Voting Members Present: Mark Priddy, Heather Vickers, Jeanne O’Kon, Peg Griffin, Tom Perkins, Herb Wills, Jo Lena Bryan, Mary Jean Yon, Lisa Unger, Stephanie Liles-Weyant, Judy Alexander, David Yon, Philip Sura.

Voting Members Absent: Robert Skrob, Kory Skrob, Tina Bahmer, Paul Guyas, Kendrah Richards. Non-Voting Members Present: Bill Lott, Mark Tombrink, Danny Manausa, Felton Wright, Tarik Noriega, Jennifer Hay, Carter Hay, Hawthorne Hay.

I. Opening and Introduction: Mark Priddy called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The minutes from the June meeting were approved. Mary Jean Yon recommended seven revisions in the minutes. The minutes were approved as amended.

II. Old Business:

a) Pot Luck Bash Wrap-up: Peg Griffin reported that there were revenues of $4586.27 and expenses of $4,889.90, for a net loss of $303.63. The amount of $390.00 representing direct donations will go to the Chenoweth Fund. Motion to approve the final budget was made and seconded. Board members voted to approve the motion. David Yon described the $500 scholarships that are awarded to high school students at the Pot Luck Bash for both Track Athlete of the Year and Cross Country Athlete of the Year. An additional Paul Hoover Leadership Award of $1,000 was also presented. Nominations for the scholarships can come from a coach or a club member.

Peg noted that the Club received an anonymous donation twice, and the total is $837.00. The funds are specified for Youth Running programs. Jennifer Hay stated that there are some applications for the school grants that are rejected because the funds cannot be used for certain expenses like team uniforms or race registrations. A motion was made to give $837.00 to the school grant program to assist those requests from running programs that are usually rejected because of the guidelines for the school grant program. The motion was not seconded. Because of a lack of a second to the motion, no vote was taken.

b) Approval of new Bylaws: Board members reviewed the draft of the revised Bylaws and indicated that there were typos in the document that need correcting. The phrase “Appropriate social media” was recommended as more suitable to be used in the document. In the revised Bylaws, more detail has been provided in areas of officer responsibilities, attendance, and other areas. Discussion ensued on Article 4, Section 9 (page 8), which describes “removal from office,” and the criteria for removal was discussed. There was debate about whether the word “consecutive” should be used in describing attendance at Board meetings, and whether it applies to attending committee meetings. Mark emphasized that voting members need to be present at Board meetings. Section 5B (page 10) was also reviewed, where it states that the past president should attend Board meetings and should be a member of the Document Review Committee. Article 6 was also reviewed for language about candidates for election who “should” or “intend” to maintain active club membership status. David Yon suggested “commit to renew” as an appropriate substitute. A motion was made and seconded to approve the new five-year Bylaws with the changes discussed. Board members voted to approve the motion. These new Bylaws will become effective immediately, with the except of Section 9, which has a deferred effective date.

III. New Business:

a) Sickle Cell International Rescue Immersion (IRC) 2022 Proposed Budget: Danny Manausa reported that Diversity Committee has been successful due to a Community Thrives grant and fundraising. The funds were used previously to provide shoes and shirts to a group of children who participated in a race. Fleet Foot provided shoes at a discount. They are now planning to support up to 40-50 children who would like to participate in the Sickle Cell 5K/1m. Danny provided a proposed budget. Training and transportation will begin on August 10 at 6:00 p.m. and will continue on Wednesdays. The proposed cost for six weeks, including transportation, food and drink, shoes and clothing, and race registration fees is $11,150.00. Of the money raised to date, there is still $23,000 in the reserve account and they expect to raise more in the fall. David provided a form that can be submitted to request approval for funds from the Board. A motion was made and seconded to approve the proposed budget. Board members voted to approve the motion.

b) Breakfast on the Track 2022 Proposed Budget: Felton Wright presented a proposed budget for the BOT One Mile run. A Net Profit of $880.00 is anticipated. The proceeds are split between Maclay Track and Field and GWTC. Motion was made and seconded to approve the budget. Board members voted to approve the motion.

c) Pine Run 2022 Proposed Budget: Carter Hay presented a proposed budget for the Pine Run. A Net Profit of $548.00 is anticipated. Half of the proceeds will go as a direct donation to Tall Timbers and half to GWTC. Motion was made and seconded to approve the proposed budget. Board members voted to approve the motion.

