Bid Opportunity for Mowing Riverside and Bridal LZ's

[Tyler G]

In past years George Martin, Claus and Monica have done a fantastic job mowing Bridal and Riverside LZs the WCSC board is very thankful for all of the hard work they have put in. Thank you George, Clause and Monica!

We consider the mowing of LZ's an essential service, it is critical for the safety of our member pilots to have a regularly mowed LZ. Therefore we are putting the job of mowing Bridal and Riverside out to bid giving members priority on the bid if they fit the criteria. If no members decide to bid we will accept bids from 3rd party service providers.

Criteria: 
Be capable of doing the job.
Have a mower capable of doing the job.
Commit to doing the job on a schedule. 

Aproxamate Schedule:
Riverside - requires minimum 1x per month.
Bridal - requires 4x per month moving to 2x per month later in the season.

Any member that would like to place a bid to mow these LZs should get in contact with Fraser Valley sites Director, Eric Woolsey site_fraservalley@westcoastsoaringclubREMOVE_THIS.com as soon as possible. Bidding will close 10 pm May 18th, 2018. 

We will continue to host volunteer work parties to help clear roads, launches and other less mission-critical jobs.

Thank you for your attention!

Your WCSC BOD

P.S.
The winning bid must also remove old mower from Riverside LZ

[Bruce]

On another string we a actually have a conversation going about the expenses associated with running the national organization and the assertion that more should be done by volunteers. Sensitive highly skilled activities like media relations, policy devlopment, government relations, tenure development, administration etc but a lawn mower operator we should pay for? Really?

[Claudia]

Hi Bruce, the number of volunteers who own an industrial strength lawn mower that can handle black berries is limited and our club has dealt with it with a mix of volunteer/paid mows. On the other side; local/club level "media relations, policy development, tenure development and administration" have been entirely covered by volunteers and hopefully will be for a long time. I'm not suggesting the local tasks can be compared with those on a Canada-wide level but neither can fund allocation.

[Bruce]

No criticism of you or WCSC intended at all. I sincerely think you should do what you think best and aplaud your efforts.
I am just highlighting irony. Lots and lots of irony....

[kand]

P.S.
The winning bid must also remove old mower from Riverside LZ

The POS (old mower) left Riverside LZ a few weeks ago...

[the other martin]

I don't know if this is ironic or not. It is usually the same people who volunteer and do the physical labour and it is usually the same people who voice their opinions and criticisms and do f*** all in terms of labour. Just sayin'.

[Martin]

Curious about how the LZ was cut in the past ... after all this ain't no back yard putting green.

Didn't we hire a local with a commercial farm grade mower to beat back the blackberries? Two or three times a year? (does Jim at FlyBC have the mower attachment for his tractor?.. .or did we pay the Duncan's to give it a cut? )

The poor old POS was not able to deal with heavy duty cut needed to keep the berries at bay. At the same time, the POS (or equivalent) is capable of keeping a small PG suitable spot clear and groomed, so all we are really looking at is a monster bush wacker to hit up the rest two or three times a year.... maybe $250 a cut? .... which is why it would be nice if everybody that used the field would join the club and help cover the costs.

Martin

[Ihor]

I remember a few work parties that cleared up the small but spreading blackberries on our main landing areas. I think then it was put forward by the directors of the day to keep a mower down there to maintain the openings we groomed. I think it was assumed that the mower could take out the big brush over the years. Wrong. Duncan might have mowed it a few times, and I remember him (I think) spraying the field once or twice.

[Claudia]

Ihor; there were some initial work parties and you are correct that the club mower wasn't tough enough for the blackberries.
But it was George Martin who did the lion's share of blackberry eradication and mowing at Riverside over the last several years.

[Ihor]

Thanks, George.

[Tyler G]

Curious about how the LZ was cut in the past ... after all this ain't no back yard putting green.

Martin

This was answered in the first sentence of my post.

[Tyler G]

...but a lawn mower operator we should pay for? Really?

Hi Bruce,
When you say "we" what does that mean? I don't understand how you're paying for anything regarding the West Coast Soaring Club or how this has anything to do with HPAC's economic hot mess. I don't see you as a paid member in as far back as I have records available, not even a guest membership even though I have seen you flying our sites. Needless to say, I am pretty confused by what you are saying.

Outside of the argument about whether or not you have a right to contribute to this club matter(members only) allow me to direct you to the bid above. The beauty of the bid processes is it provides a simple answer to your question. If there is one or a group of members that feel this should be a volunteer job like yourself, we will happily accept their bid to "volunteer" to do the job for free. Any takers?...*crickets*... When someone feels forced to do a job it no longer becomes volunteering. You have until EOD Friday to submit your bid, Bruce. I actually look forward to seeing you on that mower this summer sweating like a stuck pig.

Fly high, fly far and most of all fly safe!

[Bruce]

Sorry Tyler for appropriating membership.
I really didn't intend to insult anyone. The point, again, was simply to point out that there's a lot of discussion on the WCSC forum about how complex essential work done for compensation at the nation level could and should be done with volunteers (the same imaginary ones that don't cut lawns) while on the same clubs forum a lawn cutter, the standard entry level job for 14 year old) gets compensated.
BTW
Fowler's A Dictionary of Modern English Usage says:

Irony is a form of utterance that postulates a double audience, consisting of one party that hearing shall hear & shall not understand, & another party that, when more is meant than meets the ear, is aware both of that more & of the outsiders' incomprehension.

Nuff said.

[Tyler G]

Bruce,
I have nothing against you personally. I have the highest respect for your contribution to our sport nationally, but you became an example of what not to do. Let's be honest with each other; you walked smack into that one.

The following message is for everyone.
Anyone who poaches our sites and then decides to publicly form an opinion on how the club should maintain these sites will be called out. If you can't take a bit of public shaming for your transgressions, then stay off the keyboard.

BUT... I will allow you to buy your way out. Don't worry it will only cost you $20.

Show us you really are sorry for your years of appropriation, go to our website and pay for a visiting membership. Or you could show us all how unwavering you are in your ideas and submit your bid to volunteer to mow the lawn. If you do either of these things, I will remove my response and you will be officially entitled to your opinion.

[Ihor]

Getting a bit off topic here, but this is a general forum, open to whomever wants to register, and, de facto, is the largest english-speaking forum in Canada. I think it's considered the national forum.
Club business should probably be conducted on the Club Members forum where the paying members have their say.
The Bruce Abuse should stop. Well, maybe . . . If he's really asking for it.
On the subject of Club Members, I'm still on that closed forum though I haven't been a club member for at least 4 years. That list probably hasn't been updated since Robin and I did it some 10 years ago. It was a slow and manual process back then.