Interim Director's Report
Fri Dec 16, 2011

Since this is the last month of 2011 I would like to reflect back on the achievements and milestones of the past year as well as take a look ahead to 2012, one that promises to be an exciting and memorable year for The Mountain. 

Two key words that best describe the past 12 months must be transition and survival. I want to give a big call out to our hard-working, talented and dedicated staff - they have simply been terrific in their performance. We have had to ask each member of our team to be flexible and go above and beyond their normal job duties due to our lean staffing levels. We have had leadership transitions in nearly every department this year: Julie Brooks started in January as Finance Director; Beth Witte moved rapidly from YAR to Associate to Youth Coordinator in Programs, and Brian Buckley in the Kitchen, who started as a cook and baker in June, became Head of Food Service in August. I began my role as Interim Director in March. I am planning on continuing in this capacity until March 23, 2013. Penny Youngblood, our first shift cook, will move into a new role as Head of Housekeeping starting in January. Finally, Bill Posey, who first came to The Mountain as a volunteer in 2010, will become Head of Maintenance in January. We express true appreciation to Ian Denham, who is retiring this month after 22 years of service to The Mountain.

We have survived this year, operating with barely enough cash reserves and no borrowing capacity. Survival mode is not sustainable in any organization; I believe we are on track to move out of crisis mode and begin to thrive in 2012. We managed our way through this challenging year thanks to the dedication and commitment of our staff and Board of Trustees, along with the generous financial support of our members and friends. We have based our zero deficit plan on a simple premise – generate $750,000 in earned income through programs and retreats and generate $250,000 in charitable donations in order to break even. We have not quite hit our Annual Fund goal so please know that a gift of any size moves The Mountain closer to a balanced budget. Yes, we still need your help.

We want you to know about an exciting development that has potential to significantly improve our balance sheet; we have renovated and have placed on the market two lovely homes on Turtle Pond Road directly across the highway from our main entrance.  The listing agent is Linda Parrish with Country Club Properties. Both homes have 2 bedrooms with 2 full baths, sit on one lot, and are ready for a new owner to move in. One home could be used as a rental or guest house. Linda can be reached at (828) 421-7922.

One of the key ingredients in making our business plan work is tapping into an amazing group of volunteers – working with us in the Kitchen, Garden, Maintenance, Front Desk, Programs, Housekeeping, the computer network and software as well as hosting many of our weekend groups. Our hats are off to all of you and to Julia Jamieson who coordinates the volunteer program as well as managing Guest Services. Our volunteers are diverse in age, skills and availability. Short weekend shifts along with longer periods are equally welcome. We have reserved the weekend of March 30th – April 1st for our 2012 Volunteer Work Weekend. Please check our website if you would like to join us.

We have demonstrated that our commitment to quality programs and outstanding guest service remains as strong as ever. Despite our disciplined spending strategy we have made some important investments in infrastructure and amenities this year, and we will continue to make timely upgrades and replacements in the coming months. We finished 2011 with some of our biggest and best youth conferences as well as a terrific Thanksgiving Family Celebration. This momentum will carry forward into 2012 – please check our website regularly for program updates and registration info. We will open Mountain Camp registration in late January. Look for two exciting events next August – an Intergenerational MountainCamp Week followed by our second MountainCamp Staff Reunion Weekend.

It is extremely important for any organization to have an inspiring and shared vision for the future. The Board has distilled the input from over 500 members, staff and friends of The Mountain and has proposed the following:

The Mountain…
A welcoming community
An inspiring experience
A tradition of Unitarian Universalist values
An extraordinary youth camp and retreat center for all ages.

Please feel free to email me with your comments or suggestions at lee.reading@mountaincenters.org. Your support in all its many forms is deeply appreciated. May your holidays be blessed and Best Wishes for the New Year!

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