Columbia Bridge Club

Board Meeting held at Capital Senior Center

January 28, 2008

Attending:

Bernetha Henry, Connie Moody, Pat Webb, Janice Ripley, Karen Coulter, Jim Chianelli, Sam Robison, Sheelagh Young, Alice Moore, and Sig Friedman

Also in attendance: Dick Coulter, Patrick Lauterbach, and Cynthia Cone

President Henry called the meeting to order at 5:05.

Secretary: Minutes of the December meeting approved as posted. Moved by Chianelli with second by Robison. Carried.

Treasurer: Webb reviewed the financial report. It was noted that the December party held at Wildewood Country Club had a net expense to the club of $748.49. We have not yet received a bill for the use of the Country Club facility. A new line expense titled “relocation expense” has been added and to date shows $195.46 which was for the purchase of a rolling cart and for the copying and mailing expense of the letter sent to the general membership regarding the upcoming move to the CSC. The phone service has been disconnected at the Cypress Street site. This allows us approximately $87 per month in savings. Also, we are saving the $500 per month janitorial expense we incurred at the Cypress Street location. The thermostat is set very low, and therefore we expect the utility bill to be greatly reduced. Webb will remove the “restricted funds” line as decided at the December meeting and move that amount into the “equity line.” Report was accepted as information.

Committee Reports:

EDUCATION: Ripley reported that the Wednesday night supervised play sessions resumed on January 9 with 33 students in attendance. That group is still going strong! Also, the Saturday morning “Play of the Hand” course began on 1/19/08 and has 35 students enrolled in two separate groups, a beginner and an intermediate. George Nichols, Mary Townhill, and Janice Ripley are co-teaching this 9 week course. Our new facility, CSC, is wonderful as it allows plenty of space for teaching purposes. As a result of the ongoing classes, we have had numerous new members join the club as well as the ACBL. In fact, we just got notice from the ACBL that because we had recruited 10 new members (9 of which are students from these classes), we may schedule an upgraded club championship. Good things are happening @ our club!

OLD BUSINESS:

Name Tags: Webb brought samples of name tags from an internet site (sevennotrump.com) and also from a local business. The board agreed on a style and she and Karen Coulter will begin taking orders for these right away. We will charge $8 per tag and hope to order at least 50 as we get a 25 percent discount with that order size.

Robison reviewed the process for our club to become a 501(C)(3) organization. We agreed to go forward with the process, and the Form 1023 for the IRS was given to Webb for completion.

Audit: Gabriel was not in attendance, but Henry reports that he is in the process of securing someone to perform an audit of the club books.

NEW BUSINESS:

Henry reports that she is very excited about the move to CSC. Yes, we have received some complaints from the membership, and we are doing our best to iron out these “kinks.” She, Ripley, and P. Lauterbach met with Larry Jordan last week to discuss some of the issues such as the temperature in the room, the noise level, bulletin boards being hung, phone service, etc. He is more than willing to cooperate with us in any way to alleviate these problems. He said at any time we are dissatisfied with the temperature in our room, we need only find him or the custodian or ask at the front desk and they will adjust it for us. We do have a voice mail box through the main phone # at the CSC. The bulletin boards have since been hung in the first hallway to the left after you pass the main desk area. Some members have also discussed a security issue. The parking lot is well lit, and she encouraged members to leave in groups if they have concerns about safety. Also, if we ask the custodian to stand outside while members leave, we’re sure he would be willing to do so. Sig made a great suggestion regarding the parking issue. Those of us who do not have mobility issues could start parking in the lower level lot and thereby leave the closer spaces available for the older members who cannot walk as far or handle the stairs as easily.

Henry will make the arrangements to have our mail forwarded from the Cypress Street location to the CSC and will run this by Mr. Jordan for approval.

GNT: The GNT event held Saturday, 1/26/08 was a big success. Thank you to Dode Defiori and Frances Lawton for their efforts on this. The next one will be Saturday, March 1, 08. Barb Cathey was the caddy for that event, and Webb compensated her for her time and effort.

The board discussed the possibility of holding a one session GNT event on a Friday afternoon with the goal of exposing some of the newer players to the team game concept. It was decided that we would try this in 2009. The Friday event would be held between the two regularly scheduled events that are usually in late January and early March – so perhaps in February. It is certainly not the intent to detract from those events, but instead to encourage more people to participate and get acclimated to a team game.

STaC events: After much discussion, the board voted that in future district STaC events held at our club (June 08), the Friday afternoon session will be a limited game. All other events that week will be open. The board feels it is important to leave the limited Friday game in place for newer players. It is understood that a limited game means the participants are not eligible for overall awards – it is a stand alone session. Motion by Coulter with second by Chianelli. Approved.

Clock: the clock we use to time games is broken. Webb will look into prices for a new one.

Life Master achievements: Ripley asked about any recognition for those that achieve Life Master (and above) status. Apparently this used to be done in the past. Henry will check with Rosa Shaw to see about the possibility of continuing that tradition. A free play was suggested as a possible recognition.

Reading of letter: A letter from Ellie Hack addressed to the Board was read aloud. She expressed numerous concerns and dissatisfaction regarding the move to CSC. She expresses that many of our members are equally unhappy and she requested an explanation. Concerns included noise from other rooms during the game, inconvenience of setting up bidding boxes and drink holders, limited parking, restrooms are too far away as are kitchen and water fountain, and security issues. The board was made aware of her concerns, and a letter of reply will be sent to her.

Henry also reported that she had received a call from Bob Hampton expressing similar concerns. The board is anxious to hear members’ concerns and will do everything we can to solve any issues. However, we have signed a contract for one year. Our goal is to save funds by being here – we are looking at the future and how we can provide for those who will be here in years to come. It was decided that in six months we will provide a written survey and mail it to the membership. We can then get a good idea of how everyone feels about being at the CSC and review our options.

Young also reported some concerns she had received from members which were basically the same as those above. She also mentioned the positive aspects – plenty of room for teaching purposes, room for growth, bathroom facilities (no more waiting in line!), and the senior center itself is a beautiful facility with windows for us to look out when playing.

Henry again reminded the board to do our best to encourage members to see the good in this and to have a positive attitude. All board members expressed their satisfaction with the move.

NOMINATING COMMITTEE:

Henry will put out a box for members to put suggestions of names for the nominating committee. The by-laws state that a committee of 5 persons shall be appointed by the board of directors after providing an opportunity for members to make suggestions. The nominating committee should be posted on the club bulletin board at least 60 days prior to the annual meeting.

USC INTEREST:

Dick Coulter reported that he and Henry Momand met with the associate vice president of student affairs at USC and also a senior professor in the school of sports and entertainment management. They discussed the possibility of starting a college bridge team and/or program to promote bridge at the university. The dialogues were very encouraging, and the unit has funds to get such a program underway. Dick will keep us informed on progress in this area.

Next board meeting will be held Monday, March 3, 2008 at 5:00pm.

Meeting was adjourned at 6:35PM.

Submitted January 29, 2008

Janice J. Ripley, Secretary

To be posted at the club without objection