Attending: James Cloutier, Evangelina Sundgrenz, Bob Watada, Rose
Watada, John Hofer, Wayne Thompson, Rolly Thompson, Maggie Keenan,
Dorothy Soper; we met at Dorothy's home.
The minutes of the previous meeting had already been circulated and
approved by email.
James conducted the meeting.
James read a letter from a local RPCV who wants to do some
networking to look for employment. We advised that he take part in
our social activities to meet other RPCVs.
The board voted to pay the registration fee of $15 for Bob Watada
to represent the organization at a workshop sponsored by the Oregon
Community Foundation on September 10th. The topic will be "Making
the Case for Endowment."
Jack circulated the treasurer's report via email. The board
reviewed it and accepted it.
Felicia reported via Dorothy that the updated membership
directory will be ready for distribution via .pdf within a few days.
The board was very pleased to know this since 23 new members have
joined the organization since January. We need to include them in
the listing so that we all know who they are and they know us.
The board decided to cancel the bluegrass concert that we had
planned as a fundraiser for August 21st since we haven't received
more than a dozen reservations. We felt that the format for this
kind of fundraiser should be revisited. (Dorothy emailed Shannon and
Felicia about this decision after the meeting.)
The board thanks Shannon and Michael for being willing to host the
event and Felicia for her role in taking reservations and work done
by all three. We would like to talk further about organizing a
fundraiser with the bluegrass band in the future.
We discussed the message phone service that the organization has
had for almost two years. During that time we've received about two
dozen legitimate calls. We're not required to have the service and
so felt that now that phone numbers are available to all members
through the membership directory, we no longer need this service.
The cost has been $15 per month. Thus the board voted to cancel the
telephone service immediately.
The board will follow up on a suggestion from Jack that we
develop a page on the website that will have information about Beryl
Brinkman and the memorial fund that we are setting up in her name.
James will work with Artis to write a biography and identify two
photos to include.
Since we expect to create at OCF an endowed fund that will bear
Beryl's name in the near future, we will add that information when
it becomes available.
We noted that the letter from the donors of the money to create this
fund asked that those who received grants through it be informed
about Beryl's humanitarian service. The website will contain the
basic information.
See #13 for the report of the financial planning committee that led
to the above action.
We talked about the logistics for our participation in the Eugene
Celebration parade on September 5th and the operation of the booth
to inform the public about the PC and sell tee shirts and calendars
on both the 5th and 6th.
Current plans and remaining needs are:
James will use the Thompsons' truck to pick up the taxi, the
booth materials, and the calendars from the Thompsons' farm. He'll
need help with this. He already has the tee shirts and flags.
James and one or two helpers will deliver and set up the booth on
Saturday morning. One helper needs to stay at the booth until it is
officially open at 10:00 am and other staffers come.
James and one helper will deliver the taxi and flags to the
parade gathering site.
At the end of the parade, the flags and taxi will be placed in
the bed of truck so that they can be hauled away. There should be
helpers from the parade available.
We're circulating a paper for signups of members to staff the
booth on Saturday and Sunday. We hope that this can be included on
the website with volunteers who want to take part responding via
email. A completed copy should be sent via email to all who
volunteer to staff. Plans to close the booth and haul it away should
be included on the paper.
We should contact Justin regarding PC material to distribute at
the booth. Dorothy will send him an email. Last year he wasn't here
for the parade but we did pick up material at his office.
Handouts at the booth will also include information about WCPCA.
Evangelina will revise the current ones. We'll need about 50 copies. We already have enough sign up sheets for interested parties to give
us their names and email addresses.
We need a cash box with about $50 for sales. We need to identify
someone to get this.
Publicity:
We agreed to publicize our participation in the
Eugene Celebration through the website and also by sending special
emails to our membership.
We need to encourage participation in the parade and ask members to
wear an article of clothing from their host country. Dorothy has
extra items for both men and women. Anyone who needs something
should be directed to contact her.
We need to ask for helpers for the set up and take down and also to
staff the booth.
We talked about preparations for the November elections of a new
board that will begin its service in January, 2010. The board
appreciates Jim Beyer's agreement to be the nominating committee. We
agreed that each board member will contact Jim by email or phone in
the very near future to let him know if she/he wants to continue on
the board and, if so, in what capacity.
We also agreed that we should all work to recruit new board members,
especially at-large members. We need the help and also we need for
other people to learn the business of the organization. We
especially would like to see one or two new members join the board.
We also have several long time members who might be interested.
Calls or other contacts should be made in the next two weeks.
We talked about the basic requirements of a board member. The
specific responsibilities of the officers are in the bylaws. No
requirements are listed for at-large members. There is no limit to
the number of at-large members that can be on the board.
We accepted the idea that officers attend the monthly board meetings
regularly and that at-large members attend at least half of the
meetings. We would also like at-large members to be active on at
least one committee. Note that there are five standing committees:
fund raising, financial planning, activities, membership, and
communications.
Dorothy and Jim had already met once to talk about the nominating
process and she'll let him know of the above decisions. The board
noted that the nominations have to be in the newsletter that goes
out in early October. The election will be in November. We'll be
able to check our progress at the September board meeting but we
should be nearly done with the task by that time. Dorothy will
invite Jim to come to that meeting.
The board designated Dale Dow and Vern Delk as official
representatives of the organization at the regional meeting that
will be held at the campout later in August. They'll let us know
what takes place.
We agreed that our next potluck will be on Friday, October 2nd,
at the Many Nations Longhouse, 1630 Columbia, U of O campus, 6:00
pm. We'll make a special effort to attract students who are RPCVs as
well as aspiring PCVs. We'll exempt students from the responsibility
of bringing a dish to share.
We talked about the need for a program to attract students. We'll
confer with Justin about that and try to dovetail this event with
other activities that he may be planning. The board liked the
student entertainment that Justin arranged at the NOM party and
wondered if any of those performers would be available. We also want
to identify a strong speaker, preferably an RPCV who has a good
presentation already prepared.
Rolly will be away at this time, so Dorothy will work on the program
and other arrangements with Justin and the board.
Rolly expressed her interest in having a speaker from Food for
Lane County at the November potluck. We could highlight the work of
this organization with which WCPCA has a long standing relationship.
Our members have done voluntary work at two events per year for Food
for Lane County for several years.
The board thought that this was a good idea.
There were reports from the Financial Planning and the
Communications Committees both of which the board accepted.
The Financial Planning Committee, after extensive conferring by
email, recommended the following, "Assuming that the Principal Life
bond can be sold for at least $18,750, we recommend selling the bond
and investing at least $25,000 with the Oregon Community
Foundation."
Jack is the committee chair and wrote a history of the gift of money
that led to the creation of the Beryl Brinkman Memorial Fund, the
purchase of the bond, and the recommendation above. The history is a
good reference and is available from Jack.
Members of this committee in addition to Jack are Jim Beyer, Rob
Dwan, Deb McLauglin, Dorothy Soper, and Evangelina Sundgrenz.
Dorothy reported for the Communications Committee that it had met
and welcomed Mary Meacham as a new member. The four committee
members are Felicia Kenney, Maggie Keenan, Mary Meacham, and Dorothy
Soper. They share the communication responsibilities for the
organization which include responding to the general email address
listed on the website. A complete listing of these responsibilities
is available from Dorothy.
The next board meeting will be on Thursday, September 17th, 7:00
pm, at Jack's home.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm.
Plan for closing down the booth and hauling the booth and contents
away also turning over cash and receipts to the treasurer has not been completed.
