Manager’s Report

Great Weather! Great Times! Great Place!

The SunBird Clubhouse and recreational facilities are being used at capacity this time of year. It’s difficult to find a place to park at the clubhouse and, sometimes, even a place to sit. Golf, swimming, exercising, tennis, pickleball, shuffleboard, horseshoes, cards and other games are at peak season. The new bocce ball courts are in use, with its first league tournament currently in play with over 30 teams in participation. The pickleball league is also growing quickly with over 100 members.

The Friday night Fish Fry has become overwhelmingly popular, having attendance beyond expectations of 330-plus patrons weekly. The Horizon Room dining can seat 165 at a time and the balcony approximately another 40. The weekly attendance has been exceeding our capacity, causing a wait sometimes for seating. The kitchen only has two deep fryers and cannot accommodate any additional equipment due to limited space. The Fish Fry starts at 3:00 p.m. serving all who arrive before 6:00 p.m. A couple of changes have been made to help improve service time. Larger portions of fish are served, since it’s “all you can eat,” reducing the number of patrons asking for second servings. Delivering the billing ticket closer to the time of food service will also decrease the time for check-out. Customers arriving earlier than the rush at 5:00 may help with timing and the ability to speed up service. One part of the solution is to provide the kitchen with more space and additional equipment to serve food quicker. This will be accomplished this summer by expanding the size of the kitchen for more equipment and room to keep up with the food service demand. We face the same challenges in season during the Sunday breakfast buffet, Trivia night, some Tuesday night dinners and occasional lunches with multiple events. We appreciate your understanding and support during this period of growth and look forward to these kitchen improvements this summer.

This summer beginning in June, the Horizon Room food and beverage operations will move to the ballroom during the two to three months of the new enlarged kitchen construction. The same services will be offered in the ballroom with breakfast and lunch with some slight variations due to limitations of the ballroom kitchen. Tuesday dinners and Friday night Fish Fries are planned to continue throughout the summer. We invite your continued support by visiting here as often as usual or even more especially during the summer months.

In preparation for this change, City of Chandler construction and Maricopa County health applications for permits have been submitted for this project. We have had many meetings with these departments, contractors and utility companies in planning for this project. The Maricopa County Environmental Services Department health inspector conducted another inspection of the food and beverage operations, equipment and facilities in February in the Horizon Room and ballroom kitchens. The food and beverage operations and facilities were awarded an “A” rating.

The Project Review and Long Term Planning Committee has developed plans for the future of expansion of the clubhouse. In the following year (2018) or two (2019) depending on funding, an additional room will be added between the Hopi and Pima Rooms on the third level of the clubhouse to accommodate other activities. This new room can also serve as additional seating for the Horizon room during large events bringing an additional 60 seats plus 30 more balcony seating. The funds for these improvements projects are primarily generated by new SunBird home sales. The capital improvement savings account originated years ago and has been funded each year for large improvement projects like these for SunBird.

SunBird is a thriving active community that is growing in activities, amenities and participation. It’s exciting to be part of this growth and planning for the future. SunBird has many committees and a Board of Directors who want to keep SunBird modern and updated for the needs of today and for future growth of tomorrow.

Enjoy the great times!