Approved Minutes of the the Board Meeting in Bloomfield, CT on Wednesday, October 22, 2008. Approved at the General Membership Meeting in Southington, CT on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at Wood N Tap.
Minutes of the Board Meeting held on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 in Bloomfield, CT
The October 2008 board meeting of the CVVC was held on Wednesday, October 22 at Valerie and Lorenzo Mendizabal’s home in Bloomfield.
In attendance: Crystal Ashe, Richard Bennington, Rick Diotalevi, Henry Grant, Kim Himmelfarb, Sandy Jacobus, Kim Karkut, Ida Kavafian, Rich Loomis, Val Mendizabal, John and Linda Morris, Susan Nakamura, Jan Norris, Joan Toepke. President Rich Loomis called the meeting to order at 7:37 p.m.
Minutes accepted – Rick Diotalevi made a motion to accept the minutes of the September 18, 2008 meeting. Crystal Ashe seconded, and the motion was passed unanimously. Recording Secretary Jan Norris thanked those who edited the draft of the September minutes. She asked members presenting reports to e-mail their reports directly to her following the meeting to streamline the process and increase accuracy.
CVVC web site – The board discussed posting the account balances on the web site. Rick Diotalevi is concerned about maintaining a permanent record. Password protection and limited access authority were discussed. Ida Kavafian acknowledged that we haven’t yet established new rules for the web site. For now, we will continue using current procedures until we investigate a password method for accessing the minutes. Val Mendizabal noted that the monthly minutes are sometimes the only contact club members have with the club. Rich Loomis will e-mail the minutes to the full membership, including four members who don’t have e-mail.
Treasurer’s Report - Treasurer Rick Diotalevi reported the balances in the checking, breed, and health accounts and distributed a copy of the check register, as is required at quarterly meetings. The checking account balance is $15,091.73; the breed rescue account balance is $4,315.06; the health issues account balance is $3,399.56. 2009 donations that are not yet transferred are $1,075 for breed rescue and $650 for health issues. Rick also reported on the status of membership renewal. 160 renewal forms were mailed, 113 have been returned, and 47, about 30%, are outstanding.
Communications Secretary – No report from Val Mendizabal.
Breed Rescue – No report from John Morris.
Conformation Committee – Richard Bennington presented the budget proposal for the Garden Specialty Assoc. (GSA) show on February 6, 2009 from Carol Phelps, who was unable to attend. Costs are increasing so the club is no longer breaking even. However, it is great ‘warm-up’ venue that attracts Westminster entries, so the board concurred that it is still a worthwhile event. Richard Bennington made a motion to approve the proposed budget, Joan Toepke seconded, and the budget proposal was approved.
October Hunt Test – The hunt test on October 4 and 5, 2008 was very successful. John Morris and Marisa Fowler were co-chairs; Linda Morris and Susan Nakamura were co-secretaries. Projected revenues were $3,290 with projected expenses of $3,038, yielding a projected net profit of $252. The revenue projection was based on an estimate of 62 junior entries and 28 master/senior entries. The actual numbers were 73 junior and 56 senior/master entries, so actual revenue exceeded projections by $1,545. Although bird costs were $530 higher than expected, the event yielded a net profit of $1307.98. We thank all the volunteers who contributed their time and efforts to produce such a successful event, especially the chairs and secretaries. Joan Toepke moved to accept the final 2008 hunt test report, Rich Loomis seconded, and the report was unanimously accepted. Linda and John Morris noted that we need to buy more Junior ribbons. A purchase of 150 ribbons represents about a three-year supply. Jan Norris moved to approve the purchase of ribbons, Ida Kavafian seconded, and the motion carried.
