WRHA Board Meeting
11/11/2005
Denny's in North Bend
The meeting was called to order by president, Judy Caton at 7:10 p.m.
Officers, Incoming and Outgoing Board Members in Attendance: Judy Caton, Janet Hurlburt, Cheryl James, Caroline Schaefer, Matt Livengood, Jeff Lansidel, Lyell Ernst, Darren Stancik, Dick Gately & Marilyn Fleek.
Guests: Cathy Martin, Julie Daviscourt & Ken Hurlburt
Judy passed out copies of “Roberts Rules of Order for Small Assemblies” to everyone at the meeting.
The minutes from the October 2 meeting were read. Judy moved to accept the minutes as read and Jeff seconded. PASSED
It was suggested that Janet email the minutes of each meeting to the Board Members and provide a printed copy at the meeting to eliminate the time it takes to read them. Cheryl will also post the minutes on the website.
Treasurer’s Report - Jeff
Checking: $20896.45
Savings: $ 1616.49
TOTAL: $22512.94
Brief discussion of finances followed. Jeff explained income and expenses and said he could provide a show by show accounting next year.
Motion was made and seconded to accept the Treasurer’s Report. PASSED
Committee Reports
Sponsorship Committee Report - Cathy
Cathy explained the new $2500 “Diamond Level” sponsorship approved at the last meeting. A discussion followed regarding what we should give to sponsors, ie., free memberships, stalls paid practices, etc.
Darren made a motion that we NOT give free memberships to sponsors. Lyell seconded the motion. PASSED
Cathy clarified paid practice guarantee for sponsors. They still have to pay for them and request them prior to the show.
Cathy received a request from Silver Spur Winery to do a direct emailing to our membership offering a $20 gift certificate and free shipping when shopping from their website during the holiday season. Darren moved that we accept their offer. Marilyn seconded. PASSED
Cathy will notify Silver Spur.
Show Committee - Cathy
Cathy suggests that the new Show Committee hold a meeting in the next month or so to begin planning for 2006. Our 2006 Show Committee chairman, Caroline Schaefer, said she would hold a meeting on December 12.
Cathy proposed that we buy a reining pattern flip chart to put at the in gate at the shows. She estimates the cost at about $225 for a 2’ x 3’ laminated chart. Ken agreed to research the cost of laminating and Cheryl will do a .pdf of each pattern.
Darren suggested we get a new dry erase board with permanent lines on it. Jeff said he would get a new board.
Marilyn made a motion that we let Cathy spend the money for the pattern flip chart. Jeff seconded. PASSED
Cathy also went over the results of the survey she did at the Fall Wenatchee Show. Most people seemed to like what we are doing and did not want things to change. See “Attachment A” for the full survey results.
Membership Committee
We discussed forming a membership committee and what benefits come from becoming a WRHA member. Cheryl is going to look into getting the magazine “Cascade Horseman” for our membership and add a “benefits of membership” section to our website. Darren suggested we do a direct emailing of the membership forms every year and possibly offer a discount on yearly dues to people who sign up before a deadline. Janet moved that we form a membership committee. Darren seconded. PASSED
Darren also moved that we change our membership dues to $35 a year. Jeff seconded. PASSED
Darren agreed to chair the membership committee and Lyell said he would also be on that committee. They will put together a proposal for promoting membership in 2006 and have it by the next board meeting.
Publications
Kim will continue writing an article for each show. She will send them to the “Reiner”, “Bridle and Bit” and possibly “Cascade Horseman” and “Quarter Horse News”.
Newsletter - Janet
Discussed sending out a paper newsletter vs emailing a newsletter. Cathy is in favor of a paper newsletter so that our sponsors can get more exposure. Janet will provide a prototype and estimated cost of doing a mailing to about 125 people. It was also suggested that we solicit newsletter items. Jeff made a motion that we start doing a paper newsletter. Caroline seconded. PASSED
The first newsletter will be sent out to every contestant at the Fall Wenatchee show (Jeff will provide Janet with an updated mailing list). It will have a membership application in it along with membership information (i.e., benefits of membership) and the 2006 show dates. Target mailing date is February 15, 2006. After the first newsletter, only current, paid up members will receive newsletters. Second newsletter mailing will be approximately three weeks prior to the Spring Wenatchee show.
