Saturday, May 5 is the first major event of the BHYC current season, the Kentucky Derby Party. Anne Hughes and Sumner Lipman are the major organizers of the event so you know that it has to be first class from the walk on down the hill forward. First of all ladies you must wear a hat and if you do you will receive a beautiful rose symbolic of the day. If your hat is judged to be the Best Hat you will win a valuable prize which is a gift certificate from the House of Logan!

Men, please don’t despair . If you wear a colored shirt you will receive a semi valuable (your call on its value) string of party beads and if your shirt is indeed adjudged to be the best you will win a gift certificate to the Cod’s Head.

The party starts at 1730 and Master mixologist David Schoentag will preside at the center of libations. David will create the drink of the day- Mint Julep - as well as anything else your taste buds desire. Appetizers will also be served to accompany the drinks so here alone is an improvement over last year’s event.

The biggest improvement will be a repeat of many prior years derby events , namely that Ace Handicapper Sumner Lipman and his team will once again be in charge of pre-race activities and winners predictions. Among other things will be the opportunity to win a free round of golf at the beautiful Falmouth Country Club. This prize may be assigned by the winner but it must be used before July 1. Should there be no winner, the prize will be auctioned off and if there should be multiple winners a coin toss will determine the winner.

Unfortunately the club dining room will not be open for this event so the organizers have planned an a la carte dinner at a popular local Bistro. Should you want to join the crew for dinner you can call 633-0400 for reservations for the 1900 dinner. Any questions about this or any other part of the event you can call Anne Hughes.

Sharma Schacknow and  Sandy Wheeler have astutely suggested that this would be a perfect event to bring friends who might be interested in joining BHYC. If you are a non-member reader of this column and you are interested in membership, please feel free to call Sandy or Sharma of the club office at 633-5750.

Over at the Sailing Center, work proceeds apace with concentration on sheetrock, installation of the heating system (including the boiler) and work starting outside on the retaining wall project which will include placement of the granite blocks saved from the excavation for the building. Work is also in progress on the recently approved expansion of the runway and ramp in front of the new building. As we know, the launch ramp on the south side of the clubhouse is far away from the new center and is prone to slippage and insufficient water to launch or haul at low tides. The new project is to widen the ramp and runway  to allow dollies hauling any size of our Junior program boats to proceed from water to land (or visa versa) with ease and close proximity to there boats are stored or serviced. This project will be a major boon to activities when we host the many Junior state events this summer.

Meanwhile the school sailing club has been busy with daily practices and last weekend they went to Boston for our first out-of-state regatta. The youth competed with teams from Sharon, Duxbury, Milton, and BC High. Four of them will travel back to Massachusetts this week for a clinic at Harvard.

This coming weekend we will host a regatta in the Pen Bay series . You can see it all happen from the McKown Point  state lab lawns.

Scotty and Ellen both still need your prayers and concerns and if any of our readers wish to send cards or letters, Alice Mutch or your scribe will be happy to provide you with an appropriate address.