December Field Trial – Joan Heimbach, Chair of the Field Trial Committee, did not attend but submitted her report via e-mail. The event will take place on Saturday, December 6, 2008 at Flaherty Field in East Windsor. All judges are in place and all are providing their own horses, for which they will receive a stipend. No wrangler will be available for gallery horses, but members of the gallery may follow any brace on foot. The AKC has approved our judging panel. Audra, our Field Trial Secretary, is in the process of sending the premium to the club web master and to the President for distribution to members. Since the AKC web site indicated our trial would be open for entries on October 6, several entries were sent using ‘universal’ premium forms. We will solicit volunteers through e-mails to membership as well as personal phone calls. There is no reason to expect any significant adjustment to the bottom line of the original budget submitted for this event. While various categories will fluctuate, the overall budget still appears to hold. Adjustments will continue to be made as we approach event date.
CVVC Merchandise – Sandy Jacobus reported that the camouflage hats were a big hit at the hunt test. The merchandise line will expand to include pigment-dyed sweatshirts and suede-finish zip-front and pullover sweatshirts. Sandy expects to receive new prices from the vendor. The full-zip hooded sweatshirt will be priced at $48 while other sweatshirts will range from $26 - $32. The vendor is very flexible and cooperative and generally great to work with. Sandy plans to take merchandise to the SKC supported entry on Sunday, November 23.
Health Committee – Susan Nakamura reported that the blood draw at Manchester Veterinary Clinic on Sunday, July 13 was very successful with 55 participants. All samples were sent to Ned Patterson at the University of Minnesota and were received on July 15. Susan reminded us that we need to report health updates on participating dogs in the study. Forms for updating a dog’s status are available on our web site. A pin is available for people who donated their dogs’ DNA to the study. Contact Susan Nakamura if you would like a pin.
[Note changes in this paragraph adopted at November 2008 meeting] This blood draw on July 13 cost $25 in total for all dogs – $20 for the viles, $5 for the cooler. It was noted that years ago, the Club received a $2,000 donation anonymously solely for the purpose of epilepsy blood draws. CVVC has also benefited from generous donations of time and materials by the veterinarians and technicians who have worked with us on our blood draws. We have sufficient funds to contribute to draws in Long Island, Somers New York, Pennsylvania and perhaps northeastern Connecticut. If the Club is approached for such support, the Health Committee will present a proposed budget to the Board for approval.
Susan mentioned that we can consider inviting a speaker to discuss OFA hip certification after hearing a presentation by Dr. Andrew Frishman on PennHIP.
Events – The CT Expo Center will host its annual Pet Expo on October 25 – 26. They typically feature examples of AKC breeds. Richard Bennington thought we had sufficient Vizsla representation planned.
Newsletter – Ida Kavafian reported that she is busy working on the Newsletter. Pictures and ads are needed for the upcoming issue.
New Membership – Names of new members were published in the Summer 2008 newsletter: John and Sandy Baker; Marshall and Stacie Berdan; Marissa and Sandra D’Andrea; Mara Fizdale; Tom and Judy Jakups; Megan Means; Josef and Ilanna Schwalbe. By unanimous vote all were welcomed into the club. There was discussion of welcome packets for new members and what contents to include.
New Business – CVVC and the Flaherty Field Trial Clubs have been asked to contribute to a Bird Dog Foundation Life Patron Award for Bob Fleury. Bob served as president of the association for many years and coordinated and published the Flaherty Yearbook, the major fund-raising effort for the club. He also worked to remodel the Flaherty clubhouse.
Kim Karkut moved to donate $50 to honor Bob Fleury and Joan Toepke seconded. The motion was approved.
Goals for 2008 – 2009 – Review committee guidelines, revise the bylaws to conform with AKC requirements.
Upcoming meetings
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 – General membership meeting; location TBD
Saturday, December 13, 2008 – Holiday party at the home of Rick and Mary Ellen Diotalevi - Note: Kim Karkut will coordinate food for the holiday party. To offer help with refreshments, call Kim at 203 888-6764 or e-mail Kim at rkarkut@comcast.net
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 – Board mtg at the Jefferson House in Newington (to be reserved)
Kim Karkut moved to adjourn the meeting and Rick Diotalevi seconded the motion.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:17 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jan Norris
