Lakeside will be different this year

We own a summer home in a Chautauqua community linked to the Methodists, Lakeside, Ohio, which depends on the owners and visitors to keep it afloat for 3 months of its business season. Owners, of course, pay year around. There are constant appeals for money in any year, usually to rebuild, restore, restart something in the arts, religion, education and recreation areas. Now, it will be just to stay alive. $2.1 million deficit.

"Lakeside is taking this expected loss of revenue very seriously. We reacted swiftly to implement immediate cost reductions. Reductions in staffing and cuts in operating expenses and programming costs for this summer total $1.6 million. We were able to cut another $200,000 from project spending to bring the cost reductions to $1.8 million, but we are still left with a $2.1 million projected deficit ($3.9 million reduction in revenue partially offset by $1.8 million in cost cutting).

"How do we intend to cover the $2.1 million deficit? Lakeside received a $650,000 forgivable loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, part of the Federal government’s stimulus package. Lakeside already had bank lines of credit of $1.1 million that are typically used to manage variations in cash flow. We will use those. Lakeside is supplementing that by acquiring an additional $500,000 bank line of credit. We have enough debt capacity to cover the remaining deficit, although it comes at a future cost of paying back that debt. " (Lakeside newsletter)

We'll be there, and it will be different. Our family has been Lakesiders since 1974, owners since 1988. Many of our family and friends have visited or stayed with us over the years. We will have Phil's service there this summer.