Hey all -

After a couple of years of discussion and proposal, the various groups that use
the church
gym are moving forward on replacing the gym floor. We're going to have a club
meeting
on Monday, November 17th at 8:00 pm at the church to discuss the proposal and
the
club's participation. This email should bring everyone up to date on the
developments so
far.

Steve DeFields-Gambrel, the pastor of the Circle Church, held a meeting back in
September with representatives of the four groups who use the church gym.
Rajiv, the
athletics director of the Gateway School, talked about the research he had done
on
different flooring materials and brought a proposal from a flooring provider in
San Jose.
His recommendation to the group was that we use TileFlex, a modular, synthetic
flooring
material that is designed to mimic the properties of hardwood. The installed
floor is
seamless, can be installed over the existing floor, and can be put together
without special
tools or adhesives. Here's a web site with more info about the flooring:

http://www.greatmats.com/products/tileflex.php

The quote from Kiefer Specialty Flooring came to about $16,000, but this quote
was eight
months old at the time. Pastor Steve proposed that the cost be split equally
between the
church and the four gym users. He said that the church would set up an escrow
account
for the money and put together a contract describing how the money would be
used. The
contract would also describe the options for participants if one or more of the
groups
back out -- basically, everybody would have the option of getting their money
back out if
another group bails. Steve mentioned that he has a parishioner who does
flooring for a
living and would be able to help with the installation, and that he would likely
be able to
recruit enough church members for a work crew.

I talked to Steve again last week. He has set up the escrow account and would
like to get
all of the groups to put in enough money so they can place the order for the
materials,
with the goal of getting the floor installed over the Christmas break. He also
said that the
cost per group would be around $3,800. I have asked him to send me a copy of
the
contract but haven't received it yet.

Bob and I are generally in favor of participating in the floor project. The
TileFlex surface
will be much better for fencing, and we will be able to paint permanent lines
for strips
instead of using masking tape. Our main worry is the cost of the project. We
can discuss
the particulars of the club finances at the meeting, but in general we don't
have a lot of
income other than from the Boardwalk Open, which netted less money last year
than in
previous years. Floor fees and yearly memberships have been down over the past
couple
of years. In order to reduce the hit to our bank balance, we are asking club
members to
consider making a tax-deductable donation to the club. I have personally
committed to
donating $250, but any amount is welcome. If we can get even $1,000 in
donations, it
will help ensure that we can afford our part of the floor and have rent money
and a small
buffer for the rest of the year. Please contact Bob if you are able to make a
donation.

We expect that Salle Santa Cruz will continue to meet at the church for the
foreseeable
future, so I look at the floor project as an investment that will benefit us for
many years.
With Kevin back and teaching, I also expect that we will start gaining new
members and
seeing people come out of the woodwork for lessons and bouting (yeah, that means
me,
too!). At the same time, we would like to make sure everyone's questions and
concerns
are addressed, so please come to the meeting on Monday if you can. You can also
reply to
this message with questions or contact me directly. Thanks!

p.