Narragansett Chapter Board Meeting

August 11, 2015

235 Promenade St . Providence, RI

Call to Order – 6:17

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

Business Meeting

Minutes – Gregg commented that the cost of the recent membership event was $116.95 and there were a total of 63 people. Minutes were approved as corrected.

Treasurer’s Report – No report

Chapter Chair Report – 2016 Fall gathering – Bob is working with the committee to get an onsite meeting setup. It has been difficult to coordinate with the members of the committee and Alton Jones. Bob will follow-up with the committee and Alton Jones to setup a meeting next month.

Vice-Chapter Report – Russ reported that he has been working with the VA to setup a hikes with Veterans. (with or without pets) He discussed his ideas and asked whether a hike like this should be open to the public. The consensus was that it should not be open to the public. Russ tentatively plans to setup a hike for September 19. There was discussion about having the hike listed on the AMC calendar and it was decided not list the event. He will meet with the VA next week. Russ also asked about other events that could be offered. He also asked if we could offer the Veterans membership at a reduced rate. Bob said he would speak with Joy St. about offering a reduced membership rate to Veterans.

New Business

Members: Gregg raised the point that she has spoken with a number of people who are lead with Meetup groups but are not leading for AMC. She is concerned that the calendar is not as full as it has been in the past. She believes that people are leading Meet-up groups and not AMC and would like to get them back in the ‘fold’.

There was considerable discussion about how to encourage people to do more leading with AMC. There was a discussion on how to cultivate new leaders. Bob discussed the need to encourage new leaders and leaders from within. The discussion came back to why the people are choosing to lead for Meetups groups rather than the AMC. There was a comment that some people find Meetup to be more flexible and is easier to put trips on at the last minute. Gregg proposed having a leadership meeting/potluck to get the leaders together and discuss the issues as well as encourage them do more leading. Russ suggested that we have the meeting and tentatively discussed having it in the winter. Mike suggested that we poll the leaders.

Fall Gather aka Cardigan Weekend – Bob said that he would like to have people pay online via Paypal. Mike said he would look into it. Bob felt that he needed to get it online ASAP and would go forward with having them register and pay via check. Bob explained some of the activities for the weekend, including a naturalist and a band. Both, band and naturalist will be provided with free room and board and will not be charged for their events. Leaders will have discount on the cost. Registration will go through Bob.

Committee Reports

Paddling: Mike reported that there is a new sea kayak available for rental and he passed a picture.

Trails: The fiberglass is in place on the Wood River Bridge. They have completed the decking. They are getting close to completion. Bob asked Dav to contact people to get pictures and information to put on the website. Russ asked when work would begin on the Ben Utter shelter. Dav said it has not been schedule.

Motion to adjourn: 7:40pm