Narragansett Chapter Board Meeting
March 11, 2014, Tuesday, 6:00pm
155 South Main St. Providence, RI
Call to Order
Attendance: Debbie Mitchell, Bob Tessitore, Tom Eagan, Robin Kuznitz, Chris Shafer, Mike Krabach, Linda Pease, Ed Poyer, Dav Cranmer, Debra Huntington
Business Meeting
Review and Approval of February 2014 Meeting Minutes – The minutes from the February meeting were reviewed and accepted.
Treasurer’s Report - The treasurer’s report was reviewed and accepted.
Chapter Chair Report: Debbie reported that email blast dates are March 22-24 and April 11-13, she was asked to serve on dashboard committee will attend a meeting on March 24th. Joy St provided Debbie with dates for local activities and asked us to circulate to leaders.
Chapter Vice-Chair – Bob reported that the chapter committee retreat will be held at Cardigan Lodge on May 2-4. One of the topics will be how to attract new members.
Old Business – The Leader Appreciation event is scheduled for April 10th. Tom is looking for a venue that will comfortably accommodate around 50-75 people. Tom is considering Ironworks or Chello or Greenwood Tavern. The invitation list will include approximately 100 people. Tom estimates that the event will cost approximately $2,000 - $2,500. John Judge, President of the AMC, will present the award and say a few words.
Spring Fling –Kettle Pond There was a discussion regarding the cost of the event and lunch. It was agreed that the boxed lunches were too impersonal and agreed that this year lunch will be a buffet style. Robin will coordinate the food, catering and setup. Bob asked if we should invite EMS, REI or another organization to give demos. There was discussion about getting volunteers to do the activities. There is a need for more volunteers in the morning. The afternoon activities are shaping up well. Mike discussed including the event in Meetup. There was a concern that there may be too many people registering but it was decided to include it on Meetup. If there are too many people we can close registrations. Tom will need about 60 patches for the event.
Regional director nominations are due at the end of March. Debbie discussed that Tom will be nominated by the chapter. The board enthusiastically supports Tom’s nomination for regional director.
New Business
Leadership Development Scholarship - Ed proposed that the chapter scholarships be named the Joe Kuzneski Memorial scholarship in honor of Joe’s many contributions to the chapter. There was a motion to approve naming the scholarships the Joe Kuzneski Memorial Scholarship. It was voted on and approved. There will be a write up on Joe’s contribution on the website.
Youth Program Leadership Training - Bob explained that he met Sally Delisa, CYP Chair - SE chapter, who discussed youth program leadership training opportunities at her chapter. She invited anyone from the Narragansett chapter to join the upcoming training. She also suggested that the chapters could work together. Generally, the activities consist of youth without parents or guardians but have group leaders. Groups include, Girl, Boy Scouts, or other organized youth groups. The chapter youth leader would be similar to a consultant in the group. The training will be put on our website. She is looking for a quick response of interest.
Activites – no report
Communications – Mike reported that potential website assistant appears to have lost interest. Debbie suggested that discussing website succession be put on next month’s agenda. Mike attended a webinar on virtual meeting. Ie. GoToMeeting He mentioned that Joy Street has a software license may allow chapters to piggy-back off their license. He explained that he is not intending to replace meetings but the virtual meeting option would be a backup and allow people to attend meetings who are not able to physically attend. Debbie asked for everyone’s opinion on whether they would find the option of attending a meeting virtually beneficial. Everyone agreed that attending meetings virtually would be good backup to attendance. There was a brief discussion on the logistics of it. Bob commented on his experience with SW Mass. It was decided to invite Cheryl from the SE chapter to attend a meeting and give a demonstration. The chapter would compensate her for gas or dinner.
There was a motion to invite Cheryl to the meeting (May 13) to discuss and give a demo. It was seconded and voted on unanimously.
Conservation – Linda spoke about the wilderness first aid training. There are 8 paid participants. There was a discussion as to why there are so few people. There was a question as to whether there are a minimum number of people to run class. The information will be disseminate in an e-mail blast. The non-member rate is:$165. The member rate is: $90.
Bob will put it up on the RI Hiking site, http://www.meetup.com/RhodeIslandhikingclub/
Debbie will send an e-mail to the chapter presidents letting them know about the training.
Family – no report given
Leadership – Ed reported that there have been 4 inquiries about mountain leadership school.
Membership – Robin reported that she is working on the hats and is happy to help with spring fling
Skiing – no report given
Trails – Dav reported that there are a couple of ongoing bridge projects. The VinGromley covered bridge and a bridge on the Wood River.
Young Members - Scot is working on getting more young members.
Webmaster - see communications
Toms requested that a discussion on chapter reserves be on the agenda of next meeting. He said that there is $38,000 in reserves. He commented that non-profit organizations typically have one year of expenses in reserves. The chapter expenses are typically $15,000 a year.
Ed would like to discuss how the reserves accumulated and are there any restrictions on how the money can be used.
Next meeting will be April 11th.
Adjourn 7:16.