Members and friends of Chuckanut Bay Rugby, our Board of Directors are pleased to inform you that we now have full ownership of the Bellingham Polo and Rugby Fields.

In early December, the deWilde Family initiated the process to transfer the property over to Chuckanut Bay Athletic Association our 501c3, our board responded to items requested by our Attorney and completed the process mid-January.

“We view this gift as both an honor and great responsibility. We are honored to that the deWilde family would think so highly of our organization to make this generous gift. As a board we also take very seriously the responsibility of being good stewards to this property, our club's proud history, and especially our small portion of Emil and Gina's legacy in our community." Justin Smoak- Treasurer

Our club has been involved with the deWilde family for nearly 4 decades and has been the primary tenant since 2002 when a group of rugby enthusiast resurrected our local club. The whole facility is 3 actual parcels to total an approx. 17.2 acers, with currently 3 other tenants we lease to and will be working to formalize these agreements.

“This is such a great honor and a wonderful gift to our club. We are so thankful and excited to use this gift to continue to grow our club. We hope to be a positive impact to our community and share the joy of rugby to many generations ahead. Huge thank you to the deWilde family.” Carson Taylor- Secretary

It’s an incredible honor and privilege to be in this position as a club to own our own facility, and to know our best days are in our future. We are very grateful for this opportunity, there is an old saying, the honor is not in the selection, but in fulfilling the obligation that resonates. Lastly, we have an obligation to our community and sport to present ourselves as the spring sport of choice to young athletes, to develop athletes and leaders from our Senior Club members and to continue to provide a pathway for competitive athletes to reach for the highest level of competition be it the Olympic or National Team for 15s or going Professional. We could not be in a position to invest heavy into the club without this gift in the facility, please forgive the cliché but it is a game changer. THANK YOU deWilde family!

Respectfully,

Craig Brown-President

Daniel Cantu- VP

Carson Taylor-Secretary

Justin Smoak-Treasure

Todd Vasey-Director of Coaching

Kevin Hester- Director of Fundraising