ACBL Unit 503 Meeting Minutes 5/07/07
The meeting was called to order by President Alan Cummings. All board members were present. The board was glad to welcome Claire back from her “vacation”. Elinor Tanck was also present.
Administrative
March’s minutes were approved.
Elinor gave the Kibitzer report. She reported that we had about 50 left over each of the last two months. She was going to print fewer, but Martie suggested that we send the extra copies to the satellite games (particularly Walter’s game).
Maria told us that she has sent in the Forum article and was told that they got it. The article should be in the next month’s edition.
Alan T. gave the treasurer’s report. The unit has a balance of $37,858.48, and the center has a balance $32,520.20.
Liz gave the unit monthly membership report. We had 5 new members, 2 who transferred in, 1 who was re-instated, and 2 wayward souls who transferred out for a net of plus 5 and 1 re-instated. She also gave us the nominal zip codes for our unit. These are
Los Altos/Los Altos Hills: 94022, 94023, 94024
Palo Alto: 94301, 94302, 94303, 94304, 94306
Mountain View: 94035, 94039, 94040, 94041, 94043
Stanford: 94305, 94309
Old Business
Alan C. reported on our attempt to make educational gifts tax-deductible through the ACBL. The ACBL reject our plan, but is perhaps reconsidering. The next time it will be considered is at the Nationals is San Francisco.
Liz gave the status of the new member promotions. She and Gabriella have two packages, one for new members and one for potential new members (those trying to get started). Attached is a letter that Liz and Gabriella will give to people making inquires.
Alan C. gave a report on the incorporation of our unit. It is currently up in the air.
The current status of the director’s course is that the ACBL will have one at the Nationals.
The board started discussion of improvements to the bridge center. Those of us who played at the Veterans Building and the YWCA can hardly believe that improvements could be made. However, Martie has compiled an extensive list (see attached). She made two pre-meeting mailings of the list, but several board members apparently did not receive it. Martie handed out copies to those who had not seen it. We will take up discussion of the list next month. Some of us packrats are quaking in our boots.
Roy gave a Firecracker update. John Hornback has laid out 125 (+/- 10) tables in the two rooms we will have. This is the same as last year. John will be the chairman in charge of setup and take down.
New Business
Martie gave us information about the May and June unit games. May will be a mentor/mentee game. June will be a board-a-match game.
Ginger will recruit candidates for the board. She is looking for suggestion about new candidates. Alan C., eager to vacate the presidency, wants a slate of officers in place by December.
Alan C. mentioned that Kevin is selling his Saturday game and his share of the Thursday game.
Eric talked to us about his hope to start a sanctioned game at Stanford in January. The game would meet on Thursdays. Eric passed out a detailed summary of his plan. The salient features are that he thinks Stanford will provide the space for the game, and students would play for free. Non-students (even including alumni) would pay $5.00. He also believes that he will be able teach bridge for credit (1 unit course) at Stanford starting in January. Because the board is trying to encourage young people to play, we decided that we would give Eric moderate financial and material assistance to help him make a go of it. We will see how things progress.
We then adjourned.
Dave Wheeler
Secretary