|
Please pardon the formatting. Changing the WORD document to a text file
leaves a lot to be desired. Specifically, there are a lot of question
marks that appeared in the middle of everywhere that aren’t really there. Please review and reply with additions or corrections. Thanks, Rick |
Greater
Seattle
Aquarium
Society Board Meeting Minutes: May 22nd, 2003
(at June Olberding?s home)
Board Members Present
Clay Hess
Bob Holmes
Rick Rose
Dave Sanford
Absent
Erik Olson (1)
Membership Observers
June Olberding
Susan Rose
Executive Committee Reports
> The Minutes of the previous Board meeting (April 17th, 2003) were
> accepted and approved.
> The Treasurer?s Report:
1) Current Bank Balance: $4046.23
2) Cash Box: 51.00
3) No Outstanding Bills
Meeting & Program Schedule
Month Topic / Activity
Fish-o-the-Month
SEP 10th Introduce yourself and your fish, solicit ideas Bob and
Dave
OCT 8th Takashi Amano Video ? Plant Tank Setup (Paul) Clay, Bob, Rick
& Dave
NOV 12th Tank Lighting Workshop (Clay, Rick) June,
AH Supply
DEC 10th Christmas Party (None)
JAN 14th Seattle Aquarium Behind-the-Scenes Tour (Rick) (None)
FEB 11th Plant Auction (Erik) (None)
MAR 11th Live Food Workshop (Dave, Bob) (Steev Ward,
Dave)
APR 8th General Auction (None)
MAY 6th Ad Koning ? Lake Tanganyikans (Kathy O) (Kathy)
JUN 10th Erik Olson "Photographing the Planted Aquarium? (Bob, June)
AUG 9th Club Picnic ? Paul and Cheryl Winchester?s Home
(2003-2004 Club-Year)
SEP 9th Introduce yourself and your fish, solicit ideas
OCT 21st Rusty Wessel (Kathy is still verifying)
Spring 2004 Paul Loiselle ? on West African Dwarf Cichlids (Kathy
O)(________________)
(*) Tentative, Special Dates
Bob will prepare special Kids? Coloring Pages for both the May and June, 2003
meetings.
Special Dates (in Red)
List of possible speakers:
Mike Schadle (typically cancels due to work responsibilities)
Pam Chin (Friend of the Olsons ? they would host)
Steve Lundblad (African Cichlids)
____________ (Livebearers, get name from Frank Tomko)
Next Meeting: June 10, 2003
> The June General Meeting will feature our very own Erik Olson,
> presenting a talk entitled
"Photographing the Planted Aquarium", which combines photography, aquatic
plants, aquarium
decoration and a diary of his three-month crash course in entering an
aquascaping contest last year.
Old Business
> Newsletter Update
1) June Newsletter Status ? June Olberding has been working hard to get a
preliminary copy ready
for the Board to review; and she?s done an excellent job! All of the following
items that we?ve
been carrying forward for several months will be addressed.
? We have been hoping to publish Bob?s Mediterranean Pasta Salad recipe
since December.
Now that so much time has passed since the Christmas pot-luck, when/if it is
included in
the newsletter, it should be preceded by an introduction/explanation as to why
it?s there e.g.
Bob Holmes? colorful Mediterranean Pasta Salad has become a GSAS Christmas
Party
tradition over the years and many people have asked for his recipe ? which, Bob
is very
happy to share with us.
? Don Bertalotti ? re-run ad with number corrected. To clarify this
issue (which was
mentioned briefly last month) Don ran an ad in our newsletter and
unfortunately, the wrong
phone number was listed. Don asked if we would correct and re-run the ad,
which, we are
happy to do.
? Spring Article Contest (needs to be promoted in the next newsletter)
* Theme: ?Most Impressive Tank? or ?My Favorite Fish?
* Deadline for submission: Extended to May 31, 2003
* The 1st-place prize will be a one-year subscription to Aquarium Fish
Magazine.
