The meeting was held at the home of Dick and Rosemary Schwartzbard. Present were David Abraham, Mary Beale, Charlotte Eddy, Charlie and Sara Huggins, Ray and Judy Jones, Bob Knopes, Dick Laeser, Dave Lerner, Bob and Jan Marx, Ray McKinley, and Rosemary and Dick Schwartzbard. The minutes of the July 25th meeting were approved as corrected.
Ray Jones presented the Treasurer’s Report. The club’s CD matured in July. The club’s assets are currently held in a checking account at Sandy Spring Bank in Olney, MD. The balance in the account as of July 31st is $10,381.41. At the July Excom meeting Ray explained that he had received notice from the District of Columbia that the club’s DC incorporation status would expire on August 31st unless the annual fee was submitted. In the days following the meeting, Ray attempted to contact the lawyer who months earlier had agreed to facilitate the club’s transfer from DC to VA nonprofit status. A principal motivation behind the change had been the fact that incorporating in VA would reduce the liability of club officers and trip leaders with respect to adverse events at club sponsored activities. Ray learned that the attorney had just let the matter slide. At this juncture, Ray sees two possible courses of action. One would be to a cerate a VA entity and to merge the present DC incorporation into it Another would be to identify a DC club member as the new agent, pay the District fees, and continue along. After a brief discussion, Excom gave Ray the approval to proceed with the VA incorporation initiative. Ray was asked to give Excom an estimate of the legal and state fees stemming from the merger.
Ray McKinley provided a run down of approaching PVS events. Crab Fest will be held at Betty Lawrence’s on September 2nd. Monthly club meeting will resume on September 19th at the Waddicks’. September Excom will be at the McKinleys’. Betty Lawrence will host the annual fall foliage weekend in Blue Knob October 6-9. Octoberfest will be at Pat Vagonis’s home on October 29th. October and November Excom meetings will be hosted by Bob Knopes and Bob and Jan Marx, respectively. The Kentland event co-hosted by the Leonhardts and Sharon Mulholland will be held on October 28th. This year’s Chili Hike falls on November 4th. Some consideration was given to combining the September and October Excom meetings into one early October meeting as was done last year. However the presiding sense was that the monthly meetings were beneficial.
Dave Lerner described features of the new PVS web site. One of the objectives in establishing a new web site was to make TOOT available on line and under password protection. A question was asked as to whether this evolved from membership dissatisfaction with the old way of distributing TOOT as an email attachment. Dave explained that the change provided an archive for TOOT issues that members could refer to easily. David said that another impetus for the new web site was to attract new members. The web site will be interactive with links to other clubs. Like the former web site, the club bylaws and ski trip guidelines will be accessible to interested viewers. Excom meeting minutes will also be posted as well as archived but under password protection. Trip flyers and some photographs will appear as well. The new site will have a link to “about us”. Dave read aloud the descriptive paragraph that he had written. Ray McKinley suggested adding the fact that PVS is a club of skiers. “We’re the only club in BRSC where members have to be skiers.” David expressed a general concern over making the club too restrictive. It was acknowledged that Dave has done a great deal of work to improve the web site. He will assume the duties of club Webmaster. Dave plans to ask Marvin if he will keep his hand in the effort by being Webmaster for photographs. In launching the new web site, it was necessary to use a different access name than for the original site. Dave chose the name PVSkiers. In order to access the site, key in www.PVSkiers.org. There was concern that interested Internet users would not be able to find the site. “No one knows PVSkiers or knows us as PVSkiers.” Rather than allow the original PVS web site to lapse, Dave will see if a link to the new site can be added. He will also ask the new web host to put the original name (PotomacValleySkiers.org) in the same directory as PVSkiers so that they’re essentially synonymous.
Bob Marx spoke as Chair of the Ski Trips Committee (STC). The committee probably won’t meet until November to review the guidelines. Early word on trips planned for this year is that sign-ups have been a little light. David said there is cause for concern but not alarm.
Charlie reminded members of two upcoming events: a golf outing on September 29th and the Frank Shelbourne hike which Sally Finan has agreed to lead. David noted that more members are volunteering to lead nonskiing events. However, a volunteer is still needed to organize a bus trip to Radio City Music Hall for the annual Christmas Show. This was organized two years ago by Wilma Sharer and it was very successful. The trip would be scheduled for late November or early December. The bus would depart the area around 7 am and return at approximately 10 pm. The trip would require a minimum of 37 people and could accommodate as many as 45. Jan will send an email to the membership to see if someone is interested in volunteering.
The next BRSC meeting is September 16th. Charlie and Glade Flake will be going. Marty Rine may also be attending. The club is allowed to have three votes.
David received an invitation to a reception being given by the US Ski and Snowboard Association. The Association encourages club presidents to support its programs such as funding Olympians. The consensus among Excom members is that this represents a slippery slope. Members of PVS are at liberty to donate individually to skiing related organizations.
Dick Schwartzbard moved to adjourn at 9:30 pm.
Minutes submitted by Mary Beale, Secretary.