Dear Member,
As we inexorably move towards the fall season, cooler weather and moving more and more activities indoors, the Club’s thinking also returns to COVID-19 and the threat of its impact here at the Club. We continue to appreciate no reported transmissions at the Club facility, including during our recent hosting of the Cranberry and Lake Placid Ice Dance International events. Great news! But with the continued spread of the Delta variant of the virus, breakthrough infections among the vaccinated, and increased infections among the young, we remain concerned and vigilant. To that end, we have reviewed the Club’s safety and health policies.
- We implore all members to get vaccinated. Proof of vaccination could be a requirement for admission to all Club events utilizing enclosed spaces, if not the entire Club facility. More importantly, vaccination is the safest practice to avoid infection or serious symptoms if infected.
- We will continue with the Club’s current policy of every member and visitor wearing a mask when anywhere in the Club facility. The only exceptions are skaters over the age of 12 when skating on the ice.
- We will continue with the requirement to complete a health questionnaire when entering the facility. In case there were to be a transmission of the virus in the Club facility, we need to know who was in the building and when, along with their contact information.
- As long as the Commonwealth continues to allow indoor dining, the Club will proceed cautiously in introducing more indoor dining options of its own. Our first Friday night dinner is September 10th to honor recent recipients of the Club’s Honorary membership and Gold Pin awards. This dinner has a vaccination requirement for attendance. The reasoning is that the Frieling Club Lounge is an enclosed space and diners will have their masks off in order to eat. We realize this precludes children under 12 from attending, but not all planned dinners this season will be restricted to the confines of a single room.
- We will open the Frieling Club Lounge to members shortly after Labor Day. The furniture will be set for social distancing, and we ask every member to respect the placement of the furniture and to not move it.
We have a busy season ahead of us in regular day-to-day activities, competitions, special events and more. (There is always more here at the Club!) Management will continue to monitor our COVID-19 policies with Cheri Rigby, our COVID-19 Safety Officer, the Club Board and the Town of Norwood to ensure we are doing everything both smart and reasonable to keep our community as safe as possible.
Sincerely,
Doug Zeghibe
Executive Director
