From the Helm

September 20, 2022

by Greg Miarecki

Welcome to the September edition of the Beacon!  

Let me start off with a heartfelt THANK YOU to Nancy Snyder, Ed Falkenhayn, and the members of the Chicago Regatta organizing committee. Your Foundation appreciated the opportunity to participate in the Chicago Regatta this year. 

I enjoyed chatting with so many members and guests who expressed support for your Foundation and our activities this year. 

I am especially grateful to everyone who made donations to the Foundation during the Regatta – I was blown away with the support and encouragement that we received from so many parts of the Club.

In this edition of the Beacon, we’re featuring our "Lead HER Ship" program.  This is one of our signature programs that, as you will see, has a huge impact on the young women who participate. Your Foundation hopes to double the size of this program in 2023, and we hope you’ll see why after you read about it.

This month, we also celebrate the life of Victor Chigas. Many of us know Victor’s contributions to the sport and to the Club. Perhaps fewer know about his philanthropy through the Foundation. We pause to recall his legacy and giving.

If you’re at Belmont and using the Belmont tender, I hope you’ll introduce yourself to the Club’s new tender drivers, Mark Singer and Eric Zirkle. Mark and Eric attend Rickover Academy, and recently graduated from the Foundation’s Maritime Academy, a program designed to train youth to work on the water.  Mark and Eric are two examples of the impact you are making in our community. 

There’s so much going on in your Foundation.  In the coming months, you will hear more about the impact we’ve made so far and our plans to do even more next year. 

Let’s continue doing big things. Together.