ACBL Unit 503 Meeting Minutes 12/04/06
The meeting was called to order by President Alan Cummings. All board members were present except for Mona Maltz. The new members of the 2007 board, Eric Mayefsky, Maria Brabb, and Martie Moore, were also in attendance. Elinor Tanck was also present. This will be the last meeting (at least until the next election) for Dave Bernstein, Chuck Lane, and John Hornback. They will be missed.
We were introduced to the new Mr. and Mrs. Twister, Allan and Ericka Fusilero. We have two years left on our present lease. They have negotiated for a three-year extension on their lease. We will extend our lease also. So, we will be at the present location for at least five more years or until 2011.
Administrative
November’s minutes were approved.
Elinor gave a brief Kibitzer report. It will be a six-page issue and will probably contain a member profile written by Mary Van Tamelen.
Dave Bernstein gave a forum report. He will do one more for the January 5th deadline.
Alan T. gave the treasurer’s report. The Unit has a balance of $41,197.61, and the Bridge Center has a balance of $15,845.67. Alan T, broke out our fee schedule for the bridge center rental and unit game expenses. After a brief discussion, the board approved it. It is good to have this formalized, and it can be found on our website.
Alan C. gave the between meetings report. The new speaker system is in and is a vast improvement over the previous one. We also now have a free Google wireless internet connection that seems to be working well. This will eventually mean the end of our Netzero monthly expense.
Old Business
We discussed the holiday party. It was a great success. Chuck did a great job. The total cost of the party was $3540. Also Dick Kilner donated a case of wine. Thank you, Dick.
We had our annual discussion about who should be eligible to come to party. Should they should be only unit members? Should non-unit members need an invitation from a unit member? In the end we decided to leave it as it is – anyone who signs up can come. The main reason for this is that so many of the members from other units are regulars at our club.
The new constitution and bylaws have been rewritten incorporating the changes from Betsy Steele. The new constitution and bylaws will be voted on at the next unit game on January 14th.
Alan C. briefly discussed the goodwill award. The letter about our nominee has been sent. We will hear who the winners are in January.
Liz gave her membership report. We continue to grow at an encouraging rate. We talked to Eric about possible new players at Stanford (he runs an informal bridge club there). Bridge is not a big item there. The students apparently have other things to do.
New Business
We elected new officers for the 2007 board. Actually “new” is a stretch. The new officers look a lot like last year’s crew:
President Alan Cummings
Vice President Claire Coleman
Secretary Dave Wheeler
Treasurer Alan Templeton
Eric narrowly avoided being the new Vice President. Instead he will be the new ethics chairman.
We then discussed use of our room by twister kids who want a quiet place to do homework. We decided to okay it until there are problems. Alan T. will work out the details with Mr. and Mrs. Twister.
We had a few year-end committee reports. Liz mentioned that our Sportsmanship trophy no longer has room for new names. We need a new trophy or a new way to display the winners. We had the half-baked idea of asking Nancy Cadwell to make a cake with all the winners’ names on it. Liz will decide.
Roy discussed the 2007 Firecracker. The insurance has been sent to the Santa Clara convention center, and the Hyatt hotel agreement has been sent to Roy. So, unlike the previous few years, things, amazingly enough, seem to be totally under control.
We then adjourned.
Dave Wheeler
Secretary