Welcome back to Muskoka and the Kettles.

We hope you, your cottages and docks survived the ravages of this past winter, with near record snow levels and flooding. Many docks in the Kettles sustained significant damage. In this regard, the Kettles and the Church were very timely in embarking on our fund raising campaign last fall to raise funds for much needed dock repairs. It has been a very successful campaign and we have raised approximately $22,000 to date. Thank you to all the donors for their contributions and to Alan Hutton for spearheading this initiative. I am also pleased to inform you that the dock work has commenced and our docks will be ready for the summer. On a go forward basis, we will continue to need to raise funds to build up our reserves for ongoing maintenance and to be ready, as we were this year, for any major capital repairs. If you have not had a chance to donate, please refer to the section in this Handbook on the dock fund and make a contribution. Our docks are an integral part of our enjoyment of the Kettles and very expensive to maintain.

We all enjoy Muskoka, and the Kettles in its very unique way, provides us and our families with some very special moments, memories and fun. Be it sharing a laugh or story at our BBQ, watching our children or grandchildren develop and make new friends at one of our programs, or participating in or cheering on a family member or friend at the Regatta. These are great moments and we hope you get to share some of them with us this summer.

This Handbook is an excellent guide to the many events and programs at the Kettles, plus we have also included some very interesting articles, information and membership contact information. I would like to thank Anne Taylor, for again, doing a great job of pulling this together as well as the contributing editors. In addition, Doug Clark has updated our Web site, which we welcome you to visit at www.kettles.org .

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our directors, committee members, staff, sponsors, and you, our members, for making the Kettles a great Association. If you would like to be a volunteer or get more involved with the Association, please contact myself or another director. Enjoy the summer.