? New Members? Names (since the last newsletter) to be published in the
next newsletter
The Greater Seattle Aquarium Society would like to welcome the following
new members!
Joe Muller
Frank Tomko
Brian Rasmussen
Bruce Fischer
Michelle Gregory
David Flemming
Michael Janes
Vicki Horning
Mike Wong
Bob Hemmingson
Eugene Herrman
Darcey Harding
Shawn Langley
Jeffrey Holman
Ha Hang
Doug Harshfield
Aaron Frymire
Susan Welenofsky
John Bernardo
Dean Arsenault
Tori Craig
2) Email from June re: Cathryn Gray
>I spoke with Cathryn Gray. She has all the skills to easily publish
>newsletter. In fact she already is doing one for another organization.
>She also works full time, is pretty busy. She is glad to be backup but
>does not wish to do it fulltime so we agreed that I will be the regular
>and she will cover when I am out of town. I think that plan can serve
>the club well. So send me all those articles that you wrote and I will
>start a library. June
3) June requested a discussion about what the Board would like to see in
the newsletter on an on-
going basis. For the most part, the discussion followed a review of the
preliminary copy of the
newsletter that June provided ? with overwhelming praise and support for her
efforts. The
?Junior Member Column? is especially appreciated since one of the Board?s
stated goals is to
encourage participation among all the members (including the younger ones).
4) The next newsletter should include a friendly reminder that pets are
not allowed at the meetings ?
due to a policy at the Seattle Aquarium ? see full discussion in New Business.
5) June had originally set as her goal to mail each newsletter 14 days
prior to the next meeting. The
Board discussed this and asked her to delay until approximately 7 days prior to
the next meeting
? feeling that receiving it two full weeks in advance would cause it to loose
the benefit of being a
?reminder?. If the members receive it during the week prior to the meeting, it
will still be fresh
in their minds.
> Clay has asked Diane Elliot how Rich (a lawyer) would advise us to
> proceed with regard to Liability
Insurance ? Waiting for an Answer.
> Recap of May General Membership Meeting ? Ad Konings
* 33 members signed in, plus NUMEROUS visitors including 3 from the
Vancouver Canada
Aquarium.
* Email from Bob
>Good meeting last night! The mini-auction brought in $66, plus the
>remaining IOU's got paid up and we gained one new membership (family) >and
one upgrade from single to family. Total bank deposit was $103.50.
* Email from Dave
>I also thought it was a great program. It really helped to have Steve L
>there with books, T-shirts, and some very cool auction fish. I'm not
>sure that the general membership is aware of all the time, work,
>expense etc involved in bringing in any guest speaker, let alone a
>famous one like Ad. We owe much gratitude to Kathy and Erik for their
>efforts in this. They take time off work, give up a lot of time,
>organize get togethers, have all the stress of house guests. Wow. Maybe
>we should get together an article on what's involved.
> Bob ? Status of cash box which will be permanently mounted into our
> cart that is kept at the
Seattle Aquarium ? Bob completed this at the May meeting.
> Board Member Attendance Requirements. Rick initiated the long awaited
> email forum on May
1, 2003. Excellent posts immediately followed. A copy of the responses was
available for
reference at this Board Meeting. An opportunity for further discussion at this
meeting was
promised.
1. Attendance (and other?) requirements for Board Members ? Various points
of view were
reiterated and further explained by the board members in attendance. After
some discussion, it
was moved and seconded that the current policy which assumes the resignation of
a board
member upon his/her having not attended the third, consecutive, regularly
scheduled board
meeting, be rescinded. The vote was two in favor of the motion, and two
opposed. Absent a
majority in favor, the motion was defeated - leaving the current policy in
place. Given the tie
vote, it was moved and seconded that we readdress this issue at the August
meeting. This
motion passed unanimously.
2. How to improve participation from the general membership ? Due to the
lateness of the hour,
discussion on this topic was tabled until the August meeting.
