The following is a message delivered by Downtown Club of York (DCY) president, Colleen Burkett on Thursday, December 4, 2008 during an emergency meeting of the membership at The Yorktowne Hotel:
 
I would like to thank all of you for taking the time from your busy schedules to join us here today to discuss the future of the DCY.
 
2009 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Downtown Club of York.  Over these past 25 years we have provided members a wonderful place to meet for lunch and celebrated with some great parties.
 
Some of you may recall that Downtown Club was founded in 1983 to meet the need for a local private club that would embrace a diverse membership. We are proud of that history and think the Downtown Club has served as an impetus for other clubs to shed their divisive ways.
 
In that way, times have changed for the better. But in other ways, time has not been kind to us. Everyone who has been to the club within the past few years cannot help but notice the declining membership and use of the Commonwealth Room. We have been hit hard by the loss of corporate offices downtown. We have been deeply impacted by the downsizing and disappearance of many companies that were major supporters of the DCY.
 
Two years ago your board began serious discussions of how to increase membership and keep our members involved. Similar discussions are and were taking place at clubs across the nation. It seems clubs such as ours are a vanishing breed. The DTY held a series of parties in the hope that members would bring potential members and, in so doing, re-connect with the club themselves. More recently, we hired a wonderful marketing manager in Kelly Bradburn.
 
These Band-Aids, along with a slight increase in dues, were projected to help us celebrate our silver anniversary on firmer footing. But within the past few weeks, we were hit by the loss of yet another major corporate closing coupled with a massive hemorrhage in our stock portfolio.
 
And that brings us up to today…………..
 
We face the sad but very real possibility of not being able to meet our financial obligations – effective immediately.
 
FDR once said, “It is common sense to take a method and try it.  If it fails, admit it frankly and try another – But above all, try something!   And that was the watchdog of the New Deal.
 
Your Board has been working extremely hard to find a way to change the course of events…so that we can maintain the DCY.  I have also been meeting with Rick and that the two of us met with Timothy Garner (Regional Director of Operations) of the Yorktowne’s Parent Company "GUESTS INC" and they have been most accommodating in efforts to keep the DCY viable.
 
Two weeks ago the board met for more than two hours of discussion and option exploring. And last week we met again for three hours.
 
At that meeting, Guy made a motion to call for this special meeting of the Members (as indicated in the by-laws).  Pastor Rooney seconded the motion and the board voted unanimously to hold this special meeting.
 
The purpose of this meeting is for the membership to tell the Board of Directors how you want us to proceed.
 
The Club simply cannot continue as is. There simply isn’t enough revenue to keep us afloat.
 
And yet, hope springs eternal. If anyone would like to offer suggestions for an aggressive action plan, I would be more than happy to entertain them.
 
I would like to open the floor for questions and suggestions.
 
If there are no workable suggestions (or offers of a bailout), I am obliged to ask for a motion to disband the Downtown Club of York.

Download the Final Letter sent to the membership regarding the future of The Club