This was sent to all members today.
7/28/15
Dear Blackhawk Members,
I am writing out of concern about some recent activities that have been observed at the club. Over the past several months board and other members have noticed groups of teenage kids present at the club, generally in the evening. Unfortunately, this last week the club experienced some vandalism to the jump chalet, a pickup truck and van. Several expensive power tools are also now missing from the equipment building. In the past we have experienced trespassing issues and other general mischief, including younger individuals driving vehicles and getting stuck in areas they shouldn’t be driving, damage to the plastic on the jump hills and obvious signs of someone “spinning doughnuts†in gravel areas. We had one more serious vandalism event last summer, requiring the replacement of the gate at the east side entrance. You should know that this activity has been reported to the local police and they are helping us. Unfortunately, all of this activity affects the club financially.
Obviously, we believe the presence of groups of teenagers and these events go hand in hand. We know that some of the kids are members and just at the club enjoying the club through appropriate behavior and activities. We want to encourage this kind of behavior from these kids. On the other hand, we cannot tolerate unauthorized use of the club property and the evident escalating nature of the bad behavior.
As a result, it is likely we will be making some decisions about setting time restrictions on when the club is open, as well as, locking the gates and buildings. It is truly something we would like to avoid, but feel we do not, any longer, have any choice. This issue will be a topic of discussion at the next board meeting. You are more than welcome to weigh in on it with your thoughts.
If anyone has any information about who may have been involved in the vandalism, please contact me, one of the board members, or just reply to this e-mail. Ask your kids, they may have some insight they can share. We would welcome any information that would help us bring this kind of unfortunate behavior to an end.
In addition, we are asking for your help in reducing the chance of vandalism in the future. Any time you are at the Club and see someone else, take a moment to introduce yourself to them. If you see anyone who looks suspicious, write down a description of them and record the license number of their car. You can pass that information on to me , any board member, or just reply to this e-mail.
This club is a great benefit to all of us. Let’s do our best to keep it that way.
Thanks.
Joe McCarthy
President
Blackhawk Ski Club
