WCPCA Board Meeting Minutes - June 11, 2009

Attending: Rolly Thompson, Wayne Thompson, Bob Watada, Michael Kresko, Shannon Micheel, James Cloutier, Felicia Kenney, Justin Overdevest, Dorothy Soper

The minutes of the previous meeting had been circulated and approved via email. Rolly presided at the meeting.

1. Jack had circulated the treasurer's report via email. He was unable to attend the meeting. Major expenses of the last month were the purchase of 800 calendars for 2010 that we'll sell as a fundraiser, $869; purchase of food for the NOM party, $164; and the annual payment for the Dotster website server, $71.

   Account balances:

   • OCCU, general funds: $4,600
   • OCCU, Beryl's memorial fund: $700
   • E. Jones' money market fund (Beryl's fund): $6,600
   • E. Jones' bond: $20,000

   Total assets are approximately $31,900.

   The board accepted the treasurer's report.

2. Dorothy reported on our fundraising mailing to local and nearby RPCVs who are not members of the organization: 285 letters were mailed by first class mail on Wednesday, 6/10. This fundraising effort is our first to build upon the organization's 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS as a public charity. Donations and membership dues are tax deductible.

   We hope to see most responses by mid-July. We agreed that Dorothy will acknowledge contributions and/or new memberships via email. She'll keep Jack and Felicia updated on the responses to the mailing.

   The board discussed the idea of having an annual mailing of this type since we now have the names and addresses of this group in our data base and can easily make mailing labels. We liked the idea but want to see first what the response is to this mailing before making further plans.

   Many, many thanks go to those who made this mailing possible. Names are listed below.

   Thanks to those who typed the names and addresses of RPCVs listed in the new national RPCV directory. We had to do this in order to make mailing labels: Rob Dwan, Michael Kresko, Jack Meacham, Shannon Micheel, Dorothy Soper, and Rolly Thompson.

   Super thanks to Felicia who turned these spreadsheets into a data base that we can use again as well as the mailing labels that we used this time.

   And thanks, too, to those who prepared and stuffed the envelopes: Linda Ague, Gwen Bailey, Diane Jeffcott, Dorothy Soper, and Artis Spriggs.

3. Membership remains the same at approximately 90 members.

4. The board talked about activities for the coming months. We put the following on our combination definite/planning schedule:

   1. Wednesday, July 1st, 1-4 pm: Felicia will offer a second computer class on internet security Dorothy's home. This is for both PCs and Macs. All are welcome. It's good but not necessary to bring a computer. This is a definite.

   2. Rolly will contact Laura Kutner, whose PC program in Guatemala recently received a $500 grant from WCPCA, about speaking to us during the summer. She is home in Portland for much of the summer and will return to her program in early fall. She has extended her PC service for a third year.

   3. July: Family Friendly Picnic: July 25th, Tugman Park on Hilyard in south Eugene. Rolly is requesting a reservation from the city of Eugene. We're thinking of picnic hours of 1-6 pm and asking people to bring a dish to share. This is definite.

      There is a playground for children but only one table at the site. So we'll bring some tables and chairs but people should be prepared to sit on the ground (blankets).

   4. August: Bluegrass social/fundraiser : Shannon and Michael know the head of a local bluegrass band, ÒGrassburners,Ó that might play at a fundraiser concert in their backyard. We set a tentative date of Friday, August 14th. Shannon and Michael will develop this possibility.

      We noted that the annual northwest RPCV campout will be August 21-23.

   5. September 5/6th: Eugene Celebration Weekend . We'll take part in the parade and have an information booth with items to sell. Rolly will make reservations. This is definite.

   6. September 11th, potluck with a program: We thought of several newly returned volunteers who might talk about their PC programs. James will contact Andrea Callahan about her speaking to us. This is definite.

   7. October: Possible fundraiser/social gathering at a local vineyard. Wayne will develop this idea and talk to the board at the next meeting about it.

   8. November/December: annual meeting including the election of the next board and potluck with a program probably on November 13th. This is definite.

      In late November or early December, having a booth to sell calendars and shirts at the Holiday Market. Rolly will check on this. This is a definite.

   9. Felicia would like to organize one or more hikes and will let us know what seems good and feasible to her.

5. Rolly reported that the 2010 calendars from the Madison RPCV group have arrived. We talked about selling them at two local stores in addition to personal sales. James will check with a store in Cottage Grove.

6. We talked about how to approach nominating people to be board members for next year. Nominations need to be publicized in October, a month before the election. The latter will take place at November's annual meeting, which is likely to be Friday, November 13th.

   Our constitution calls for a nominating committee to identify candidates. Of course some board members will want to continue and this needs to be verified. We thought that each board member should each try to recruit at least one new person to join the board. The board suggested people who might be willing to serve on a nominating committee. Dorothy will check with them about this task.

7. We set the next board meeting date for Thursday, July 9th, 7:00 pm.

Minutes by Dorothy
6/16/09