Minutes – PVS Excom meeting – June 28, 2011

The meeting was held at the home of Mary Beale. Present were Mary Beale, Marvin Hass, John Holt, Cara Jablon, Dick Laeser, Jan Marx, Ray McKinley, Sharon Mulholland, and Dick and Rosemary Schwartzbard.

The April 26^th Minutes were approved.

Dick Laeser presented the Treasurer’s Report. The treasury currently has a positive balance of $12,013.28. John Holt asked if this was the norm. Dick said that the amount in the treasury fluctuated according to the dues cycle. Members will be asked to renew their membership this summer. The amount in the treasury will rise as dues come in and gradually decline as expenses are incurred.

The Membership Report was provided electronically by Dave Warthen. Cara asked if there were any recent thoughts on how to attract new members. Rosemary has been involved with activities sponsored by a group known as the Arlington 55-Plus. She has led a few of their bicycle hikes. Some of their group’s participants have expressed interest in local skiing. Earlier today Rosemary attended a meeting of a newly formed group named Creative Community Connections (CCC). The organization which is sponsored by Arlington County will function to help people transition from full time careers to new challenges and outlets. The planners anticipate using the Internet (e-newsletter, Face book, etc) to keep individuals abreast of opportunities. There may indeed be potential PVS members among them. Getting involved in different clubs as Rosemary has done may benefit PVS. As Dick Laeser said, “Rosemary has been PVS’s most prolific recruiter”.

Events and Meetings:

July 17 – Summer Fest (previously named “All Trips Party”) at Betty Lawrence’s

August 3 – lunch at the Culinaire (Ellie Thayer)

September 20 – monthly meeting (Mary Beale)

September 27 –Excom (Cara Jablon)

Cara asked how one got people to write up meetings for TOOT. She was surprised when someone she had asked turned her down. As Events Chair, Ray generally selects the hosts for meetings and parties. He anticipates that both new and old volunteers will be identified through this summer’s membership renewal process. The PVS application form has an area where individuals can check off whether they would be willing to host meetings, lead trips, etc. John Holt said that he would host a Sunday meeting next year (2012) and volunteered to have an Excom meeting as well. Similarly Dick and Rosemary offered to host an Excom meeting “any time” and asked to be put down for October.

Ski Trip Committee – There are now 22 people signed up for the Snowmass trip (Jan 18-25). The cost will be $2040 including air fare and lift tickets. The Andorra trip (March 1-12) that Ray and Nancy McKinley will be leading has 44 people signed up (all from PVS). Although it is a BRSC trip, PVS has more individuals going than any other member club.

Dick Schwartzbard questioned the need for post-trip parties in general. Ray said that they only add about $5 to the overall cost of the trip. Cara thought that they could put an unnecessary burden on trip leaders. Others pointed out that the parties provided an opportunity for people to share photos and to reminisce. There was general agreement within Excom that the post- trip parties should be optional and not obligatory. Trip leaders will be informed of this.

Rosemary would like there to be more local skiing. An overnight trip to WISP in western Maryland in early February might generate interest. She has been in touch with Paul Levine who runs the Capital Golden Skiers’ (CGS) trips. The CGS club is planning a trip to Vail in December. In order to participate, individuals actually need to join CGS.

Sharon said that she was pleased to see inclusion of upcoming CGS activities in the latest edition of TOOT. Marvin Hass said that he would be happy to include CGS events in the July/August supplement of TOOT if someone could provide him with the information.

TOOT: Marvin Hass is editor of the July/August TOOT coming out soon. He also plans to send out a short reminder of future events to members on August 1^st. “I think it’s a good idea to maintain a monthly schedule,” said Marvin.

Dave Warthen and Jan Marx plan to alternate as editors of TOOT from September through December of 2011. Barbara Leonhardt will continue to copy and mail out a print version of the newsletter to the few members who do not receive email.

Traditionally TOOT has been sent out on the first of each month. It has been suggested that the distribution be tied instead to when Excom meetings are held. Both Ray and Cara (and others) may learn information during discussions at Excom meetings that they would like to include in their respective columns. Excom discussed the possibility that the TOOT deadline for getting material to Ellie (proof reader / assistant to the editor) fall at least 2 days after the last Excom meeting to be practical. The deadline for turning things in to the editor is generally 2 days after Ellie’s deadline.

There was a discussion regarding the length of articles printed in TOOT. Ray said that he kept his column to one page. He suggested a similar length for Members’ Corner. “I think it shouldn’t go beyond two pages,” said Rosemary. Dick (Schwartzbard) confided that he would be most upset if a piece he had submitted was cut. Jan explained her philosophy -”If someone writes something new and creative, I put it in”. “Unless you get to the point that you don’t read TOOT, “cautioned Ray (because the articles are too long). “There’s a difference between writing up an event and submitting a piece about a trip,” said Marvin. “Let’s see if Ellie (Thayer) can gently do some editing or ask people to tighten it up,” said Cara. (Ellie gathers entrees for TOOT to forward to the editor each month).

Other Business:

Displaying photos on the PVS website - Timely posting of trip photos on the Club website has been a topic of discussion at several recent Excom meetings. One method that hasn’t been mentioned in the past is the implementation of photo sharing websites. Members could post their photos at an on-line website (such as Google’s Picasa or Flickr) and a link to the site could be published in TOOT. Cara said that she would mention this to webmaster, Dave Lerner.

Programs for inclusion at monthly meetings (e.g. reports on trips offered by BRSC, presentation of slides/talk about summer trips, musical programs, etc.) – Cara introduced the possibility of including a program at some of the monthly meetings. “It’s okay if it’s skiing related,” said Dick (Schwartzbard). Others felt that the main reason people come to meetings was to visit with their friends. Guests and applicant members are hoping to learn more about the Club itself. A presentation about BRSC, a discussion of local skiing by a representative from Liberty, and an in-service on the latest in conditioning and dressing for skiing were each mentioned as potential topics that would be suitable.

Submitted by Mary Beale, secretary