APYC History - Volume 17

Tom Hancock was Commodore of All Ports in 1998-1999. Prior to that period, he served as club trasurer for several years, beginning in 1994. During that time frame, he managed to balance the books that had been neglected in previous years due to the inactivity of the club.

Upon election to club commodore, Tom became one of the youngest commodores. He led the club faithfully, trying some new activities.

Tom's Commodore's Ball was located at Wyndham in downtown Cleveland. Felicia Madden helped to make the event a huge success. Friday night ball activities wereinitiated by tom, but participants paid for their own Friday night expenses.

Tom Stieber served as Master of Ceremonies for Tom's Saturday night instillation. Due to nerves of other migitating circumstances, Mr, Stieber mispronounced several key words which let to a hilarious evening. One mispronounciation occurred while administering the "oaf of office"; another was to refer to the previous commodore's wife as "Lady Ludy." Bothe Wyndham staff and club members remember that evening with a smile on their faces.

One new activity Tom initiated was to serve light snacks at the club meetings. Most meetings occurred Saturday nights and to encourage member attendance, light snacks were served at no cost. Dome ofthe snacks include ice cream sundaes with ice cream supplied by Dwayne Cornell of Milk and Honey in Canton, and served by Ben Truthan. Sub sandwiches and Cameo pizza were also procided during the year.

During Tom's year, the clug's fouled anchor logo was developed and was used for many years. With Tom and Diane Stieber's help, All PortsYacht Club enjoyed a joint membership at the Italian American Club. The AYC delegate dinner was held at the IAB in 1999. Sadly the IAB is no longer in business.

Also during Tom’s year, the club’s website was developed under the guidance of Larry Truthan and Mark Weller. Today our website is a strong marketing tool for the club with Irene Rodrigues as the current webmaster.

Tom’s final weekend as commodore of the club was a cookout/potluck and DJ music evening. The members danced to the tunes provided by DJs Tom Hancock and Bobby Sowa, more commonly known as the Bob and Tom show. Tom and Bob provided an amusing evening of music and jokes which the members quite enjoyed.

The club membership grew under Tom’s capable leadership. Club cruses were well attended. Meeting attendance was strong. Tom Left the club in a good status at the end of his year.

Written by Lady Joanne Hancock, 2016