MINUTES
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
AMERICAN CONTRACT BRIDGE LEAGUE
OF
CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by president Ken Llacera at
PRESENT: Ken Llacera, Vicki Kuhlmann, Elena Laborde-Bishop, Mary Peterson, Carol Maggipinto, Dick Wasserstrom, Charlie Pender. ABSENT: Virginia LeRoy, Nancy Driscoll, Barbara Shepardson, Joyce Martin and Nancy Wainer.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Minutes of the
SECTIONAL STATUS:
Rising Stars 299er Sectional - In Nancy Driscoll’s
absence, Ken gave a brief report on the tournament held on March 23-24 at the
The ACBL directional signs that were placed in the area for the 299’er tournament by Charlie Pender have disappeared. Charlie has offered to make new signs. After discussion, it was decided that any directional signs should be limited to the immediate area leading to the tournament site, showing driveways and parking and specific building location. Adequate driving directions are available on tournament flyers and the SCBC website.
Surf’s Up (Open) Sectional - Dick Wasserstrom reported Harbor High School had not determined a firm date for their Homecoming, which means there is not yet a firm date for the tournament. He has sent a tentative tournament schedule to the ACBL and has recruited Barbara Shepardson, with the help of Phyllis Wasserstrom and Dolly Bass, to handle hospitality. He will post sign-up sheets for set-up and clean-up help several weeks before the tournament in the fall. There was no news concerning the tournament director(s). Dick reported that he plans to order 40 tables from the ACBL, same as last year. As soon as the dates are confirmed, Dick will get flyers printed and distributed.
STaC Week – Ken announced to the Board that the next STaC week will be May 7 through 13. The table fee will be $8.00 per game during the May STaC week, which represents a $0.50 discount to the players from the Club Owners.
OLD BUSINESS:
SCBC Volunteer Day at NABC - Ken reminded the Board
that our Unit is responsible for supplying volunteers at the National
tournament in
Insurance Changes - Ken reported that Vicki Kuhlmann will take care of this issue and there was no further discussion.
Parking Stripes – Ken has contacted A & B Sweeping and Marketing to arrange repainting of the parking lot stripes and handicap logos and designations for Directors and member parking. The company is searching for the SCBC stencils. At this time, there is no cost estimate. Apparently, the stripes need to be repainted approximately every 2 years. Ken will follow up with A & B Sweeping and report back next month.
Hospitality Assignments -Ken reminded the members of the Board of their hospitality duties, which includes planning and providing refreshments and food at their designated Unit Game, setting up before the game, making the coffee, cleaning up the kitchen and vacuuming the club at the end of the day. In other words, the host/hostess of the Unit Game is responsible to leave the SCBC in good condition for the next day’s game. The director of the Unit Game is not responsible for any hospitality tasks. Mary added that in her opinion, since the monthly Unit Game is a fund-raiser for the Unit, the hospitality should reflect something festive, fun and different from the day-to-day experience at club games in order to attract as many players as possible.
Elena Bishop, who is in charge of hospitality for the May Unit Game, will put up sign-up sheets for potluck food contributions.
ACBL Charity - Ken stated that funding requests for local charities should be directed to Jeff Hack by July 2007. Hack would also like ideas for the $20,000 grant which will be made to District 21 in 2008.
Expense Sharing Agreement - As previously pointed out
by Ken, this agreement between the Board of Unit 550 and the Club Owners needs
changing because of the increased table fees that are being collected. The Club Owners are working on a new
agreement for signature. In that
connection, Ken will send all Board members a copy of the current Expense
Sharing Agreement to read and discuss at next month’s meeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
Business License - Ken reported that Vicki Kuhlmann
has obtained a City of
Club Directors Meeting - Mary reported several concerns were raised at Monday’s Club Owners meeting. The new electronic thermostat, which has been purchased with Club Improvement Funds, needs to be monitored. Ken volunteered to be in charge of managing the programming of the thermostat and was given the owners manual. Sherry Gilbreath offered to work with Ken in coordinating the game schedule with the thermostat timer. Soft drinks need to be replenished more often. Carol Maggipinto offered to substitute for Charlie Pender during his recuperation period to be sure that the drink refrigerator is adequately stocked. The timer for the entry garden lighting is not set properly; Ken will take charge of resetting the timer.
Ken stated that he has received several complaints recently from players who have been assessed penalties by Club Owner Mark Hasey without being notified by him. The Board will contact Mark in writing to express concern.
eMail Implementation - One of the adopted goals of the Board this year is to “implement an email capability”. Ken has been thinking about how to allow SCBC players to receive the monthly newsletter and other communications via e-mail and has spent many hours working on this project. Ken asked the members of the Board to test signing up for an e-mail subscription to the SCBC newsletter. He requested feedback from the Board about the test sign-up procedure. Ken assured the Board that the system he is devising will be quite difficult to “hack,” thus protecting member’s information. When all is ready, Ken will announce that an e-mail capacity is available to all members. For the long term, Ken foresees maintaining a paper version of the newsletter, but a significant reduction in postage expense as most members opt for electronic delivery. He promised that the transition will be gentle, possibly spanning 5 years.
TREASURER’S FINANCIAL REPORT:
Income Statement - Vicki Kuhlmann presented the March Income Statement, which showed a $315.36 loss in March and a $1,123.79 “profit” year-to-date. Ken asked how this compared to the budget, but Vicki said that she didn’t have such a comparison and moreover didn’t see the value of such a comparison. Ken said it was to assist the Board in determining how the financial results were tracking against the original budget and plan. Ken offered to create and produce a report showing Actual versus Budget for the remainder of the year.
The issue was raised regarding what to show on the “Investment Income” line of the Income Statement. “Unrealized gains” (or losses) could be shown on this line (with a footnote) to keep the budget from showing a deficit, Vicki commented that such an approach would not be proper accounting. Ken agreed to research this issue and report back to the Board.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Membership – Mary reported that all the new Life Masters name plates have been added to the Life Masters plaque. Ken suggested that it would be more efficient if the task of up-dating the Life Masters name plates with Bronze, Silver, Gold designations was handled by the Membership Chair. A motion to consolidate all Life Master plaque duties in the hands of the Membership Chair was made, seconded and passed. Ken will contact Bill McIntosh to arrange the turnover of this task.
The April Unit Game will also be the Recognition Ceremony to honor winners of the Ace of Clubs and Mini-McKenney Masterpoint Races for 2006. Ken and Mary will present medallions and certificates to the SCBC winners.
Ken reported that all the New Member “Welcome Letters” have been sent out and pointed out that each recipient also receives a “Free Play” to a Unit Game by bringing the “Welcome Letter” to a Unit Game. Ken reminded the Board that he sends out a “Welcome Letter” when notified by the ACBL of a new member to our Unit.
Facilities - Charlie Pender stated that he plans to be away from the SCBC for two weeks due to surgery.
Website - Ken, serving as webmaster, reported work on the online directory system (see above.)
NEXT BOARD MEETING:
Respectfully submitted,
Mary R. Peterson
Secretary Pro Tem