash bar beginning at 6:30 pm and dinner is scheduled for 7:00 pm. For $28.50 a person, Lisa has arranged a scrumptious buffet dinner that includes Prime Rib, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Sugar Snap Peas, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Pasta Salad, Garden Tossed Salad, Bread & Butter.

Or, for $6.00, you can come just for dessert and coffee. Dessert will be at approximately 7:45.

The annual meeting and awards presentation will follow dinner and dessert.

Eagle Eye is located at 15500 Chandler Road in East Lansing - about 1.3 miles north of Lake Lansing Road on the west side of the street (Abbott Road becomes Chandler at Lake Lansing Road).

Docks Are Out

Members stack dock sections

Members gathered last Saturday for the annual "Docks Out" event - and it was achieved in record time. By 10:15 all the docks were stacked on shore and covers were going on.

Some of our Junior Sailors washed the Club Sunfish - and they are now ready for the winter. Others on the Club Boat crew washed the Committee and Safety Boats.

Although there weren't as many leaves as in past years, the grounds crew rounded them up and bagged them for a trip to the Transfer Station. In addition, the tall grass in the southwest corner of the property was cut down and disposed of.

The Kitchen and bathrooms were cleaned. Computers and other electronics were sent off to winter storage.

Great job everyone!!!

Check Those Wheel Bearings

Larry Koster writes to remind everyone how important it is to check the wheel bearings on the boat trailer - and do other trailer maintenance. "Now is the time to clean and re-pack your trailer's wheel bearings before you put your boat and trailer away for the winter", says Larry. "That includes those with the 'Buddy Bearing Caps'".

"Shibumi's trailer bearings were completely rusted out last summer," continues Larry. "The bill for getting new bearings for both hubs and re-packing same came to almost $115.00." Not wanting to have to replace the wheel bearings again, Larry pulled Shibumi's trailer hubs recently and discovered water in the starboard side hub. "Both hubs, with the 'Buddy Bearing Caps', will be cleaned and re-packed at the Haslett Marathon station," says Larry.

Fred Hull in Biloxi on Red Cross Mission - By Julie Hull

Editor's Note: Fred and Julie Hull are former members of the Lansing Sailing Club. Julie served a term as Commodore. Fred is currently helping with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Julie shares this information on his activities.

I asked Fred to send me an email that I could forward to others. He hasn't done it yet. I think that he is just too tired and only has access to a computer in the wee hours of the morning. Sleeping in the shelter is a challenge when you have sleep problems to begin with. And he doesn't get his retirees' afternoon nap.

Fred started the whole process of becoming a Red Cross volunteer shortly after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. He took many hours of training, The RC does background checks and requires medical releases for any volunteers. So it was many weeks before he was cleared by the RC to be deployed.

He left Lansing on Sunday (10/9) and flew to Mobile AL on a Red Cross ticket. He was driven by a Red Cross volunteer to the Gulfport./Biloxi MS area. He is staying and working in and out of a shelter located in a church in Ocean Springs MS, just east of Biloxi. The shelter has been operating since Katrina hit and many of the 70 evacuees staying there have been there since the beginning. Others come and go as they decide that they can't make it any longer living in a tent, or their car, or their nearly demolished home; or they find other housing and leave.

The Red Cross volunteers work 13 hour shifts, 7 days a week. While in the shelter Fred and others are operating the shelter and working at finding homes and jobs for the evacuees. Most days Fred spends some of the day out into the communities around Biloxi with a van filled with food, water, other supplies for Katrina victims who are staying in severely damaged homes, tents, campers, etc. on their own property. Fred said that there are no children in these situations. They have all been sent elsewhere to live with family or friends in areas not touched by the hurricanes.

Fred is stunned by the devastation to the region. Nothing is untouched. Most everything is just gone.

Red Cross hopes to have shelters closed by October 31 which is about the time that Fred should be returning. Red Cross deployments are usually three weeks in length, but he has told the RC that he would stay a few extra days if he is needed to help with the after-closing work. So I expect that he will return home in early November.

• 2006 Listings will begin in March.

• The complete Calendar of Events is on the LSC Web Site. Click on "Calendar"
• Tuesdays: Junior Racing/Sailing and Lightning Practice Day (Next Season starts mid June 2006).
• Wednesdays: Lasers and Sunfish Race (Next Season starts late May 2006)
• Sundays: Lightnings Race (Next Season late April 2006

• Swedish Match Tour. Professional Match Racing at venues throughout the world.
• America's Cup Racing. Acts 8 and 9 will be held in Trapani from Sept 27 thru Oct 9.