Action Item Report - Judy
Judy introduced a new item to our agenda, “Action Item Report”. An “Action Items" list consists of things that come up in discussion where someone says "I'll check on that" or "I'll find out" or "I'll get..." The action is listed and then can be followed up on and not forgotten. When minutes are forwarded to everyone the week after the meeting, the action items are all listed and then we have a point of reference. (see “Action Items List” on the last page of these minutes after “Adjournment”.
Old Business
Newsletter: Paper v email
This was left unresolved at the October 2 meeting. See “Newsletter” section above for the resolution of this issue.
Year End Awards/Show Awards
Cathy said that Cindy agreed to continue doing the show awards for 2006. Matt will check with Cindy to see if she will also do the 2005 year end awards. Matt also said that Karen Patton wanted to help with the awards. He will let Cindy know that Karen will be helping her out when he talks to her about doing the year end awards.
Discussed whether or not to continue doing year end awards after 2005. Much discussion about pros & cons of year end awards. Marilyn moved that we eliminate year end awards after 2005. Janet seconded. Further discussion followed and then Darren called for a vote. PASSED
NEW BUSINESS
New Board Members and Officers
Darren Stancik and Sheri Clevenger were elected to the Board at the Fall Wenatchee show. Four Board members were appointed at today’s meeting: Terri O’Brien, Caroline Schaefer, Cheryl James and Mat Livengood. Lyell Ernst and Inger Helsen were elected to the Board last year and have 1 year left to serve. This gives us a total of eight Board members for 2006.
Judy Caton was elected President at the fall show and Janet Hurlburt was elected Secretary. Both will serve 2-year terms. Alayne will continue as Vice-President for one more year and Jeff will continue as treasurer.
Committees
Show Committee
Chairman: Caroline Schaefer
Julie Daviscourt
Matt Livengood
Jeff Lansidel
Alayne Blickle
Sponsorship Committee
Chairman: Cathy Martin
Award Committee
Chairman: Cindy McKenzie
Karen Patton
Membership Committee
Chairman: Darren Stancik
Lyell Ernst
Publications
Kim Lansidel
Newsletter
Janet Hurlburt
Advisory Committee (see *below)
Judy Caton
Darren Stancik
We also discussed encouraging non-riding family members to volunteer to help out at shows and talked about ways of getting help at shows.
Club By-Laws
Darren provided information on how we are registered as a non-profit organization with the State of Washington. He also found out that affiliates are required to have their by-laws on file with NRHA and that NRHA does not have our by-laws. Judy wants to re-write the by-laws.
Darren also brought up our insurance coverage. Matt said that Eve Willett is our insurance agent. Darren said he would contact her to go over our insurance policy.
It was suggested that an *advisory committee be formed to re-write the bylaws and to review our insurance policy. Marily made a motion that we form the committee. Lyell seconded the motion. PASSED
Advisory Committee will consist of Judy and Darren.
Darren then made a motion that we have a general membership meeting at the Spring Wenatchee show to get permission from the members to grant the Board full authority to amend the by-laws. Jeff seconded. PASSED
Affiliate Redistricting
Judy passed out a handout about NRHA affiliate redistricting. NRHA will be approving the new regions in March of 2006 with the changes to take effect in 2007. This means there will be new locations for the Regional Affiliate Finals shows. Our 2006 finals will be held in Las Vegas and bids to host th 2007 finals show will open in April, 2006. Bids must be turned in by July 31, 2006. We discussed the possibility of the WRHA submitting a bid to host the affiliate finals show. Much discussion followed on the feasibility of hosting this show. Wenatchee was suggested as a possible location since we already have a show there in the Fall. Other locations were also discussed, and Caroline agreed to research the possibility of having the show in Yakima. She will also look into other sites east of the mountains and report back on the cost, amenities and date availability.
