President, Glenda Calkins, called the meeting to order at 9:20 a.m. Board members in attendance were:
Glenda Calkins, President
Joe Adamo, NAOP & GNT Chairperson
Ruth Bernstein, Vice President
Gerald Goodman, Budget/District 3 Representative
Frank Grunebaum, Treasurer, Annual Dinner
Andy Lohan, Recorder, Annual Dinner, Life Master Pairs
Geoffrey Manis, Charity, STAC
Arnie Bergen, Web Master
Marilyn Marion, Club Coordinator
Jean Mazouat, Novice Promotion/Membership Ed.
Elaine Meyers, Pro/Am
Betty Price, Newsletter Editor
Kay Roelke, Membership Chairperson
Rebecca Schwartz, Administrative/Recording Secretary
Tod Thorgersen, Reitman KO Teams Chairperson
Al Delio, Player of the Year
Mary Giannella, Membership, Annual Dinner
Paul Nickerson, Honorary Board Member
Absent and excused: Harris Schenker, Helen Wallach
I. Ruth Bernstein moved to accept the Minutes of March 31st, seconded by Frank Grunebaum. The motion was carried.
II. PRESIDENT'S REPORT:
Glenda reported that Arnie Bergen's insurance problems have been resolved
enabling him to withdraw his resignation and remain on the Board.
A detailed job-description booklet, prepared by Glenda, Arnie, Jerry Goodman, Ruth Bernstein and Harris Schenker, was distributed to the Board. A tremendous amount of effort went into its preparation, and Glenda believes that the handbook will prove of great value to both current and future Board members. Glenda requested that she be notified if anyone finds his/her job description to be inaccurate. Arnie gave Glenda a Word Perfect copy of the booklet which may be used for future printings.
Glenda announced that Jo Ann Van Delft has resigned from the Board, and Ruth Bernstein and Marilyn Marion will assume tournament responsibilities for the balance of this year.
The committee researching a new location for our Sectionals has thus far been unsuccessful, but Glenda believes that we must continue the search. Al Delio has assumed the chair for that committee and has requested for additional committee members.
Betty Price nominated Betty King to fill the current Board vacancy, seconded by Rebecca Schwartz. A vote was taken and Betty King was elected unanimously. Glenda will contact her.
Glenda reported that Marilyn Marion received a letter from Guardian Angel indicating a price increase of $750.00. This is higher than anticipated and will bring our cost to $2825.00 per sectional. Glenda feels that if we opt to remain at Guardian Angel, this much additional rent should entitle us to certain considerations, i.e., working lights, solid commitments for future dates, and advance notification if there will be a parking problem on an event date. Marilyn will continue to maintain contact with church personnel.
The Secaucus tournament will be held from August 13th to August 19th. We are the host unit and therefore responsible for ensuring that everything is in place. Betty Price will handle pairing and prizes. This year additional events will require that we man the desks three times a day instead of two. Betty passed out a sign-up sheet, requesting volunteers to fill these slots.
Glenda asked Board members considering reelection, to please inform Betty Price of that fact by today, if possible. She requested that people who might be interested in serving be advised to notify Betty Price, as well. Glenda further stated that she will appoint a new member-at-large to the Nominating Committee to replace Betty King.
Glenda noted that Cheryl Garafalo's new novice/intermediate game in Maywood has grown rapidly, and thinks it would be wonderful for more clubs to introduce this event. Jean Mazouat suggested that it might be a good idea for these games to begin sooner, to play fewer boards, and to end the evening at an earlier hour.
Glenda also reported that in September, Amy Nellissen plans to begin an Easybridge game in Wyckoff. Glenda will apply to Easybridge for the $200.00 incentive being offered.
Glenda received a letter from District 3 ACBL advising that bridge books and video programs for novice/intermediate players may be purchased and placed in a library of our unit's choice.
Paul Nickerson stated that the Westwood library did and might still have some of these types of materials available, and Al Delio pointed out that all Bergen County libraries are accessible on the library web-site, www.bccls.org. This web-site permits viewers to see what's owned by/available at each library in the county.
Jerry noted that the materials available for purchase are heavily discounted and that District 3 will subsidize the cost. Glenda asked how much money our unit would be willing to spend on this, and Frank advised that $646.00 remains in our budget for novice promotion. Jerry mentioned that we also have a miscellaneous amount of $300.00 available. This would allow us to place several copies of materials in Bergen, Rockland, and Passaic. Jerry moved that we spend $120.00 on library materials, seconded by Al Delio. A vote was taken and carried unanimously. Glenda asked Jean and Al to work together on this as quickly as possible.
III. TREASURER'S REPORT
Frank distributed copies of the June 30th financial report and recommended
that unit events' entry fees be raised from $8.50 to $9.00 to help cover
increased costs. He asked if it were possible to cut down on hotel, etc.,
expenses by using local, rather than out-of-town tournament directors. This
doesn't appear to be an option, however, and the cost problem for our
district remains an issue.
