Present at the meeting, which was conducted by telephone conference call, were: President Joe Emerson; Vice President Jerry Highfill; Treasurer Ray Root; Director-at-Large Dave Kresta; Secretary Bob Calverley; outgoing Treasurer Jim Bennett; John Quesenberry, host of the 2012 San Diego Reunion; Webmaster Jim Gaffney; Harold Reed, who administers the Steiger Fund; Glenn Stevenson, outgoing manager of the Company Store; Kieth and Cindy Stowell, incoming managers of the Company Store; and Doug Treadwell who has taken charge of the Flower Fund.
President Joe Emerson called the meeting to order at 8:03 PM EST. He welcomed new members of the BOD – Vice President Jerry Highfill, Treasurer Ray Root and Director-at-Large Dave Kresta. He thanked outgoing Treasurer Jim Bennett and outgoing General Store Manager Glenn Stevenson for taking the time to aid in the transitions of their important posts. He promised to make future meetings as short as possible.
I OLD BUSINESS
A) General Membership Meeting - Secretary Bob C reviewed the minutes of the General Membership Meeting (GMM). At the meeting, the Association’s By-laws were amended to extend the term of office for the treasurer from two to four years. That change is now reflected in the By-laws posted online. The membership also ratified the BOD’s longstanding policy that Association would send flowers in the event of the death, or serious illness, of a member, his wife, his minor children, but no others. Finally, BOD asked Secretary Bob C to investigate ways of rectifying a tie votes in Association elections. Twice, the election of a Board position has ended in a tie or been decided by a single vote.
B) 2011 Election – Secretary Bob C reviewed the 2011 Election results. Jerry Highfill, running unopposed for vice president, received 137 votes.
Ray Root received 101votes while Craig Bond received 40 in the race for treasurer. For director at large, Dave Kresta received 84 votes and George Moreno received 64. Bob suggested that members who vote in elections are demonstrating an interest in the Association and suggested that they be a priority if there is another phone project. He will work with Jim G to create a database.
C) Treasurers Report –Outgoing Treasurer Jim B presented the 2011 year-end financial report. The Association had an ending balance of $39,114.16, which includes General Store cash of $6,287.13; inventory of $3,287.79; $9,602.23 in the Steiger (Assistance) Fund and $20,000.01 in the Association’s general fund. He noted that the year-end report was unusual because it included profits from two reunions (LZ Dallas and LZ Gulf Shores). There were four donations to the Association during for total of $1,050 and $7,385 donated by 18 individuals to the Steiger Fund. The signed picture auctioned off at LZ Gulf Shores made $1355 for the Steiger Fund. Sales of Al Duquette’s DVD produced another $1280 and the challenge coin project by Jim Henry, Al Major and Rick Rees generated another $200. Jim B and Ray Root said they were working together to transfer the financial responsibilities as quickly and smoothly as possible.
D) Steiger Fund – Harold Reed reported on the Association’s Steiger Fund assistance program (See the Financial Report). He said that several members who had asked for assistance to attend LZ Gulf Shores canceled at the last minute due to illness, or illness in their family. Ray Root, who with his wife Pat hosted LZ Gulf Shores, said that last-minute cancelations were his biggest problem with the reunion. The BOD noted that as the membership ages, this is problem was likely to get worse.
E) Website-Database Update – Jim G. said that the form on the 187th website was continuing to generate updated membership data. He said he has been posting a large number of pictures from past reunions. He also promised to email BOD members a tutorial on the Gmail account. That account contains database information and the means to archive documents. The Association Constitution and By-Laws, the Lost Souls Table with Age, the IRS Tax Exemption Notice and the script for the Missing Man Table have been placed in the archive. Jim said that the master database is kept in Access (Microsoft) and that he periodically sends a copy of the Access file to Tommy Martin and Pat Dougan.
II NEW BUSINESS
A) Flower Fund – Doug Treadwell said he had been consulting with outgoing treasurer Jim B who had also been sending flowers on behalf of the Association. Doug reviewed the criteria for sending flowers with the BOD and discussed situations in which a donation to a memorial fund was made in lieu of sending flowers. Jim B said he had sent Doug $500 seed money to get him started and BOD said they would replenish when it was exhausted.
B) General Store Transition - Glenn S said he had almost completed shipping the inventory from the store to Kieth and Cindy S. He said he would shortly send a check for store’s cash account to Treasurer Ray Root, and Ray will send a check to Kieth and Cindy. Glenn was going to attempt to send them the Quikbooks software that he uses for the store. Jim G pointed out that the latest version of the software was not too expensive. Jim G also asked Kieth and Cindy that when people order from the store to check the addresses against the database to see if an update can be made, and they agreed to do so.
C) LZ San Diego Reunion – John Quesenberry briefly discussed the next reunion, LZ San Diego. John has signed a contract with a hotel (Holiday Inn?) and the room rate will be $99 a night. The rate will be available for several days both before and after the reunion dates (8-11 November?) depending on availability. The reunion will include a parade and John is arranging transportation for members with mobility issues. There will also be a memorial service at a veterans cemetery.
D) Adjournment – The meeting was adjourned at 9:29 PM, EST.
|