3. Suggestions for holding general elections for board members ? It was
the consensus of the
Board that we need to get back in line with our newly recovered bylaws.
However, a special
exception is being suggested for this coming club-year only ? given that there
is not enough
time to coordinate nominations and voting by the June meeting as required by
the bylaws. Clay
has already stated that he does not want to continue as President for another
entire club-year;
however, he is willing to continue until such time as proper elections can be
organized. It was
moved and seconded (for this coming year only) to hold nominations in September
followed by
elections in October. This motion passed unanimously. The newly elected
board/officers
would then sit at the next Board meeting and General meeting that follows the
October General
Meeting. According to the bylaws, all Board positions will be open ? current
board members
who wish to remain for another year will have to seek re-election.
> Fish Speaker Needed - Dave
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com
[mailto:owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com]On Behalf Of Sanford, Dave
LHS-STAFF
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 10:34 AM
To: 'gsas-board@thekrib.com'
Subject: RE: HELP NEEDED : Fish speaker needed.
Let's discuss at the board mtg. I might be interested depending on what is
expected. I'll shoot her an email.
Dave
-----Original Message-----
From: Debra Zachau [mailto:zachau@webtv.net]
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2003 7:50 PM
To: Hess, Clay A
Subject: Fish speaker needed.
Dear Clay,
The Town and Country Pet Expo is looking for a fish speaker. The event is at
the Monroe Fair Grounds on the 12th and 13th of July. Please contact Ruth
Avila. 425-334-0227 or e-mail her at deavila@gte.net ... She is in charge of
the speakers.
The president, Bob Hunter is in charge of booths. He is at 425-775-2707. His
e mail is... r.hunter21@verizon.net I think it would be great exposure for your
group, along with a wonderful educational event.
Thank you
Deb Zachau
Dave has sent 3 emails to Bob Hunter without response. Additional emails sent
to the other
contacts/addresses mentioned in the email strand (above) have not prompted any
response. Since
this group will not respond to our requests for information, the Board agreed
to drop the issue and
not pursue it any further.
> Discussion on a future Philanthropy Project
* Clay will be putting together a written Philanthropy Proposal form
which he, then, will use to
present his idea for our next project. Clay?s proposal is to provide one or
more Grade School?s
with a set of books of an aquatic life theme. His cost estimate per school is
$175.00.
* At the June General meeting, Clay will also promote the idea of doing a
new philanthropy
project and invite other members of the club to submit their suggestions using
the new form.
* The Board would then review all project submissions and select one.
> Summer Picnic at Paul and Cheryl Winchester?s home. Cheryl will take on
> the responsibilities of
Picnic Chairperson. ? Major points discussed.
* The Club will supply cups, plates, napkins, and pop.
* The format will be a barbeque ? Rick will email Paul and Cheryl to see
what ideas and
preferences they might have regarding the format.
Email from Paul and Cheryl?
>From: "Paul Winchester" <bravo454@hotmail.com>
>To: rickhrose@hotmail.com
>CC: Cheryl.Winchester@providence.org
>Subject: Re: GSAS Summer Picnic - URGENT
>Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 23:45:32 +0000
>
>Hi Rick,
>
>I just talked to the picnic director (aka Cheryl), and based on our
>schedule we would like to have the picnic on August 9th. The seafair party
>will be the week before on the 2nd so everything will be mostly setup from
>that. There will be enough tables and chairs for approx 30-40 people so
>that should be enough for everyone. If the meat was provided it would best
>if we cooked that, maybe with the help of 1 or 2 other volunteer chefs. It
>is difficult to bring in additional barbeques down the stairs and we have a
>big barbeque that should handle the task, I might even buy another barbeque
>before then :)
>
>It would be great if you could arrange activities and prizes for the
>kids.
