Narragansett Chapter Board Meeting

June 14, 2016

235 Promenade St . Providence, RI

Call to Order – 6:10

Attendance: Bob Tessitore, Mike Krabach, Debra Huntington, Chris Shafer, Gregg O’Brien, Russ Miller, Linda Pease, Dav Cramer, Ed Poyer

Business Meeting

Minutes - The minutes for the May meeting were approved with corrections.

Treasurer’s Report – Bill had previously emailed his report. It was approved and seconded.

Chapter Chair Report – Suzanne from Joy St. was scheduled to attend tonight’s meeting but had to cancel and will reschedule. Bob reported that the fall committee meeting is tomorrow and everything is continuing on schedule.

Vice Chapter Chair Report – Russ discussed the AMC organizational meeting he recently attended, he explained that there is an initiative to bring in younger members and get them to participant as leaders. There was much discussion on this. There was a question regarding family events. The comment was made that in order to have family events we need leaders who have families. Ed pointed out that we don’t we are a small chapter/state and don’t have the critical mass of people to participate. Bob asked about partnering up with another family based organizations.

Chris volunteered to speak to Rebecca about her interest in organizing young member’s events.

Ed pointed out that it is very difficult to get young members because they are a demographic that are working on careers or raising kids. He commented that we should focus on the younger-older members, people whose children have grown. Bob discussed that LLBean is coming to RI and there is the potential of partnering with them on events or activities. Chris also commented that REI has been interested in working with us. Bob concluded that he would like to work with these organizations from a standpoint of what can we do for each other.

Old Business

Vice Chairperson – The position is still open. Russ reported that the people he approached abut the position are not available. Everyone is encouraged to let Bob or Russ know of anyone who may be interested.

Leaders - Ed also commented that the feedback from his leaders is that posting of trips on the AMC website is onerous and may be discouraging them from leading.

Committee Reports

Activities – Chris will be working with the young members in hopes of revitalizing the group.

Communication: Mike reported that he is learning more about the new website integration. Ed asked if the listserve will be available on the new site. Mike explained that it will not be on the new site.

Conservation: Linda said she has been doing group emails and will be doing individual marketing.

Leadership: Ed reported that both the WFA and Leadership courses were well received and at or near capacity.

Membership: Gregg reported the membership numbers and on the spring picnic. She said there were 37 people who attended the picnic. The turnout was less than she had hoped. The hikes were successful but some of the other events were not well attended. Bob thanked her for her efforts.

Ed asked what type of information is captured in our database because he is working on a diversity project.

Trails: Chris reported that there was a good turnout for National Trails day with about 30 people in attendance. They built steps on one trail and did trail clearing on others. They are starting to make progress on the Ben Utter trail pavilion renovation project.

New Business

Russ said that the dog hikes are grouped with day hikes in the database. He would like to have a separate group for them. Chris commented that he didn’t see a problem with splitting out the group. Ed asked if this is a change to by-laws or standing rules. Chris said it’s a change to the standing rules and he can check the rules to see what is needed to make the change. Russ would like to raise this for a vote at the next meeting.

Ed asked if there is a need for coordination between day and dog hikes. Russ explained that the training requirements are different for dog hike leaders than they are for day hike leaders. Dog hike leaders need to be able to manage people and dogs.

Adjourn – 7:50