The First Hundred Years: Clearwater Yacht Club, 1911-2011

Chapter 10 A Club with a Heart In 1993, Commodore Gary Strohauer asked each committee and interest group in the club to come up with an idea of how CYC might give something back to the wider community. As part of this effort, a CYC tradition was born: UPARC Fun Day. Each year since 1993, residents of group homes and participants in day programs run by the Upper Pinellas Association of Retarded Citizens (UPARC) are invited to the club to share a day of fun in the sun with club members. UPARC clients and CYC members enjoy a cook-out, a swim in the pool, boat rides, and dancing to the music of DeAnne Horn. Each year, UPARC artists are asked to submit drawings—one of which is selected for printing on the t-shirts, which have now become collector’s items for clients and CYC members alike. Tom and Bev Brewer and John and Brenda Hanson have done a remarkable job of keeping up with the growth in popularity of this event. As Bev says , “That first year we had about 15 clients plus a small group of UPARC staff members come to the club for the picnic. A small fundraiser was 101