>
>How do you feel about alcoholic beverages? We don?t have any problem with
>it and we can run the margarita machine if you think that is appropriate,
>we would just ask that those who wish to consume byob of tequila to pour
>into the machine and we could supply the cuervo mix. The machine can make 2
>different types of frozen drinks so we were thinking that one side should
>be a frozen punch (or other flavor) for the kids.
>
>When you follow-up on this email Cheryl at her office
>Cheryl.Winchester@providence.org that way she can respond promptly. She
>doesn?t read messages on my hotmail account very often and most of the
>planning will be done by her.
>
>Thanks
>Paul
* Promotions: (Rick)
o Create a Sign to promote the picnic at the June Meeting
o Prepare a Pot-Luck Sign-up list to be passed around at the June Meeting.
o Send a letter in the summer as a reminder for the Picnic.
* Rick will check the archives for other helpful notes about past picnics.
* It was moved and seconded that the club supply the meat for the
barbeque. The vote in favor
was unanimous. It was felt that hot dogs, hamburgers, and bratwursts would be
sufficient. Bob
will purchase and bring the meat to the picnic except that he might have a
conflict with the
time. If it turns out that Bob is unable to attend, then he will email the
board list to get another
volunteer.
* In response to the question posed by the Winchesters about alcoholic
beverages, the Board
discussed the issue. Sighting the fact that it is a family event with children
present, and for
liability reasons, the Board entertained a motion stating that GSAS Picnics and
General
Meetings will not include alcoholic beverages. The motion was seconded and
passed
unanimously.
* The new date chosen by Paul and Cheryl is Saturday, August 9th.
* The typical start time for the picnic is at 1:00pm.
* Rick will communicate this information back to Cheryl Winchester.
> Bob ? brass plate for nursing home tank. - Outstanding
New Business
> New Member(s) since last meeting.
* Tori Craig
> Bob received the following letter from the Seattle Aquarium about
> Non-Collection Animals
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing concerning your meetings at The Seattle Aquarium. It has come to
my attention that members of your
organization are bringing animals into The Seattle Aquarium during your
meetings. For the health of the aquarium's
animal collection, there is a strict policy that no non-collection animals are
allowed in the aquarium except for guide
dogs per ADA codes.
Please inform your members of this policy.
Signed...John Braden, Deputy Director
------
Question is, is he talking about dogs, cats, etc. or could he be referring to
FOTM and auction fish?
I will try to contact him before the Thursday night board meeting for details.
Update?
Today I (Bob) talked to Kelly Barth at the Aquarium. She explained to me that
the concern is over bringing dogs in to the facility (no mention of fish -
WHEW!).
> Membership Cards ? Rick printed custom membership cards for each member
> who?s dues are
current. The cards list the member?s name, membership number, type of
membership, and
expiration date. All those in attendance received their cards at the meeting.
Bob will mail the
remaining cards to the membership. Rick will create additional cards for Bob
to use in the future.
> Bylaws ? Rick passed out printed copies of the bylaws to each Board
> member and to June. The
Board briefly discussed the magnitude of the project to bring the bylaws up to
date. It was decided
that we will convene a special meeting next fall (not in combination with a
standard board meeting)
to work on this project. Clay suggested that a special location (someplace not
as comfortable as
someone?s home) might be a good idea to keep the focus of the meeting intact.
> Board Meeting Locations? ? Clay and Erik
>From: Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>
>Reply-To: gsas-board@thekrib.com
>To: gsas-board@thekrib.com
>Subject: RE: meeting
>Date: Sat, 10 May 2003 07:47:02 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Hi Clay,
>
>On Sat, 10 May 2003, Hess, Clay A wrote:
>
> > Along these lines I know some clubs meet in restaurants and that
> > might be an option for a location half way in between, or closer to
> > halfway at least. I would realy like to make it work the best for
> > all those that attend the club and the board meetings too.
>
>10-year history: Before I was prez ('93-95) the board meeting was
>nearly always at the same house, Avis Mitchell's place in Greenlake,
>because of its cental location. There also wasn't the whole crazy
>food/host thing, it was more sort of "show up and have the meeting".
