Minutes – PVS Excom Meeting – June 22, 2010
The meeting was held at the home of Sharon Mulholland. Present were Mary Beale, Carolyn DeVilbiss, Cara Jablon, Sharon Mulholland, Dick Schwartzbard, Rosemary Schwartzbard, Ellie Thayer, and Dave Warthen.
The May 25th Minutes were approved.
The Treasurer’s Report was provided electronically by Dick Laeser. The Club has caught up with the charitable donations that were approved by Excom to be given in memory of recently deceased members. The current Treasury balance is $13,397.88.
Membership: Both Dave Warthen and Carolyn DeVilbiss attended tonight’s meeting. Dave explained their roles on the Membership Committee. “You’re membership PR,” he said to Carolyn. “I’m membership records.” In his June Membership Report, Dave listed some of the tasks he had performed. Dave routinely provides assistance to the rotating editors of TOOT. In addition he distributes TOOT electronically and provides help with the necessary mailings. He provides the popular “Members’ Corner” for TOOT each month. He independently sent on-line members the June ’75 TOOT as part of his “Remember When Moment” series. He has created a new format for the Club Roster by adding an “alternate phone “column (cell or work #). This is in addition to the home phone# column. The new format will be implemented in the revised Club Roster that Dave will be sending out electronically around August 1st.
Dave noted that Leona and Sal Mahallati were among the attendees at the June 17th monthly meeting. The Mahallatis have not skied for years. Leona has maintained her membership but Sal has not. Dave asked if he should encourage Sal to become a member again. Carolyn suggested that he inquire about their plans now that they’re living in the area again.
Events and Meetings:
June 28-Segway Tour, Nat’l Harbor (Leonhardt) Sept/Oct-Frank Shelburne Hike, Great Seneca
July 17-All Trips Party (Lawrence) Park (Mulholland)
July 27-Excom (Schwartzbards) Oct 13-Lunch at the Culinaire (Thayer)
August 23-Annapolis Boat Tour (Leonhardt) Oct 19-Monthly Meeting
Aug 26-29-Finger Lakes Wine Tour (Paynes) 2011-Indianapolis 500
Sept 21-Monthly Meeting
Ski Trip Committee: “The good thing is that we have our trips set up,” said Rosemary. The destinations are Keystone (12/11-18/2010, Dick Comerford), Snowmass (1/19-26/2011, Carolyn DeVilbiss & Sharon Mulholland), and Steamboat Springs (2/17-23/2011, Cara Jablon). Rosemary asked Cara if she would like to have a co-leader for the Steamboat trip such as her husband Bob. Cara said that she would. “It’s easier.” Rosemary said that current BRSC president Pat Crowley has expressed reservations about couples leading trips. The problem is that if something happens to one, the other will be taking care of him/her. Rosemary suggested selecting a backup in advance of the trip. With respect to the trip itself, Cara has found it easy to work with tour operator Doug Horstman “I’m not doing any comps.” said Cara. “The cost is too high. I just don’t want to add to it.”
TOOT: A July/August TOOT will come out July 1st. It will have the full ski trip flyers. Marvin Hass was persuaded to be guest editor after Ellie volunteered to assemble the information. “The editor needs this,” said Sharon, “a deadline manager.”
Sharon asked for suggestions for an editor for the September TOOT. Dave Warthen who has filled the role on several occasions volunteered to do it once again. Carolyn said that she would do the snail mail.
The question of how best to communicate with Club members who are not on-line has been discussed by Excom in the past without a clear resolution. Historically members without Internet access have received TOOT by regular mail at no extra charge. As more and more people gain access to the Internet, using snail mail is becoming less necessary. Representatives of PVS who attended the spring BRSC meeting learned that most member clubs have discontinued newsletter mailings, relying solely on electronic distribution. Currently PVS has 35 members who receive TOOT by snail mail. Many in the group have email addresses but prefer to have a “hard copy”. It’s an added expense and requires kind-hearted volunteers willing to print, stamp and address envelopes, and mail out each monthly edition. Sharon asked for Excom’s opinion regarding the option of raising dues for members receiving snail mail. Rosemary suggested a buddy system as an alternative to the current approach. Each of the snail mail recipients would have someone who would see that they get their TOOT so that “we don’t need someone every month to do another job”. Dave Warthen suggested that the Club go so far as to notify people with email that the Club is going to stop their snail mail. Following that, the question of what to do for those who don’t have email can be addressed. Dave will send out a spread sheet delineating the recipients who do and do not have email prior to the next Excom meeting.
Capital Golden Skiers (CGS) luncheon etc.: Ellie reported on the first combined PVS-CGS event – lunch at Normandy Farms on June 12th. “Very nice. They were so friendly.”Carolyn had been told by a couple of CGS members that they planned to go on the 2011 Snowmass trip. Ellie has been working on a format to deliver information on PVS events to CGS. She sent Excom members a bare bones list and a moderately detailed list of upcoming events, trips, etc. Excom particularly liked the expanded version. “I think what you did was excellent,” said Rosemary. The idea is that Ellie will send a PVS “activity list” to CGS to be attached to the CGS electronic newsletter. Ellie will check with the appropriate PVS members (e.g. event hosts) concerning the contact information they would like to share (such as name, telephone #, email address, etc.). Ellie suggested a 6 month trial of providing information in this manner and then revisiting the matter. The CGS newsletter which has information on all its activities is available to the public on its website, www.capitalgoldenskiers.com. A motion was made for Ellie to proceed as she had outlined. It passed unanimously. Ellie will contact CGS to see if the plan meets with their approval and, if so, who would facilitate it. (The CGS newsletter is published every 2 months.).
45th Anniversary Gala: The planning committee met June 11th. The tasks have been delegated. Dottie Villers (who moved from the area to North Carolina in June) is in charge of the program. There will be a choice of menus. The Club subsidized the 40th Anniversary party which was also held at the Bolger Center by donating approximately $11 per person (90 people attended). Individuals paid $59 of their own to attend. Ellie is waiting for Dottie to set a price for this year so that she can put it in the July/August TOOT. Members will be encouraged to offer rides to those who don’t drive after dark etc.
Submitted by Mary Beale, secretary
Addendum: Ellie suggested that information I provided in a May 27, 2010 email be recorded in the minutes for future reference. It read as follows: “It might be helpful in terms of orientation to actually know how certain things have been handled by the Club/Excom in the recent past. In terms of the Frank Shelburne Memorial Hike, a review of past minutes shows the following locations and dates:
October 18, 2006 – walk along the canal path (Sally Finan leader)
October 17, 2007 – walk around Lake Accotink (Sally Finan)
October 28, 2008 – Seneca Creek State Park (Sally Finan)
October 22, 2009 – Burke Lake (Marty Rhine). Cancelled because of insufficient interest.
With respect to TOOT publication – TOOT was published monthly in 2005 and 2006. In 2005 there was even an additional (13th) TOOT publication – the 40th Anniversary Special” – thanks to Editor Jan Marx. Starting in the summer of 2007, a combined July/August TOOT appeared which resulted in one fewer TOOT publications that year. The practice (a combined July/August TOOT) was continued in both 2008 and 2009. The conference call Excom meeting was introduced in the winter of 2008. Both January and February Excom meetings were conducted by conference calls in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Otherwise Excom meetings have generally been held on a monthly basis with the exception of during the holiday season. The minutes show that there were no December Excom meetings in 2006 or 2007 (but regular 4th Tuesday November meetings). There were combined November/December Excom meetings in 2008 (12/09/08) and 2009 (12/08/09).
Thank you.
Mary Beale”