Minutes Unit 143

April 13, 2005 Board Meeting

Jennifer Luner called the meeting to order at 7.00p.m. In attendance where Donna Pedrotti, Suzi Moore, Mary Hruby, John Samsel, Tom Oppenheimer, Sasanka Ramanadham, and Bob Wheeler. Absent Board members were Bill Kauffman, Bob Janis, and Sandy Becker.

Jennifer Luner, President, announced before the agenda began tonight, that Sue Rechter would be taking pictures of those Board members who had not had their pictures taken. After all pictures were taken, Sue was invited to stay (as all board meetings are open) and sat in on the rest of the meeting.

Minutes of the March meeting were reviewed and corrections were noted. Mary Hruby had not been listed, but was added, and Mike Carmen was listed with Board members in attendance. Minutes were corrected to show his proper title as tournament director, not board member.

Minutes were then approved.

Secretary Report

Prior to the Secretary's report, there was some discussion regarding feedback of some issues that had been voted on at the last meeting. Regarding the sending out of postcards for sectionals, clarification was made that the change has been voted on and made permanent. John will check to be sure that all out of town and out of state from Unit 143 will be receiving postcards checking one more time.

New Life Masters will be recognized at the May sectional; we have their pins; 7 pins remain in inventory.

Tom Oppenheimer reported on Jack Bryant's notes about the meeting of the Board of Governors. Dan Reaquard has been reinstated and allowed to play in all District 8 functions.

ACBL is looking into changing our insurance policies. Tom Oppenheimer will keep us updated. Currently, we are paying between $800.00 and $900.00 per year for supplemental insurance for Board Members and Volunteers.

Secretary report was then approved.

Treasurer Report

We are holding our own. The Membership check from Memphis is not shown (around $800.00 to $900.00). Regional coming up in August is when we make our money and go into the black. Tom sees no financial problems at this time. Again discussion was held about the raising of tournament fees. We will definitely review the need for a entry fee increase at our Sectionals after this August Regional.

There was some talk about when we host the Nationals. We are going to become very aggressive- on staying on top of all issues.

Don Weber moved and Donna Pedrotti seconded that we approve the Treasurer report. All approved.

TOURNMENT EVENTS

March 199er tournament: Mary Hruby reported that it was a big success. She had many thanks for Sandy Becker who helped in the morning setting up: and for Don Weber in the evening, for breaking it down. She also thanked Rhonda O'Farrell for helping out through both sessions. Directors were Donna Coker and Mark Ehret.

SECTIONALS

Mike Carmen was not here but Tom Oppenheimer reported for him that Memphis has reassigned the directors who will be working our sectionals. This change will definitely increase our costs. We need to find out all the particulars, and if everything is the same with the Directors coming in here, we will contact Georgia Heth, our representative for District 8's Board of Directors, to see if we can get it corrected.

COMMITTEES

AWARDS: Donna Pedrotti reported that all trophies for the May sectional have been ordered. Plaques for Roger Lord and Don Kerry will be ordered-6x8 with 5x7 plates. Cost will be approximately $30.00 each. At the May sectional, Ed Schultz will be presented the Player of the Year Award.

EDUCATION: Don Weber handed out questionnaires that Memphis's sent to find out about the running of our Unit. This is a pre-requisite for the educational forum we are having. Everyone is to fill it out the best they can and at the May Board meeting, the questionnaires will be returned... The Executive committee will then combine the information together.

NOVICE MENTORING PROGRAM : all is going well with the program. It had been suggested that we help defray the cost of refreshments for the June Program, as we are endorsing this program. Discussion was had for the pros and cons and we finally arrived at a matched donation amount of up to $125.00, as long as the snacks are upgraded from those offered at a usual club game. Sasanka made a motion for us to approve this; Suzi Moore seconded it. It was passed with two opposing and one abstaining.

WEBSITE: It was noted that there are still some problems with the website. You cannot go BACK from the Club Game Results page when you are at a recap site. You must return to the Homepage and then begin again. Sasanka is looking into this. Andy is still not answering emails... Everyone agreed that this issue needs to be resolved.

N.A.O.P.: Sandy Becker was not present tonight so there was no report given. We need Sandy to report on this at the May meeting; he will be on the agenda.

OLD BUSINESS :

Night of Champions: Bill Kauffman had e-mailed a report to be presented at meeting. The cost at St. Charles Park was very expensive. The Knights of Columbus could provide a dinner for between $5.00 and $6.00. Bill also said they had a site we could use but that seating may be limited.

Suzi Moore suggested that we hold this function on the Friday night of our sectional. Suzi will be presenting a proposal at the May meeting, supporting this suggestion.

ABA: Jennifer Luner and the president of the ABA have set a joint Fellowship game to be held on June 30th at 7:30, to be held at Heman Park. Our goal is 10 tables of ACBL players participating.

Also in the planning is to have a joint game on Martin Luther King Day, possibly extending the St. Charles sectional by one day. We are looking into the possibility of having a 4-day sectional at that time, as that Monday everyone would be off work because of the national holiday. Jennifer also has asked for us to support the ABA's nationals this summer.

NEW BUSINESS : Sasanka received a phone call from Jeanie Pierson of Columbia, concerning Dorothy Kane. Dorothy, a long-time Unit 143 member, died this past month. For many years, she was very active with our Unit. Columbia has collected money and would like to send it to the charity we are going to donate to. Mary Hruby is going to return the call and get the particulars. At that time, Mary is also going to ask if Columbia is interested in returning to Unit 143.

NATIONALS: Jennifer will request Mike Carmen, Tournament Chairman, to prepare a report on our Districts responsibilities for the upcoming Nationals that will be held here next year for the July agenda.

ZERO TOLLERANCE : Jennifer received a letter from O.C. Anderson concerning inappropriate behavior at a club game. Jennifer is going to respond to Mr. Anderson's letter as President of our District and she is forwarding the letter to Milt Zlatic who is the Districts Ethics representative.

Mary Hruby moved for the meeting to be adjourned. John Samsel seconded and all approved.

Respectively,

Suzi Moore

Secretary