Columbia Bridge Club

Board Meeting held at Capital Senior Center

March 3, 2008

Attending:

Bernetha Henry, Pat Webb, Janice Ripley, Karen Coulter, Jim Chianelli, Alice Moore, Sig Friedman, Mike Bitonti, and Carol Clemenz

Also in attendance: Dick Coulter and Chris Webb

President Henry called the meeting to order at 5:10.

Chris Webb presented a tentative schedule for the upcoming (Aug 08) Sectional tournament which will be held at Dent Middle School. He and Henry have met with Amy (of CSC) and received approval to use the Senior Center for a Thursday afternoon and evening session as part of the tournament with no extra charges for the facility usage. There was discussion about start times, adding a 299er session on Thursday afternoon, and the overall schedule. Henry will call Dent Middle School to see about getting approval for the added sessions – requires extra use of the facility as well as extra hours for the custodian. We need to have a final schedule in place this week so that it can be included in the District 7 bulletin.

Webb also expressed an interest in teaching again. He has purchased some Bridge Master software and would like to offer mini-lessons on declarer technique for the more advanced player.

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

Treasurer: Pat Webb reviewed the financial report. The GNT income listed ($488) is solely from the 1/26/08 event. The income from the 3/1/08 event will show on next statement. The supplies listed (bridge) include the cost of the new clock recently purchased. Utilities are way down @ $132.58 vs. $427.73 in 2/07. This is for water and electricity and is greatly reduced because of our move to CSC. Webb will check with P. Lauterbach regarding the postage cost for T&T as many are now receiving their copy via e-mail. John McGregor was paid the full $500 for January although we were only at the Cypress St. location for one week. We discussed the fact that our checking account balance is over $24,000 and is not earning interest. A vote was taken, and a 12 month (or 13 month) CD will be purchased for $20,000. Webb will shop around for the most competitive rate. Treasurer’s report was accepted as information.

Committee Reports: Bitonti reports that Carolyn Floyd has stepped down from directing the Thursday afternoon game. Cynthia Cone will take that position. Floyd agreed to be back up as a last resort if needed. There was a computer issue that delayed the GNT game on 3/1/08 causing it to be a bit longer than usual. He will remind directors to charge an extra $1 to non-members for entry fees.

OLD BUSINESS: Webb reports that 84 name tags were ordered from sevennotrump.com. They were shipped Friday. She and Bob have not have time to work on the 501©(3) paperwork but will do so when time allows. The scheduled audit will be done after the fiscal year is over (5/31/08).

NEW BUSINESS: Henry would like to create a Public Relations position and has appointed Dick Coulter for that. She asked for the board’s support of that appointment. Coulter will handle advertising and general promotion of the club within the community. A more detailed job description will be forthcoming.

Henry asked Webb to include a write-up for the April T&T publication regarding the monetary savings we have each month because we are at the Senior Center. We want the membership to be reminded that this is why we chose to move to this location – with the purpose in mind of saving money and putting it away so that we may eventually build a place of our own. We would like to see these funds have a line item on the financial statement in a “Fund of the Future.”

There was discussion regarding increasing the director’s pay. It was moved, properly seconded, and approved unanimously that an increase of $10 per session would go into effect 4/1/08. The new pay scale is $50 for a one session event and $60 for a two session event (for instance the Friday afternoon game of 0-100 alongside the 0-1000 game).

Henry read a letter from George Nichols stating his resignation as education coordinator effective 4/1/08. He listed reasons for his decision and expressed his appreciation to the board and to Mary Townhill and Janice Ripley for their dedication, leadership, and support of the program over the past 22 months that he has served. He is happy to continue to serve on the education committee and help teach classes or courses if needed. He recommended Mary Townhill be appointed as the new education coordinator and this motion was moved and properly seconded by Coulter and Chianelli. Carried.

The board agreed we would like to write him a letter of thanks for his service, provide a certificate of appreciation and also some free plays as a way of thanking him.

Nominating Committee:

The following positions need to be filled in the upcoming election:

President

1^st VP

2^nd VP

Secretary

Treasurer

2 at large members

The board reviewed the suggestions from the general membership for the nominating committee. Irma Murray was appointed chairperson of the committee. The board then voted to choose 4 additional members out of the 8 suggestions that were received. The committee will consist of: Brent Holcomb, Frazer McCrorey, Frances Lawton, and Ginny Chianelli, in addition to I. Murray.

Sig Friedman, Sheelagh Young, Alice Moore, Sam Robison, and Connie Moody will be rotated off the board as they have served their allotted terms.

Ripley will post the nominating committee on the club bulletin board.

The annual summer party will be held Wed, June 4, 08 at 5:00PM at the CSC. Jim Chianelli and Karen Coulter will co-chair this event. We will grill hot dogs and burgers again this year and ask members to bring side dishes. The club will provide paper products, the meat, soft drinks, and beer and wine. Dick Coulter will check with Larry Jordan to get approval for the use of grills on the Senior Center grounds.

Henry will check with Dent Middle School to see about the possibility of using that facility for our game on Saturday, 3/15/08. The Senior Center is not available to us on that date. Henry and Webb will see about contacting an electrician to look into the light issue at the Cypress Street location – it is sparking and is not safe. If we can get that issue resolved quickly, we can hold the 3/15 game there.

The annual meeting where officers will be elected will be held 5/12/08 at 6:45 PM.

Next board meeting will be held Monday, May 12, 2008 at 5:00pm.

Meeting was adjourned at 6:35PM.

Submitted March 3, 2008

Janice J. Ripley, Secretary

To be posted at the club without objection