~ WCYC 2022 TIKI REGATTA ~

By John & Crezlun Kossa

WOW! What can I say about the Tiki Regatta? What a whirlwind of an event!  

Just when I thought that we would have to do bottle boat races, 3 captains signed up. I had some great friends to help me with the race. Thank you Steve VandenBerg, Ed Sicard & David Monk for your knowledge & support.  Last but not least, my wife Crezlun, thank you for helping me babe!  

It's an early 06:00 start to reserve the picnic tables on the grassy knoll. Thank you Ed & Mindy Sicard for meeting us there at the crack of dawn & helping us to set up.  

The captains' meeting was at 09:30. Again thank you to Ed Sicard, David Monk & Blake Campbell for being there to fill in any info I might have missed. It was a fun meeting with captains, crew laughs & talk of shenanigans!   

The committee boat Real Nauti went out at 12:00. Thank you David Monk for volunteering your boat & supplying the club with the proper race markers. I wish I could have been on the committee boat with David Monk, Ed Sicard, Mike Sandler & Blake Campbell, I'm sure with this crew, it was nothing but laughing & some serious fun!  

The race started at 13:00 with some good wind to make it a race, not a slow float. A big thank you to our race teams!  

1st place winner Ryan Scott ( potential member) on Caravella.  Crew: Marji Weber & Brian Randall. 

2nd place & Blondie winner Phil Bellafair ( Dino) on Running Water.  Crew: I don't know. Dino didn't fill out the race form.  

3rd place winner George Hughes on Three Sheets. Crew: Mark & Suzanne Babcock.   

Our paella chefs arrived around 2:30 to set up their stations & get ready to cook. A huge thank you to our paella teams! Team FKN - Steve & Brenda VandenBerg. Their seafood paella was gigantic & delicious! Team Freedom - Tom & Maureen Hensley. Their 2 pans of chicken & sausage paella was gone so fast I didn't get a chance to try it. It must have been yummy.  Team Bardell - Dell & Barbie DeFabry. Their chicken paella was fantastic!  Team Green Goddesses - Monique Monk & Sherri Sandler. Can we talk about their aprons! No, really are we allowed to talk about their aprons? Great job on the veggie paella.  

I want to thank Jim & Maggie MacNamara for bringing Maggie's amazing salad ( green sh*t as she calls it). Drew VonGremp for his famous corn dish ( he said has carpal tunnel now from schucking & cutting the corn off the cobs, so everyone better like it. HAHA) Mindy Sicard for the always so popular tiki punch (A secret recipe) & strawberry shortcakes (She claims it's super easy, I'm sure it's not).  Stacey Matta for bringing the coconut cake ( it was from Cedar Creek, I heard it was delicious) Also someone brought shrimp cocktail & a chocolate trifle, I unfortunately don't know who brought them, but Thank You!    

The games were brought by Mike & Sherri Sandler (corn hole)  Steve & Brenda VandenBerg ( ring toss). Thank you for helping to make it such a fun event.   

The ship store looked amazing! Thank you Tammy Huntly for all your hard work on the tiki regatta hats/visors, the professional look of the ship store & the sought after raffle basket! Congratulations to the winner of the basket...Blake & Tracey Campbell.   

We had a huge turn out. 71 people attended! 66 dinners sold! 20 hats & 10 visors sold out! 3 new couples became members! 3 new prospective members attended their 1st event! Who has more fun than we do?!? WE DO!!  

To everyone who helped clean up I can't thank you enough. Our club is filled with great people & friends who help with a huge smile.  

I hope everyone enjoyed the Tiki Regatta as much as I did!   Now the big question is... Who's next to plan our famous tiki regatta?!?