Approved Minutes of the General Membership Meeting held at 7:00 p.m. at Wood N Tap in Southington, CT on Tuesday, April 7, 2009. Adopted at the Board Meeting held at Bertucci's on Wednesday, May 13, 2009.
Minutes of the General Membership Meeting held on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at Wood N Tap in Southington, CT
In attendance: Crystal Ashe, Marisa Fowler, Rich Loomis, Val Mendizabal, Linda Morris, Jan Norris, Susan Nakamura, Joan Toepke, Cory Roy, Amanda Tortora. President Rich Loomis called the meeting to order at 7:12 p.m. at the Wood ‘n Tap restaurant in Southington, CT.
Minutes from March 10, 2009 General Meeting: The minutes from the general meeting held on March 10, 2009 were distributed to membership for review prior to the meeting. After Rich Loomis noted the error in the names of the new members in the March minutes and stating that we should revote to get the names correct, Marisa Fowler made a motion to accept the minutes as corrected; Crystal Ashe seconded. All present voted in favor. The board will vote on acceptance of the February 2009 board meeting minutes at the next board meeting in May, 2009.
Membership Directory: After some discussion, Joan Toepke made a motion to list the incoming 2009 – 2010 board in the new directory and to issue it at our June meeting/specialty. That way it will be consistent with the Club officers’ terms of office. Marisa Fowler seconded the motion and all present voted in favor. Rich Loomis will send out an e-mail of the directory data to the membership so everyone can verify the accuracy prior to publishing the new directory.
Web site and e-mail communications: Our web site contract expires in June, so we need discuss contract renewal at the May meeting. We can also talk about security options so we can hopefully limit access to the minutes to CVVC members, as other clubs have been doing. There was a brief discussion about e-mail usage. The general consensus is that while e-mail enables broad distribution of information, the board supports the autonomy of each committee and encourages issue resolution within each committee before distributing information to a wider audience. ACCEPTED WITH THE FOLLOWING CORRECTION MADE AT THE MAY MEETING: The minutes from the general membership meeting held on April 7, 2009 contained an error regarding the Club web site. Carol Phelps clarified that our contract is good through September 2010. However, the software we use will no longer be supported on the host server after July 1, 2009. Carol is learning to use Dreamweaver software, which will be supported. During the transition period, there may be some down time while potential changeover issues are addressed.
Treasurer’s Repor: Treasurer Rick Diotalevi was unable to attend but submitted an e-mail report. The checking account balance is $12,228.30, the Health Issues Fund has $4,059.56 and the Breed Rescue Fund has $3,288.24.
The meeting stopped at 7:35 to eat dinner and resumed at 7:56 p.m.
Corresponding Secretary: Val Mendizabal received correspondence from the AKC. In recognition of the Responsible Dog Ownership program, the AKC suggests that member clubs sponsor such events during September 2009.
Breed Rescue: The 2 ˝ -year-old female, Vala / Fala, is doing well under the care of veterinarian Steve Feldman. She has a condition called myasthenia gravis. At this time, there are no prospective owners. For information, contact John Morris at 860 585-8505 or via e-mail at morris_john_e@sbcglobal.net.
Conformation Committee: Carol Phelps submitted a report for the Garden Specialty Association (GSA) show. The Conformation Committee should consider if they want to change Sweepstakes rules and determine if they want to take any action in response to inconsistent applause from bystanders. The GSA show is very prestigious and gives CVVC positive visibility, but costs are increasing. The Club needs to discuss whether we can afford to be in the GSA show next year. A discussion of conformation losses will be on the agenda for the May board meeting, but we would like the Conformation Committee to discuss the issue first.
Ida Kavafian-Tenenbom sent Rich Loomis a budget proposal for the Greenwich and Longshore – Southport shows on June 6 and 7, 2009. The anticipated cost of Greenwich is $795.20; the anticipated cost of Longshore – Southport is $721. Hospitality needs to be coordinated, and we are looking for ways to trim the budgets. Val Mendizabel mentioned that there are sometimes leftover toys from other Club events. Val suggested that it would be helpful to know where trophy donations are most needed, especially so with new members. The budgets were tabled for the May meeting.
