Attendance:
Ruth Bernstein, President
Glenda Calkins, Vice-President/Tournament Chairperson
Rachel Prior, Administrative/Recording Secretary
Frank Grunebaum, Treasurer
Joe Adamo, Prizes/Pairings Chairperson
Arnie Bergen, Webmaster and Player of the Year Chairperson
Laura Brown, Newsletter Layout/NAOP/GNT Chairperson
Gerald Goodman, Budget/District 3 Representative
Richard Lighton, Recorder/Publicity Chairperson
Andy Muenz, Bob Johnke Chairperson
Paul Nickerson, Annual Dinner/Conduct and Ethics Chairperson
Harris Schenker, Education/Novice Chairperson
Tod Thorgersen, Reitman KO Teams Chairperson
Jo Ann Van Delft, Club Coordinator
Guest: Cornel Ferat
Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 9:35 a.m. by the President, Ruth Bernstein
Minutes: Accepted (on file).
Treasurer's Report: Accepted (on file). Harris audited the 1998 books and found all to be in order. (Thank you, both!)
Correspondence: none
President's Message: •Ruth requested a nominating committee composed of three board members and 3 non board members be formed to present a slate of nominees for the year 2000 board. The 1999 members whose terms are due to expire are: Ruth, Frank, Rachel, Andy Muenz, Andy Lohan, Jesse, Tod, Wayne and Harris. The position vacated by Mike Brown is also up for election. Ruth expressed a wish to see new recruits on the board.
•A motion made by Laura and seconded by Harris passed unanimously. The motion expressed confidence in the Tournament Chairwoman's judgment and decision making. Glenda was thanked for handling her duties responsibly and ethically.
•A motion made by Paul and seconded by Laura passed. The motion requested that Ruth
compose a letter to Ari Eisenberg reiterating appropriate behavior during the tournament.
Counsel is to review the letter prior to mailing. Ruth thanked Andy Lohan (in absentia) for
interceding during Ari's dispute at the 2/13 meeting.
•A motion made by Arnie and seconded by Paul passed. The motion stipulates that providing partners for sectional games is optional and at the discretion of the Tournament Chairperson.
•An updated copy of the By-Laws was distributed. Jerry noticed some errors and Laura agreed
to retype and have them ready for redistribution at the next meeting.
Committee Reports:
Tournament Committee:. April 23-25 is set for the next sectional. Glenda and Ruth stated that Brother Richard was appraised of some past grievances including but not limited to the fire exit doors and lavatory maintenance. He committed to resolve these issues.
JoAnn and Cornel volunteered to help the tournament committee set up on Thursday afternoon,
April 22.
Membership Recruitment and Retention Program: Richard wrote a letter on March 9 to the
ACBL Board of Directors (see minutes of 2/13 meeting). He also notified other unit presidents
of this letter and we are still awaiting feedback.
District III: •Jerry reported that EASYBRIDGE! is having a very successful season in Poughkeepsie. Ten new teachers from Saratoga have been trained. Two other training programs have been scheduled: Somerset Regional Tournament, August 14 and Westchester Tournament, April 11.
•Ruth requested that our district representatives remind the District Board on May 1 that our intermediate sectional events are incorporated into our regular sectionals since past intermediate/novice sectionals have not been successful.
•The ACBL has requested a Unit Electronic Contact (UEC) and Arnie agreed to accept this
responsibility.
Newsletter: Richard did the newsletter layout for the April issue.
NAOP/GNT: Laura stated that no information was received by her from the District
NAOP/GNT Chairperson. The GNT district finals are scheduled for Woodbridge,
May 1 and Maywood, May 2. The NAOP unit final is tentatively scheduled for
Saturday September 18 at the Bergen Bridge Center. Jerry agreed to direct the game.
Pro Am: The game is set for October 2. Richard and Cornel have volunteered to make posters.
Charity: The April 24 Allendale Saturday evening sectional game will be our first 1999
unit charity benefitting the ACBL charity for Autism research. Our unit is co-sponsoring with
unit 155 a club charity game on Wednesday afternoon June 2. The Dystopia Medical Research
Foundation is the beneficiary.
Web Site Committee: Arnie implemented Tod's suggestion from a February committee meeting to simplify the home page. Once again, Arnie requested board action to have the newsletter data sent to him as was agreed one year ago. Laura refused and Ruth appointed Richard to provide this information to the web site committee.
Arnie was asked the number of hits the web page received. He said he would provide the board with that information (on file-15,000 hits from 4/98-3/99).
New Business:
•A motion made by Glenda and seconded by Frank nominated Cornel Ferat to the board. The motion passed without dissent. Cornel will replace the unexpired term of Mike Brown. Welcome Cornel!
•Richard volunteered to become the new membership chairperson. Jerry, Cornel, Harris and
Elaine will be on his committee.
Meeting adjourned at 11:45 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Rachel Prior, Secretary Unit 106