Where’s the Clubhouse. . . .
Do You Remember. . . .
Fall 2009

Do you remember when we started all the Clubhouse discussion? 1982, to be exact, when Aroma Associates purchased the little house on East 34th, where the 4 car garage served as our clubhouse. What a great time we had there, hosting everyone from our brothers at Valley to the Japanese National Team to New Zealand’s Combined Services. I still have a bottle of “Cote du Nomad” in my wine rack, made by BamBam from the grape arbor. (Can you guess what I have been saving it for??)

Do you remember why we wanted a Clubhouse back then? For the same reasons we want one today- To promote and perpetuate the Sport and Spirit of Rugby Football in Tacoma. The game we all love so much teaches us life lessons, like commitment, consistency, dedication and teamwork; helping your mate stay out of trouble; doing the right thing when others kowtow; and giving your all for the game / for the cause, for the full clock.

Do you remember when we bought the Clubhouse property? I do May 11th 1999. Do you remember all the barriers to development we were up against? City Parking Ordinances. The property was too small. Wetlands and Buffers. Neighbors. Gulches. On August 11th 2009, when the City Council vacated the streets around us, and gifted the property to us, we cleared virtually every hurdle there has been between our dream and our reality. Except one. Now we need the money!

Do you remember promising, as you drank one of Steve Page’s beers he bought you, to help build the Clubhouse? Do you remember your enthusiasm and commitment to helping? I hope you do, because now is the time to remember! Now is the time to Step Up!

We are looking for people, Nomads, with talent, time, and determination to make this Club Goal a reality. We need 100 people to step up now and buy a Clubhouse Brick for $1,000. Your donation will be saved in our dedicated Clubhouse Fund, strictly for the purpose of building the Clubhouse. We need 25 Naddies to buy a Block for $10,000. Your name too, will be placed on the Wall of Honor in our lobby, thanking donors for your tax deductible gift to the Club and the future of Rugby in Tacoma.

We need somebody to really step up and gift the Club $100,000 for a Beam, serving as the catalyst to our grant writers’ matches for the foundations and organizations we will approach. We need talented, committed grant writers and researchers too. We need fund raisers to help us solicit contributions from the public, from raffles and solicitations. We need Can-Do, Will-Do people to step up and join our efforts to build our Clubhouse. We need your talents, your time, and your determination, serving on one of our committees:

Construction Committee:
Finalizing building design, “costing” development phase options, integrating “green” approaches, coordinating club labor efforts with Interwest Construction and Development, Inc.

Fund Raising Committee:
Generating capital funds for building construction through donation solicitations, grant writing, raffles, and other creative fund raising approaches like approaching local businesses for in-kind contributions.

Oversight Committee:
Oversee efforts to construct and operate a Clubhouse at Portland Ave., including legal, financial, reporting, compliance, future operations; assistance to other committees.

There are lots of little details that must be attended to, such as in August’s Clubhouse Update…. No! You can’t have a Piggy Bank Raffle like that! That would be Internet Gambling! ….. We need lots of sharp minds and hard workers to help us have a place to watch games from, when we are old and gray.
Hey! That’s Right Now!

Email me at: SBarneyR@Harbornet.com or call me Toll Free at 1-888-391-4232 during business hours.

Step Up!
Barney Rapp
Clubhouse Chairman

We’ve come a long way baby!!!
Are you ready to step up?
Summer 2009

Being the 40th anniversaries of a couple of major milestones in my life - Man’s First Walk on the Moon and Woodstock, it seems befitting our Rugby Clubhouse is taking a Giant Step for Rugby in Tacoma, and we are truly Rockin’ and Rollin’with our final plans for its development.

Hats off to Ben Anstey, who has endeavored to persevere through the gauntlet of technicalities and trivial concerns of building our Clubhouse at Portland Ave Playfields. His endurance and professional talents have brought us to this next celebration - the approval of our Preliminary Site Plan by the City Fathers.

We just received official word from the City of Tacoma our request for vacating the city streets around our property were approved by the City Council on August 11th. Metro Parks is now drafting our Parking/Easement Agreement, allowing the Tacoma Rugby Club use of their half of the vacated ‘R’ Street (‘R’ Stands for RUGBY!) plus an additional 15’ in order to meet the parking requirements for the project.

With this agreement in hand, we will request and anticipate the Planning and Land Use Department’s approval of our Preliminary Site Plan; our final hurdle before the big one - Coming up with the Money! And now is the time for all good Nomads to step up and help! We need volunteers with time and talent to pull the fund raising efforts together.

We, the Committee of One, have a number of ideas for raising funds, some of which have already borne fruit. My dear departed Nomad friend John Scanlin was the first to “buy a brick” for $1,000 in our solicitation of donations for the building fund. Jeff Page was on his heels in support. I am pledging to “buy a block” for $10,000 and hope to see others behind me. We will also be approaching businesses and foundations in search of “Pillars of Support” with $100,000 toward our cause. These donations are all tax deductible under our 501(c)-3 status with the IRS, with all funds restricted in use.

The Club is looking for others to step up with money, and time and talent to generate other efforts for financing. I am offering a 5 gallon bottle full of money to be used in an Internet Raffle- for $10 you can guess how much money is in the bottle (not counting buttons, tokens, and foreign coins) and win it! If every Rugby Club in America bought 1 ticket, we’d raise $16,000. If they each bought 10, we’d raise $160,000! Where is George Bender? We need him! We need all of you. If just each Nomad in History bought one for 10 bucks, we’d generate $9,120. Let’s add that on top of the rest, and we would raise $185,120.

And I want to Raffle off a Sports Car at the Puyallup Casino! Where are you Bobby Meyers and Spoons Hardeman? You know the manager there, don’t you? Get in contact with me and show you know how to be a Real Nomad. Step up and help build our Clubhouse! SBarneyR@Harbornet.com  

Who knows about “going green”? We want to build a sustainable, economical, and bomb-proof facility that will benefit the Club and the Community for years to come. Please step up. Buy a Brick. You can pay by credit card, and over time. Get your name on our Wall of Glory!