Hunt Test: The application for the early October hunt test was submitted to the AKC. John Morris is working on getting judges.
April Field Trial There are still a few openings available in the April 17 – 19, 2009 field trial. We are competing with other events on those dates.
June Hunting Dog Championship and Fun Day Marisa Fowler submitted a budget proposal for the Hunting Dog Stake on Sat., June 13, 2009 at Flaherty Field. The anticipated income is $1135 with $1255 in expenses, yielding a projected loss of $120. which was the amount of money raised for this event last year. Amanda Tortora will serve as secretary. Audra Jaconetti will look into obtaining necessary permits. Two of four judges are secured. Crystal Ashe made a motion and Susan Nakamura seconded to accept the proposed budget and it was accepted by the members present. A Fun Day is planned for Sunday, June 14, also at Flaherty.
Health Committee The Health Committee is considering holding a blood draw at the June 14th Fun Day. Joan Toepke volunteered to run it and Audra Jaconetti would arrange for a veterinarian to perform the procedure. Other draws are planned for Somers, NY by Dr. Andrew Frishman at the Progressive Animal Hospital and possibly at the Hunt Test in October.
The Committee also hopes to conduct a blood draw some time in late September, October, or November in the southeastern corner of Connecticut. Ruthie Sinclair is in Plainfield, CT and may be able to help. Audra Jaconetti and Deb Malachowski live in Rhode Island. They are not on the Health Committee but may be able to help with organizing the draw.
Newsletter Ida Kavafian-Tenenbom is close to assembling the next newsletter. People who wish to submit articles or place ads should contact Ida for the deadline.Marisa Fowler suggested that an article about conformation record-keeping might be helpful to members interested in showing. The organizations that distribute premium lists and keep records of show results, MB-F and Rau, have been known to make errors and/or lose information. If the owner can document the date, judge, and number of entries in each show, he or she can prove how many points a dog has won if there is a record-keeping mistake.
New Members The following new members were voted into the Club by acclamation: John and Mary Anderson, Barbara Ehlers, Andrew Campbell and Meg Riordan, and Daniel and Amanda Tortora.
Winter Fun Day Val Mendizabal submitted the final budget for the Winter Fun Day on March 21, 2009. There were about 25 dogs entered. The event paid for itself with a minimal profit of $1.49. The day lived up to its name and generated lots of positive feedback.
June Fun Day We need to designate a coordinator for the Fun Day at Flaherty Field on Sunday, June 14, 2009. The coordinator can establish what events to offer and pull activities together. An introduction to birds has been mentioned as a topic of interest to general membership.
By-laws Carol Phelps has offered to chair the by-laws committee.
Report of the Nominating Committee Joan Toepke gave the report of the Nominating Committee which was emailed to the President and Secretary. The nominating Committee consisted of Susan Nakamura, Joan Toepke, and Debbie Loomis with alternates Ron Karkut and John Morris. The Nominating Committee presented the following slate of officers for the 2009-2010 year:
President – Rich Loomis
Vice President – Kim Karkut
Recording Secretary – Linda Morris
Corresponding Secretary – Joan Toepke
Treasurer – Val Mendizabal
Board – Crystal Ashe, Ida Kavafian-Tenenbom, Jan Norris, Sandy Jacobus, Carol Phelps
New Business Chrystine and Rob Longley have offered to host the Club Christmas party at their home in north Granby. The specific date will be set by the next Board sometime this fall.
Upcoming meetings
Wed., May 13, 2009 – Board meeting
Sat., June 6, 2009 – General membership meeting at the summer specialty show held by Greenwich Kennel Club in Norwalk, CT
Meeting Adjourned
Crystal Ashe made a motion to adjourn. Linda Morris and Susan Nakamura seconded. The meeting was adjourned at about 8:30 p.m.
– Respectfully submitted by Jan Norris