Next Board Meeting
Our next Board meeting will be held on January 13, 2006 (Fridayu) at 4:00 p.m. The location will be determined later, but most like will be in Kirkland. Written committee reports should be submitted to Janet prior to the next meeting.
*******Action Items for Next Meeting********
1. Look into cost of laminating pages of pattern flip chart - KEN
2. Check on cost of getting Cascade Horseman for WRHA members - CHERYL
3. Add a “Benefits of Membership” section to the website - CHERYL
4. Come up with ideas for the benefits of membership - DARREN
5. Ask Cindy if she will do year end awards in addition to show awards. Let Cindy know that Karen Patton would also like to help out with awards - MATT
6. Provide prototype of newsletter and estimate of cost. Make recommendation as to how often newsletter should go out - JANET
7. Review our insurance policy with Eve Willett and provide report - DARREN
8. Research Eastern Washington locations for hosting of affiliate finals - CAROLINE
9. Provide written Committee reports to Janet before next meeting - ALL
WRHA SURVEY RESULTS
TOTAL OF 19 SURVEYS COMPLETED (2005 Fall Spectacular Show)
- Everything
- Awards, number of classes offered
- The prizes, the show is very organized. Also the announcer is AWESOME!
- The prizes are really good and the show is always organized. The announcer is great!
- Like schedule, arranged so that there is at least one class a day that you can show in.
- I like everything about the show.
- I like that almost every rider at every level has something at their level to ride in every day.
- Everyone does a great job – not too much change – maybe a social hour where no one is riding so everyone has a chance to say hi.
- The variety of classes, the payouts, good scheduling.
- The shows are good for all levels of showing.
- The Fall Futurity and the awards that you offer all year.
- Prices, ground. Special events, show secretary, Jeff Lansidel is by far the best I have ever seen (?) around the country.
- Having shows at Wenatchee
- I think everyone does a wonderful job and I don’t see any changes needed. We still need to keep the club classes.
- Facilities, schedule, good judges.
- Nothing, except to build a really excellent (?) show facility in Woodinville.
- Combine shows (Spring, Fall, PA) (i.e. Combine monies) Consider a show at the new grounds in Ridgefield. *Start showing on Thursday afternoon.
- Dogs are not allowed to do anything, very strict.
- The rules on dogs are too strict.
- Would like more NRHA classes.
- Can’t think of anything – well perhaps starting at 8:00 a.m.
- I don’t like having a bunch of classes run concurrent. I like to give more prizes to lots of different winners instead of lots of prizes to a few winners.
- No concurrent classes
- Move the Fall show in front of Superslide or two weeks earlier than it is now.
- More beginner classes! 1st & 2nd year rider.
- More shows per year.
- Futurity & Classic classes where exhibitors are asked to come back for awards – Please take the time to call back numbers of those who have won money only! I have seen too many people who got nothing and it is embarrassing to all.
- Hire more experienced judges as we have done in the past. Vernon, Schwartzenberger, Darnell, Doug Householder, Larry Kastan, Brian Welman. Add a show held in Oregon. Many members are supportive of this idea.
- Find a better location than Monroe – if the weather’s bad its TERRIBLE & dangerously crowded.
- Need to figure out how to better park RV’s at Wenatchee - usually run out of spaces and some people take two slots.
- Not yet – too many kids. Can help at shows – judging bits.
- Yes, if meetings were at a reasonable time and time of year, say a winter planning meeting and perhaps another all day meeting during the year and show meetings at the shows.
- No because that would be hard, too much to do. Just not me!
- No, because that is just not something I’m interested in.
- I am over allocated for time as it is; also I have a non-horse spouse to deal with.
- No, I’m fresh out of ideas, however if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
- No, did it once before & unfortunately have very little time.
- No
- Volunteer, yes/already been a board member.
- No, just finished 2 years.
- No, too many other obligations
- No, too many meetings in day job. Encourage more low-end sponsors - $100.00 - $200.00 and try to get more club members to sponsor.