The years of 1972—1976 were notable because it was around this time that the Plymouth Harbor Board of Trustees and the administration began to realize financial difficulty ahead. Existing resident contracts had clauses restricting increases in maintenance fees, which made it difficult to keep pace with rising costs. Jack Smith, the administrator at the time, sought advice from business people on the Board and from a group of residents. In turn, those residents enlisted others to organize a campaign to voluntarily increase their monthly fees. A surprising number of residents did so, and by the mid-1980s, Plymouth Harbor was back in solid financial shape.
According to Jack Smith, “The cooperation was amazing. When we were in financial difficulty, in addition to raising their own monthly payments, residents did everything from paying for carpeting in the public areas, to buying vehicles, to purchasing silverware. The residents saw that the need was there, and they responded to the need to save Plymouth Harbor.” In the years to follow, the Board of Trustees and the Residents’ Long-Range Planning Committee saw an opportunity to begin working on a master plan for Plymouth Harbor—one that would include an ambitious design for an expansion and improvement program.
When Elsie died in 1996 she had set up the Elsie A. Dreffein Charitable Trust, funded presumably with the benefits of all of that listening she did in her younger years. She named several charities as the beneficiaries of the income from the trust, Plymouth Harbor being a 30 percent recipient. The income is distributed annually, and the trust has grown to over $5,500,000.
The Reverend Dr. Jack A. Smith was approved as the Administrator of Plymouth Harbor in 1971
Jay was born in Southport, Connecticut and raised in Manchester and Stowe, Vermont. After finishing high school in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, he moved to Wichita, Kansas to serve six years in the 8th Air Force Strategic Air Command. After his Air Force service and education at Wichita State University, he joined Boeing Military Co. Aerospace Group, and worked on National defense projects. In 1984 Jay moved to Sarasota, FL and spent 12 years traveling and managing worldwide, special access international defense projects for Fairchild Weston and its successors, Loral Aerospace – Lockheed Martin. He then served as Director, Corporate Accounts for an international telecommunications firm. His board service includes chair of the St. Thomas More Finance Committee. He and his wife, Leslie Juron, co-chaired the Girls Incorporated of Sarasota County Capital Campaign and were both awarded the Girls Inc. Visionary Award.