ACBL Unit 503 Minutes, January 13, 2009
Present were Steve Lubeck, Dave Wheeler, Alan Templeton, Phyllis Gaffney, Jeannette McNeil, Grant Spaeth, Elinor Tank, Trina Bowman, Mike Atherton, Nita Girand, Eric Mayefsky and Susana Krulevitch.
New Prez Mike Atherton announced that Board appointments have been made and handed out a list of new appointees. Alan said that it is important that we have two District 21 Representatives or empower one with a letter for two votes. Could possibly have three Reps., one as an alternate. Meetings are 4 times a year, usually at a Regional tournament.
Eric requested that we send him items of interest for his column in the Forum.
Steve mentioned that the organizer of the Firecrackers could have an assistant , targeted to take over in the future, and gain experience from the present organizer as to handling of accounting, flyers and reservations. Spread sheet experience is desirable.
Training of new directors was mentioned. Will has always been very helpful. It would be beneficial to get the cooperation of other Units, such as San Jose, San Mateo and Santa Cruz. Discussion was deferred.
Last month’s Minutes were approved.
Elinor said that there is less material this month and therefore a smaller Kibitzer. She explained her role as Unit Electronic Contact, i.e., ACBL e-mails her information, etc., which she passes on to Board members, directors, club owners, etc.
Treasurer’s report – Unit net was down $200.00 for the month but up $15,000 for the year of which $11,000 came from the Education Program. Unit Games made a $500.00 profit. The Unit has $49,000.00 in the bank and we should think about ways of spending it. All income is from Unit activities and events plus money we receive from ACBL.
Bridge Club – We owe Twisters for garbage pick-up and they owe us for Heating and A/C unit. Will try to take our debt off what they owe us. Table count for 2008 was 8341 tables, up 5.6% from previous year.
Alan made a comparison sheet for the Unit budget. Income should be up about $11,000 from 2008 as we anticipate fewer major expenses. Bridge Club projection is a $7000.00 profit for the coming year. One suggestion was to lower fees from directors by .50 or .75 cents it was recommended that we not do that in order to prepare for expenses like new carpeting, painting, etc.
Firecracker 2009 – The prediction for this year is a small profit. In the future, if it looks like we’ll loose money we will have to raise rates. Eric mentioned that possibly Stanford could host the Firecracker tournament in the future.
David gave Maintenance report – had new furnace repaired and trophies engraved for Sportsmanship and Service awards. It was suggested that we get carbon monoxide detectors.
Unit Holiday party – will be for members only, unless we cannot fill the game, which is unlikely. Sign up sheet open to non-Unit players after a certain date. There will be a $20.00 penalty fee for players who sign up and don’t show. The above was voted on and approved.
Steve covered Youth Education. Dave mentioned that someone he knows does a youth bridge class in a San Francisco school. If we decide to do this here, Carolyn Lemm and Eric will assist Steve. Eric looked into youth programs in this area. There is a private program, with plenty of students, giving paid lessons. We could let them run a program at the Bridge Club and charge rent. They are a for profit organization, teach 4thand 5th graders but do not move forward.
The Educational Fund might contribute, even give scholarships. Most instructors are Stanford students. See BridgePartnerSchool.com. Unit might wish to invest in it for goodwill. Cost of lessons does not seem to be a problem.
Lori’s bridge classes – might eliminate one beginners’ class and add an intermediate class. Will have an intermediate class is Sept., beginners’ in 2010 and alternate every year.
Nita suggested that we should have some Maintenance Volunteers – no one present volunteered! It was suggested to put a notice on the refrigerator that everything will be thrown out once a month.
Eric and Phyllis gave us an overview of 2009 Unit games:
Feb. 8th – Swiss
March 29th – Board-A-Match
April 26 – IMP pairs
May 17th – 8 points or “Eight is enough”, It is kind of a Swiss game with bisques.
June 14th – Mentor/Mentee game – handicapped and restricted in some way.
A monthly Swiss game at a certain time slot was suggested. It will be the first Monday of every month, starting in March. Times will be 6:30PM or 6:45PM, to be decided. There will be a 99er director for the first game. It will be $7.00 per table with same rent for directors.
Alan will get the events on the Unit website this time because of problems with the server update.
It was agreed to keep the Board meeting at the same time and date, i.e., first Tuesday of every month.
Phyllis mentioned that we need help to have Walter’s 49’s come to our Unit games.
Nita brought up the safety of the art work displayed at the Bridge Center. A security camera was suggested but might be easily disabled. Look into cost of installation and recording. We will take it up again at the next meeting when we have more information.
John Stanczak’s letter regarding the use of Bridge Pads. It was decided that Club Owners will decide how the Bridge Pads are to be used. Directors will set policy with some allowance for handicapped players who cannot sit E/W and move. Motion was approved and passed.
Alan inquired about a contract for the Bridge Pads. We have a letter of commitment from the supplier. Dave Wheeler said he’d get a signed copy of it.
Meeting was adjourned at 5:45 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Susana Krulevitch
Secretary