Ruth suggested investigating some area motels to lock in special rates four times a year, and Glenda believes that we should, indeed, take charge of hotel bookings. Frank moved that we increase entry fees to $9.00, seconded by Arnie. Further discussion followed and a vote was taken. Entry fees will increase. Glenda will notify Solly.
IV. ADMINISTRATIVE SECRETARY'S REPORT
Nothing to report.
V. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. TOURNAMENTS
Marilyn Marion brought up the possibility of introducing an additional type
of game, i.e., a compact KO on Saturday morning/ afternoon, to end prior to
the Saturday night session. She thought this might increase attendance. It
would require a director, and Glenda said she could discuss this with Solly
to get his input.
Arnie mentioned that the Capital Unit holds the Saturday event at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. with no nighttime game. This has proved to be highly successful and might be something for us to consider, as well. The consensus of the Board is that these ideas are worth investigating. Any changes made, however, would have to pertain to the November Sectional. It's too late for September.
There was also discussion as to whether we will continue to serve lunch at, and to "play through", the Sunday Swiss Team event. Glenda suggested that since Marilyn and Ruth handle that tournament, they should make that decision.
Glenda informed the Board that Abby Brawer will no longer be involved in the physical preparation of lunch, but will remain on the committee as an advisor.
CADDIES
Glenda noted that Betty Price's granddaughter would love to caddy.
SECTIONAL TOURNAMENT AT CLUBS (STAC)
Geoffrey Manis said that we ran $200.00 over budget. Frank is waiting for an
invoice from the ACBL, and further discussion was tabled till Frank receives
all the information.
B. SPECIAL EVENTS
1. NAOP/GNT
Joe Adamo advised that our Unit Final is going to be held on September 22nd
at Bergen. The District Final is scheduled for October 7th at Allendale .
Everything is in order.
2. Reitman Double Knockout Teams
Tod Thorgersen reported that the Reitman is still in the round-robin stage
and will soon be down to four teams.
3. Bi-Unit Wide Games
Glenda, reporting for Helen Wallach, stated that everything is on schedule.
4. Bob Johnke Team
Tod noted that we budgeted for a $1200.00 loss, but lost only $600.00.
5. Life Master Event
Andy Lohan reported that this event was very successful, and that he came in
$750.00 under budget. Tod said the food was wonderful.
6. Annual Dinner
Andy advised that the Annual Dinner, scheduled for December 2nd, is all set.
Marilyn can no longer work on that committee due to her new responsibilities,
but Mary Giannella will take her place.
7. Pro/Am
Elaine Meyers ordered hand records and analyses sheets for the October 28th
pro/am game, but they never arrived. She will contact the ACBL and get this
resolved.
The following should be noted: ams may not have more than 50 points, but the pros, though needing over 300 points, are not required to be Life Masters.
C. NEWSLETTER
Betty Price would like all materials in her possession by August 20th, but
will save space for Player of the Year. She announced that she is currently
under budget.
Club Coordinator, Marilyn Marion, stated that everything is going well.
D. WEB-PAGE
Arnie saved money by renewing our Domain Name. He put a request on the
web-site for new people to consider joining the Board. Arnie asked that he
be informed of the dates of all events, and advised that information on club
calendars should be sent to Neale Van Delft.
E. CHARITY
Geoffrey Manis has nothing new to report. Glenda believes we may not be able
to work with Dystonia again until we have a different approach from Sandy
Weil.
We need to be consulted in advance regarding the date of the Charity event to ensure that there is no conflict with any Unit or District event. All special events in our Unit have to be cleared through Alex Allen who is in charge of the District calendar. Since the game, this year, was scheduled during the District Regional in Saratoga, we had to decline having this as a Unit event. The clubs involved had to do it on their own.
Geoffrey will research the amount we are committing to Dystonia this year and give that information to Frank. When Glenda submits the check, she will include a letter regarding the above.
F. NOVICE PROMOTION
Jean Mazouat reports that the last three novice games were more successful
than prior ones had been. Advertising in very local papers and shopping
circulars has generated a great response and proven cost effective. She
thanked Al Pagan and Al Delio for their help, and Amy Nellison for offering
hers. She also thanked Neale, who did the scoring and helped to make the
games run smoothly.
Arnie suggested that Jean send flyers to local high school and college newspapers. Jean intends to follow up on this idea.
Andy made a motion to increase the novice program budget to $400.00 per session. The motion was seconded by Elaine, and unanimously carried.
G. PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Al Delio stated that everything is going well, and that he's very pleased
with Arnie's software program. Getting the data, however, is presenting a
problem. Clubs outside of our unit participate in unit-wides, and Al doesn't
know when to begin calculating since he doesn't know when all of the data is
in.
H. CONDUCT AND ETHICS/RECORDER
Nothing to report
I. MEMBERSHIP
Kay reported an increase of 27 members year-to-date.
VII OLD BUSINESS
None
VIII. NEW BUSINESS
None
The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Rebecca Schwartz,
Administrative/Recording Secretary