Spring 2010

As we reach the mid-point of our season, we'd like to bring you up to date on happenings at the Meridian Club. The holiday season was extremely busy with a full hotel over Christmas and New Years and all rental homes occupied. There was a "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme for the New Year's Eve party, replete with a large replica of a pirate ship floating in the swimming pool. Our staff performed brilliantly and a good time was had by all.

Although we've had many gorgeous days, the weather has been more unsettled than usual for the past couple of months, much the same as in the rest of the world. The major difference is that a bad day here is much more tolerable than one in most other places. When the daytime temperature falls below 75 degrees, it is considered chilly and staff members break out their woolen hats and coats, while our guests from up north are in shorts and golf shirts.

Caribbean Travel and Life, in its March 2010 issue featuring "Romantic Escapes", listed the Meridian Club in the "Small Island Seclusion" category, noting that it is a place where one can "escape the maddening crowd" and "enjoy two miles of sugar-white beach and a shoes-optional dress code". That's us - secluded, uncrowded and laid back, with a beach you may only have dreamed of.

To our many newsletter subscribers who are repeat guests, we thank you for your loyalty and look forward to seeing you on your next visit. To those who have not yet experienced the Meridian Club, please come and see why it is that we have so many repeat guests.

Warm regards,
Bev and Wally Plachta

New Year's Eve

Hatian Relief

Turks and Caicos National Trust

Seeing Pink

Relaxation

And if you've over relaxed...

Security

Snorkeling Ashore

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Johnny Depp wasn't available

Haiti is but 90 miles away from the Turks and Caicos and there are many Haitians living and working here, including some Meridian Club staff members. The recent earthquake was a terrible blow to a country that has been beset by many problems over the years in the form of despotic rulers, devastating hurricanes, flooding and mudslides.

The people of the Turks and Caicos mounted a significant campaign to provide immediate assistance for the earthquake victims. The Meridian Club did its part, donating to a Red Cross relief fund and organizing a large clothing and emergency supply drive which resulted in delivery of some 20 large boxes of necessary items to Provo and from there by air directly to Port au Prince.

We have long been a supporter of the Turks and Caicos National Trust, an NGO that has been one of the most important and successful advocates for preservation of the spectacular natural environment of the country. Recently Wally, who has Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Horticulture, minors in Botany and Entomology and further Master's credits in Park and Reserve Design, was asked to serve on the Governing Council of the Trust and thereafter elected to the office of Vice Chairman, a very high honor. The Trust is now at a critical stage of its existence because the TCI Government was unable to meet its commitment to provide funding this year. Private donations are now the primary means of paying salaries and meeting other obligations needed to continue operations.

Anyone who is familiar with the good work of the Trust and wishes to help may make a donation by mailing a check payable to "The Turks and Caicos National Trust" to us at " TMCL, 3109 Grand Avenue #226, Coconut Grove, FL 33133" and we will make sure it gets to the Trust. Direct mail to the Turks and Caicos can be unpredictable.

Seeing Pink

On a lighter topic, one of the small freshwater lakes on Pine Cay has been home to a small group of flamingos this season. Many of our guests have gotten close-up views and photos of these magnificent birds.

Security

Crime levels on Provo have been increasing at an alarming pace. Pine Cay remains a very safe place, protected by distance, water and the fact that we all know who belongs on island and readily recognize anyone who doesn't. However, we believe in being proactive on critical issues such as the personal safety of our guests, homeowners and staff and now have a full time professional security staff on the island, headed by a highly experienced K-9 law enforcement officer from the U.S.

After much investigation, we determined that K-9 security is the most effective way of deterring crime in the islands. Criminals, wherever located, just don't want to mess with dogs and that is particularly so here. Repeat guests know that we've had a trained K-9 police dog, by the name of "Molly", on the "security staff" for a year now and word has gotten around in the local community. We were trained to manage Molly, as was Sherwyn, one of our staff members. We now have added two more trained K-9 dogs. They are kenneled in a secure facility near the marina and will be managed by our new security supervisor and another well experienced professional K-9 handler.

The dogs are all friendly and trained to display aggression only on command or in response to threatening behavior. Nonetheless, we know some people are not comfortable with dogs and so will undertake to ensure that they will not be around guests absent a security emergency. Patrols will be done at night, largely by golf buggy, with the dogs kept in a secure crate unless needed. In areas where it is not feasible to patrol by golf buggy, the dogs will be kept on leash. The security personnel have been instructed to make their patrols as unobtrusive as possible.

Those guests who are comfortable around dogs and wish to see what ours are trained to do will be able to observe one of their training sessions upon request. These sessions are scheduled regularly in remote areas of the island. It is an incredibly educational and interesting experience.

We regret that it has become necessary to take these security precautions, but now that some areas of the Turks and Caicos Islands have finally been visited with criminal activities which have long plagued other Caribbean destinations, we are determined to keep Pine Cay a safe place. This is the best way of doing so, largely because awareness of the dogs will deter criminals from coming here in the first place.

For those days when it is too rough to go snorkeling, we added a landlubber's reef this year. Acclaimed muralist Nancy West created a striking portrait of the Turks and Caicos barrier reef along the wall outside the Club office based upon her many snorkeling trips to the site. The colorful mural, complete with most of the fish and other sea life you'll see while snorkeling, is worth studying for 5 or 10 minutes to take everything in and we'll bet you don't find everything even then.

Previous Newsletters: Fall 2009 | Spring 2009 | Fall 2008 | Spring 2008