Minutes – PVS Excom Meeting – December 13, 2011

The meeting was held at the home of Jan Marx. Present were Mary Beale, Melissa Fitzgerald, John Holt, Cara Jablon, Dick Laeser, Jan Marx, Ray McKinley, and Ellie Thayer

The minutes from the October 25^th meeting were approved.

Dick Laeser distributed the December 13^th Treasurer’s Report. “We’re actually richer than the last time that we met (September 27th)”, said Dick. The current balance (savings plus checking accounts) is $15,646 vs. $15,507 on October 25^th. The increment is due to the arrival of additional membership dues.

Monthly meeting attendance in 2011 ranged from 21 (November and May) to 42 (April and September) and was generally higher than in 2010.

Events and Meetings:

December 20 – Holiday Party (Jablon) February 19 – Monthly Meeting (Jan Gibson)

January 7 – Snowmass pre-trip party (Eadie) February 21 – Excom (Jablon)

January 15 – Monthly Meeting (Van Nuys) March 20 – Monthly Meeting (Ufholz)

January 24 – Excom (conference call) April – Annual Meeting (TBA)

February 12 – Andorra pre-trip party (Jablon)

The January 24^th Excom meeting will occur during the Snowmass trip. Jan will make the arrangements for it to be done by conference call. Cara who will be in Snowmass will provide the agenda.

Ski Trip Committee (STC) – The Snowmass trip is on track for January 18-25 under co-leaders Carolyn DeVilbiss and Sharon Mulholland. The McKinleys are leading the PVS contingent on the BRSC trip to Andorra March 1 – 12/16. “Things are set up for doing skiing and non-skiing things each day,” said Ray. “The trouble is that you have to sign up for the side trips way in advance.” “We’ve had some cancellations from the trip due to illness,” he added.

Rosemary hopes that there will be local skiing as well. John Smith will be the coordinator. Dave Warthen will send an email out to the people who have expressed interest in local skiing to alert them to upcoming opportunities. Skiers can also contact John directly. For those who wish to carpool, John has offered to meet them at a pickup point in Gaithersburg.

The Ski Center is sponsoring a demo day at Whitetail on January 4^th. Wintergreen is hosting a weekend just for ski clubs January 7-8.

Rosemary will make a request for ski trip suggestions for 2013 in the January TOOT. The 2013 BRSC trips have already been announced and will be to Big Sky and Les Trois Vallees, France.

TOOT Editors – Ellie distributed the 2012 schedule for TOOT editorship. Jan (Marx) and Dave (Warthen) will be the mainstay, alternating months with the exception of in the fall when Dave will cover both September and October. As in the past, Marvin Hass will be the editor of the July/August TOOT and the August supplement (an email reminder of upcoming events). Ellie thanked them for the “huge job that they do”.

Ray hopes to revive a nonskiing activity from the past. At one time the Club had DOGs– dining out group - which involved interested members meeting for dinner at area restaurants once a month. The practice fizzled out in part because people were leery of driving at night to unfamiliar places. Ray proposes that the activity be changed to lunchtime. It would be known as LOGs – luncheon out group. He will ask John Smith if he would be interested in running it. We’ll only know by trying if there are enough people interested to make it worthwhile. Ray also noted that the Arena Stage is offering “Music Man” May 13-27. He would like to have a volunteer to organize a group to go. Ray has also spoken to Club member Jan Gibson regarding a tour of the Textile Museum. Jan is on the board of the Museum.

Cara reported receiving a letter from long time member Charlie Huggins that included recommendations and concerns about the Club. Charlie enclosed a chronological list of individuals who have served as officers of the Club as well as the members of past nominating committees. Charlie said that it was time for the Club to appoint a nominating committee to begin the process of choosing next year’s officers. Nancy McKinley was Chair of the nominating committee last year. Cara hopes that she will be willing to be the Chair again this year. Charlie’s letter went on to mention that the Club has almost no members in the 40 – 55 year age range. He made several suggestions including recruiting children of members, emphasizing to the public that PVS is a snow sports club, and appropriating part of the budget to the recruitment of new members (SCWDC has allocated $2000 to this purpose).. Excom acknowledged these suggestions but pointed out that the Club is making efforts to expand (e.g. the new alliance with Capital Golden Skiers).

The conversation shifted to the types of food offered at monthly meetings. Ray recalled a time when it was difficult to find hosts when dinner was expected. In addition “We were getting $400-$500 bills from hosts” said Ray. When asking members to host meetings, Ray may suggest “snacks, chips, and dips”. Cara suggested a middle ground that would include something more substantial. It was generally agreed, however, that the $3 attendance fee remain the same. Cara thought that the hosts should be clear about the fact that they can be reimbursed for expenditures above the amount collected at the door to a maximum of $150. They should be encouraged to seek reimbursement rather than to assume the costs themselves. She said that she would draft a letter for hosts that would provide guidelines about the food and details about the Club’s reimbursement policy.

Submitted by Mary Beale, secretary