Approved Minutes of the October 11, 2006 General Membership Meeting at Jefferson House in Newington, CT. Adopted at the November 16, 2006 Board Meeting at Jefferson House.
David Margolin called the meeting to order at 7:20pm. In attendance were: Saul & Kim Himmelfarb, Ida Tenenbom, David Margolin, Carol Phelps, Jackie Argall, Susan Potocik, Marissa Fowler, John & Linda Morris, Susan Begasse, Sandy Jacobus, and Melissa Graff.
Recording Secretary Report: Motion was made by David Margolin to approve the minutes of the September 13th, 2006 meeting. Seconded by Kim Himmelfarb and approved by vote.
Corresponding Secretary's Report: Linda Morris reports that she has had no correspondences.
Treasurer's Report: Carol Phelps reported that account balances are as follows: Checking $6047.38; Health 2509.45; Rescue $3799.38; CD $3366.68. To date, we have received dues payments for memberships from 22 members. We just paid our D&O premium. The expenses for Benjamin Buttercup will be paid out of our Breed Rescue Funds. We have an outstanding bill for the 2007 GSA trophies which will be paid this week..
Breed Rescue Report: John Morris reports that Benjamin Butterscotch is doing well and adjusting to his new family. The boarding bill for the Companion Animal Hospital was $377.00. We had already allotted $850.00 towards his care including the $100 donation from the adopting home. There is a balance of $473.00 in which John suggested adding another $27.00 to the $473.00. This would be a total of $500.00 that could be split equally between the VRF and the VCA Welfare Foundation. Dave Margolin asked if there was anyone that opposed this suggestion and there wasn’t. The Board agreed to add another $27.00 towards the donation. There has not been an Ad Hoc Committee meeting yet regarding the development of the new Rescue Guideline Procedures.
Conformation Committee Report: Carol Phelps reports that trophies and judges are done for the Springfield Kennel Club on November26, 2006. Judges are as follows: Greg Gollick for Sweeps and Mary Ann Alston for the show. Carol will ask for a 1:00 ring time. “Bring a six pack” for hospitality will be addressed at the next meeting
Regarding the 2007 Secaucus show on Friday, February 9th, Carol withdrew the application for obedience and the application fee has been returned. There will be All breed Obedience on Friday and All Breed Rally on Saturday. We will sponsor the trophies for the Obedience on Friday, and VCGNY will sponsor the trophies for Rally on Saturday.
We need to donate 6 hours of volunteer time at the February 9th show. WE NEED WORKERS TO SIGN UP FOR SLOTTED TIMES!
As far as the Greenwich Kennel Club Show, Joy Brewster received a commitment from Richard Hilderman as our judge for the Greenwich Kennel Club ’08 Show. She commented to Ida that “He is pricey”. Sandy Jacobus contacted Grahme Burdon as a potential Sweeps judge, but has not heard back from him yet. Ida received a letter from Pam Mannis (the show contact) regarding the Longshore-Sourthport Show. They have agreed to provide the ring, tent and parking that we requested for 2007. This will allow us to be adjacent to the parking area and restrooms. Our ’07 judge will be Helen Lee James.
Budgeting/ Event End Reporting Procedures: Dave reports that the form still requires attention and adjustments. It will probably be an “evolving” form. It will be a generic form that can be tailored to the needs of each event. The procedures will include the minimum requirements needed by type of event.
Hunt Test Report: Dave Margolin reports that the Hunt Test on October 7th & 8th was a success with a total profit of $674.04 after 16 judges, 5 gunners and the event secretary ate for free. However, there were some challenges. The biggest being our constant battle: VOLUNTEERISM. We were severely lacking in bird planting in the junior field on Sunday. The participant feedback was that ours was a well organized event, very sociable and friendly as well as the judges were helpful in that they took time after to discuss scores with participants and had training suggestions. Attending board members noted having Richard Teodore as the event secretary was a big benefit and would suggest using him again next year. Dave Margolin mentioned that his fees are going from $2.75 to $3.25 an entry, but that would have had a negligible effect on this year’s results and the consensus was that he is well worth it. Also, Dave indicated that postage fees for a 625 mailing were costly this year and that next year the mailing approach will result in lower cost………..at least 1/3 of the current mailing list has email addresses so those people will be emailed rather than land mailed next year.
Field Trial Report: Marissa Fowler reports that she has had no correspondence. This is the Field Trial Committee structure as a result of two club members that have requested to serve on the committee: Patrick Cooke, Marissa Fowler, Dick Frawley, Joan Heimbach, Audra Jaconetti, Sue Newell, Tony Warchut, and Dave Margolin (President sits on every committee and votes only when there is a tie).
It was noted that Patrick Cooke needs to prepare a budget and review/fine tune it with the FT committee before submitting to the Board in November for review and approval. The new Event Budgeting and Reporting procedure requires applicable budgets to be submitted 30 days prior to AKC submission date with that being 3 months for Field Trials so the due date to the board is December (based on usual April Field Trial date), but Dave Margolin indicated the Holiday Party meeting wouldn’t be an appropriate time and place to review it sufficiently so changed the date of submission to the board to be the November meeting.
Here’s an update on Joan Heimbach, who is recuperating in Hagerstown, MD, after falling from her mule during a field trial in Maryland. She is actively searching for another rehabilitation facility since the current facility is orientated towards the elderly and it is possible that this new facility will be somewhat local to where she lives in upper Westchester County, NY and hopefully the change will take place shortly.
Health Committee Report: Jackie Argall reported that there were a total of 107 dogs for the blood draw. She will have a cost summary for next month’s meeting. Dave Margolin noted that the blood draw was a splendid success and thanked Jackie as well as all of the committee members.
Fun Day Report: Susan Potocik reported that the CVVC Fun Day on September 16th, 2006 had about 45 CVVC members participating. The total income from the event was $118.65. She commented that we received great feedback from participants and had incredible support from the members who helped run the event.
Meeting Program Committee: Next meeting (Board) will be on November16, 2006. The location still needs to be determined. Our holiday party will be 12/10/2006 at Stephanie Reeder’s home.
Volunteerism: We didn’t cover this topic since Elaine Poulin was not in attendance and she is leading this project.
New Business: Ida presented a few sample pieces with our CVVC logo and asked for input and ideas. She commented that the hardest part is deciding what to order. It was agreed upon to look into prices for fleece jackets, hats, t-shirts and vests. Ida and Sandy Jacobus will research our options. Ida sold three hats at the meeting!
Our fall Newsletter will be ready in November, and Jackie and David will be assembling them since they both live fairly close to one another and the Editors…Steve and Ida Tenenbom. All show wins published in the Newsletter are free to all CVVC members. Susan Potocik recommended that we increase our Newsletter advertising rates, and here is the new fee schedule that was determined by the board (to be effective with our Winter 2007 newsletter): Cover $30.00 Full page w/ photo $20.00 Full page, no photo $15.00
Cheer Cards: The Corresponding Secretary handles mailing these out. The Board authorized expenditure of up to $50 for a fruit/flower arrangement for Joan Heimbach. It was also decided to send Joan & Mark Toepke a sympathy card for her father’s passing, and to send a get well card to Anne Denehy as she recovers from heart surgery.
Motion to adjourn was by Marissa Fowler. Seconded by Ida Tenebom and agreed to by the Board. Meeting adjourned at 8:40 pm.
