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Courtesy photo / There is a changing of the guard at the Smyrna Yacht Club in New Smyrna Beach. Sean McGuidwin, shown far left, has taken over as general manager for Sandy Lounsbury, shown at right. Standing in the middle is Commodore Ron Blackwood.NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- It was the burgee as well as the torch that was passed to Sean McGuidwin as the new general manager of the Smyrna Yacht Club from Sandy Lounsbury who has retired after seven years at the helm and 30 years altogether.
The announcement was made Tuesday, though the transition was made earlier this month.
Shortly before taking the Club's helm, McGuidwin, the club's former food and beverage manager, achieved the coveted designation of certified club manager in February. The CCM is issued by the Club Managers Association of America and McGuidwin is one of less than 1,500 worldwide who hold this designation.
McGuidwin has been in private club management since 1999 and in the service industry since 1985. Besides club management, he is a very accomplished sailor, having taken his first helm at the age of eight. McGuidwin and his wife, CC, and daughter Joslin, moved to Volusia County in 1999. Their youngest child, Jordan, was born here in 2003.
Approving of the transition is SYC Commodore Ron Blackwood. He and his wife, Ann, moved to New Smyrna Beach after he served for 11 years as mayor of Mount Vernon, NY.
Blackwood is very active in the New Smyrna Beach community. He is a member and past president of the Rotary Club, board member of Habitat for Humanity, vice president of the Marine Discovery Center Board of Directors and a former board member of the Volusia County Council on Aging.
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