SEPTEMBER 2019 BEACON

What then is the Policy? To understand the Club Policy, it’s important to first understand the Board of Directors. By-Laws ARTICLE VI. GOVERNMENT Section 1 and ARTICLE VIII. DUTIES Section 5. Board of Directors, combined, define the Board of Directors and has vested the BOD with the entire government, control and management of the Club. It is under these By-Law Sections that the Board of Directors has written, maintains, and enforces the Club Policy. The Club Policy is a set of rules that maintain the common enjoyment of the Club and it serves as a basis to avoid conflict in general behavior. The Board of Directors may amend the Club Policy without a vote of the Membership. The Policy is flexible by design, it can be amended quickly as conditions change and as issues arise. Government agencies and other Institutions are generally not interested in our Policy. For instance, no government agency cares if we allow dogs on the Island or how we assign boat wells, sleeping rooms, or how we handle work weekend hours, or other behavioral issues; these are the types of things found in the Policy. It should be noted here that any change in Policy is first reviewed and approved by the Club Policy Committee to ensure it’s in compliance with the By-Laws. No Policy may contradict a By-Law. For the most part, By-Laws relate to duties and responsibilities of the Club as a whole, Policy relates to duties and responsibilities of individual Members. The By-Laws and Policy are equally enforceable and a Member violation of either document is no more or less enforceable than the other. This brings us to Traditions Traditions are things our Club and Members do as a matter of enjoying and passing down to future Members certain customary principles and beliefs that define our Club’s social culture. That’s a fancy way of saying we do certain things because we always have, and we like it that way. In a very real sense though, the North Channel Yacht Club sometimes seems to have more Traditions than By-Laws or Policies, and in some instances may appear to elevate them above the By-Laws or Policy. While not officially recognized or enforceable, it’s the Traditions that make our Club the family-oriented group of people it is. To coin a phrase from the modern lexicon, the Traditions are the glue that hold our Club together. We may fight like cats and dogs over the By-Laws and Policy, but when the Flag raises on the Sunday before Memorial Day, we’re all in agreement and get a lump in our throat and would take to the floor anyone who disagrees. That’s what a Tradition is. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll see more on Traditions as we’re making an effort to document and make available a list of the coveted Club Traditions. Hope this helps, Ron