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Toronto Sons of Beaches Ball Club
I think we may have met before; my name is Handlebar Hank (pictured left). You will see me from time to time on a variety of documents like your maps and tournament literature. I will be the beacon to look for, pointing you to where & when you are to be at the games. I also hang out at our website and you should visit me at least once a month to check on program updates. You can do this now if you have an Internet connection and we can meet there. Go to http://www.sonsof beaches.net Regardless of where you are in the world, you will always be able to see what the Beaches are doing back home by checking our “Events Calendar” at our website. There are many other useful items on this website and you can review this at your leisure. Some “members only” files are locked and although we publicly share a lot with the industry, you will need to get the SOB password to gain access to this Members-Only club stuff. Check with your membership sponsor to see if you have reached the password plateau. People often ask me, why do I keep changing the color of my hat? Rather than have me tell you, I will let you ask our other “Active Status Members” and they can share this with you. Although I should point out, our Official SoB Logo is my yellow hat as seen in the image above. There are many club activities for you to join in & I will thumb sketch a few for you now, but there will be more than the list says. We should touch on a few things that maybe your sponsor may have missed. They don’t like dealing with the non-fun things and leave the work up to me; like scheduled meetings per year, conduct becoming a Beach member, when membership dues need to be paid and a few procedural concepts. Hopefully, I will have some fun things of my own to share later on. Here we go and I hope I will answer some questions that may be on your mind. Activities
The Vice President is the co-ordinator for the Sob hosted tournament and the fellow to speak with about helping out.
Please seek out a copy of our Constitution and review: types of membership, meetings, leave of absence and new member acceptance vote. (Or just ask your sponsor about these items.) Dues: The executive members set membership annual dues and the payment is required no later then May 1st of each year. The fees are never prorated and joining at any part of a year will cost the same. Membership Joining Procedure: SoBs members are self-policing & control the quality and flow of Club Membership. Each new member has to be nominated by an existing full member in good standing and this nominator becomes the new member’s sponsor. The aim is to get the new member quickly comfortable and informed so he can be interactive and on track with our programs. The sponsor has a responsible to those they bring into the family. Amongst these are to ensure that the new member gets: a SoB uniform, a copy of the constitution & Club guidelines, all the current club information in a timely manner and is to explain Club procedures and events to the new member before they happen. Also, turn in an ID photo. We want to avoid having new members joining and then being left on their own to flounder through unknown club procedure/activities. Any member will be glad to assist you at any time, without hesitation, but: Your Main Beaches guides are: Wayne Crowley and Mike Lyons. How does a new member nominate a member? Only full active status members can nominate new members and you will need to go pass the initial probation time period to do this on your own. In the meantime, if you have friends or candidates that you feel would be good SoB members speak to another club member about this and have them stand in for you (preferably your sponsor). One of the best ways to introduce a new candidate to the Beaches is to have them come out to the Tuesday night practise games and social or have them join us on a real tournament (if there is room). These are both good places for candidates to meet existing members and get a feel for our organization. Tuesday night sponsor bar is Victoria & Albert Pub at Birchmount and Ellesmere Ave. Just down the street from the Tues night practice games and we meet there on Tuesday from 7:45 onward – including the winter months. Another way to learn who the other members are is to review the “Member ID” program on the website. You will find this from the “Photo_Gallery” page. Here you will find the member’s photo and a short bio-sketch about them. If you are not listed contact the webmaster and your sponsor. Member Ejection We have only tossed out 2 members in over ¼ of century of business. We don’t make it so difficult so they can’t have fun, but if a member is an obnoxious drunk, belligerent, has continuous arguments at games and is swearing in front of (our) women at the bar – it doesn’t sit well. If they bring racial, religious or other prejudice to the table – we don’t need it. The Club Members and Spouses are ladies and gentlemen first, ball players and sportsman second, but it is an all-inclusive-package. So, if you are a semi normal person just be yourself; you will fit just fine. If at anytime you have a concern and cannot find the answer, you can always call on one of the Executive Members for a listening ear or an informal chat. Now that we have all that boring stuff out of the way Manfred, – let me say what I really wanted to say all along - We are proud that you have joined our family and extend our warmest greetings of welcomed friendship. The Beaches are much more than a bunch of guys that play ball and you will get a feel for this as time goes along. Bright fun days are ahead …
… and the best is
yet to come!
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