>When I was prez ('95-98), Avis was starting to get sick and had to
>leave the board, so we moved the meetings to Romio's pizza on Eastlake,
>the basement of Elliott Bay Books in downtown, and different people's
>houses. So it has been done before!
>
>I would definitely prefer either a more central location, or a wider
>variety of member houses every month. To put a positive spin on it,
>sometimes a new house is what actually gets me motivated enough to show
>up.
The Board briefly discussed this issue and informally decided to hold ?most? of
the meetings in a
central location (such as Bob?s home in West Seattle) having meetings in the
outlying areas only
infrequently. Meetings at members? homes (where the board has not met
recently) would be the
exception to this ?norm?.
Announcements for the next General Meeting
* June: The winner of the Article Contest is?
* Volunteer for Programs Coordinator Position
* No Dogs or other Animals at the Aquarium
* Nominations for Board Positions at the September Meeting
* ACA Club Liaison Announcement
Here is another cichlid related event for the info of your members. Sounds
like a good one for those of you out west!
Sacramento Aquarium Society (SAS) 2003 FINDIG
"The Biggest Tropical Fish Convention West of the Rockies"
This conference will include the speakers listed below and also a huge auction
on Sunday - August 31st.
August 29th - 31st, 2003
Holiday Inn
5321 Date Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95841
SPEAKERS
Lee Finley
Paul V. Loiselle
Pam Chin
Chuck Rambo
Ad Konings
Steve Lunblad
Low-Priority and On-going Issues
(The following issues which may or may not have been addressed above will
continue to be listed here
until they are completely resolved.)
> Official Bylaws - Rick
1. Dave has obtained a copy of GPAS bylaws and passed them on to Rick
2. Erik has obtained a copy of AKA bylaws and passed them on to Rick
3. Erik found a copy of the GSAS bylaws, scanned them, and gave them to
Rick
4. Rick has produced an editable text file from the scanned images ? a
copy given to each board
member and one to June Olberding.
> Promotional Materials for GSAS ? Rick
* Poster Boards (for Fish Stores) and GSAS fliers are still outstanding.
* Business cards ? on hold
* GSAS Fliers
* Standard GSAS Thank You card
* Redesigned Membership Cards ? The Board voted unanimously to produce
membership cards
that do NOT require the president?s signature. Rick has printed Custom
Membership Cards
and given them to Bob.
> Historian Project(s) ? Rick
* History of Philanthropy Projects
? Probe the minds of Clay, Dave, Bob, and Erik
? Look for old article (on the 30-years CD), written by Laurie Hess,
about the ?Providence
Tank?
> Committee Chair ? ?Job Descriptions? ? Rick has no progress to report.
> Kathy will provide a Task List (Job Description) based on her
> experience as Speaker Wrangler.
This list will be of immediate help to the new Program Coordinator which
entails the
responsibilities of Speaker Wrangler when there is not another person
separately fulfilling that role,
Clay (as President), and Rick (as part of the project to document the
responsibilities of all
Committee Chairs.)
> Library issues discussed by the Board.
> We are unsure if Erika has followed up with Aquatic Eco-Systems
> regarding their advertising
inquiry. Rick will email Erika to see what was done. - Outstanding
> Meeting Activities for younger kids ? Dave, Bob, and Rick
1. Dave - coloring book update ? gave a folder full of artwork to Rick.
2. Rick - pages for the coloring book that promote GSAS
3. Rick ? Aquarium-related word searches, puzzles, mazes
> Bob rough draft of his philanthropy article emailed to Erika ? Bob will
> re-submit to June.
> Membership Letters - Bob
* New Member Letter - example final version for records
* Renewal Letter - sample for the Board to review
Next Board Meeting Location
The next meeting will be at Bob Holmes' home, Thursday, August 21st, 2003,
starting promptly at 7:30pm.