Weston Field Club Reopens

Weston Today file photo

The Weston Field Club has reopened, is holding an open house on Saturday (March 15), offers two summer trial memberships, and has a new general manager.

The discovery in November of “financial irregularities” forced the club to close and created what new board president Jessica Lombardi described as an “existential crisis.” Since then, said board vice president Alex Reynolds, “it’s been four months of hard work to build back from the ground up.”

The open house takes place at the Weston Field Club, 38 Ladder Hill Road South, on Saturday from 1:00 to 3:00, an opportunity to tour the facilities, meet members, and learn about programs, services, and camps. Light food and beverages will be on hand, and the club’s kids ice cream window will be stocked.

“For anyone who has always been curious about the Field Club, now’s the time,” said Ms. Lombardi.

“Motivated members”

“The crisis brought everyone together,” said Ms. Lombardi. “Literally every member is bringing whatever skills and knowledge they have in their background to bring back the club.”

There are holdover issues from November’s reversal, and Mr. Reynolds said “it will be a bit of a climb to get back to where we were, but we hope to have full services this summer.” He said he is “optimistic about the future. We have a solid business plan for what will work this year and beyond.”

Ms. Lombardi said committees “of motivated members” volunteer their time to deliver programs and services. “Everyone is excited,” she said. “Members being more involved with decision-making is a really good thing for the community here.”

A new general manager came on board this week and will be at the open house. He is Ole Knudsen, a 25-year hospitality veteran most recently at the helm of Brownson Country Club in Huntington.

“Best practices are now in place for operating costs,” said Ms. Lombardi. “We’ve used this time to do a complete overhaul, get financially solvent, and be viable.”

“We wouldn’t be doing an open house and promoting ourselves if we didn’t feel confident that we had a model and a situation that could make it,” she said.

Programs and activities at the Field Club include aquatics, swim and dive teams, racquet sports (including men’s and women’s adult teams), trap shooting, and special member events.

Community connections

“We are focusing on leveraging local relationships,” said Ms. Lombardi. She said DIG, the popular after-school program that currently runs at 48 Norfield Road, will help staff the club’s summer camps with coaches and counselors. (The DIG team will be at the open house.)

As another example, fairly new Weston resident Sol Yi of “Survivor” TV fame will conduct a Survivor-style kids obstacle course event this summer.

“The membership wants to be more community focused and inclusive,” said Ms. Lombardi. “We would love Weston Field Club to be everyone’s home away from home.”

For the first time, the club is offering trial summer memberships, with no initiation fee. A half-summer trial membership ($3,000) runs from Memorial Day to July 15. A full summer trial ($5,000) runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. In both cases, a portion is applied to the initiation fee if the trial member decides to join in full after the summer.