IV. Announcements from the Officers:

a) Training Group Coordinator: Mark Priddy reported that the club does not currently have a training group coordinator. The position has been open since last year. Motion was made and seconded to keep the position vacant for now until it is needed in the future. Board members voted to approve the motion. Peg pointed out that there is a waiver that all people participating in a training group should be completing. The coordinators of the Beginning Running group do require the signed waiver.

b) Visit Tallahassee Community Calendar: Jeanne O’Kon provided information about the Visit Tallahassee web site. She contacted Joe Piotrowski there and he said that races can be listed on their events calendar. The link for submitting events is: https://visittallahassee.com/submit-an-event/ She also mentioned that there is no information about GWTC on the site as a community organization, and someone could take that on as a project.

c) Sam Varn at Awards4U: Jeanne reported that she met with Sam Varn at Awards4U. Sam asked her to remind race directors that Awards4U is a community partner with GWTC, and he provides discounts for awards purchased there. Awards4U has been a sponsor for three years for Miller Landing Madness, providing finisher medals for all runners.

d) Fitness Extravaganza at Tallahassee Senior Center on Sept. 12 from 10-2:00: Mark Priddy will volunteer in addition to Jo Lena Bryan and Bill Lott. He suggested that a GWTC membership be provided as a door prize. Motion was made and seconded to provide a GWTC family membership as a door prize for the event. Board members voted to approve the motion. Adult clothing (leftover race or club t-shirts, visors, cups, etc.) can also be given away.

V. Reports:

a) Treasurer’s Report: Peg Griffin reported total assets as of June 30, 2022 of $223,114.51. For the fiscal year ending June 30, revenue was $378,070.81, with expenses of 408,490.46, resulting in a net loss of $30,419.65. Peg presented a proposed 2022-2023 budget for consideration, with revenue of $349,433.00, and expenses of $412,185.00, with a projected net loss of $62,752.00. Revenue is anticipated at less than 2021-22 revenue due to reduced chip timing income and no ACT revenue expected; higher expenses are projected due to the increased cost of goods. Of the club’s total funds, approximately $137,000 is designated for: equipment ($86,000); Chenoweth Fund ($12,232); Gulfwinds Triathletes ($15,776); and ACT grant funds ($23,100), and should not be considered as part of the operations budget. If the club continues to operate at a deficit, the funds will be depleted over time. A motion to approve the proposed budget, with an amendment requested by Judy Alexander to reduce the lecture series budget by $750, was approved by the Board. Ways of reducing expenses were discussed, such as cutting back on t-shirt orders, raising race registration fees, growing the membership, and choosing a less expensive venue for the holiday party. The Board will continue to monitor the club’s financial position. A small committee may be formed to review the club finances and improve revenue.

b) Triathlete Club: About 42 members of the Tri Club competed at the Freedom Springs Sprint Triathlon, which is a GP event for the club. The Gulf Winds Triathletes are hosting a summer social Monday, July 18th at 6:30 p.m. at Momo’s with a moderated panel discussing the four distances of triathlon. All are welcome Beer and pizza will be provided. More information is on the Gulf Winds Track Club Facebook page.

c) Race Director Coordinator: Mary Jean Yon reported that Lisa Unger shared the information that the City of Tallahassee was increasing the fee for using Optimist Park for the Women’s Distance Festival 5K to increase city revenue. There was a $250 fee being added for using the building at the park, which actually isn’t used at the race. Lisa pointed out that the information about fee increases isn’t provided anywhere that she could find online. Tom Perkins reported that he communicated with Mario at TPRD, and the fees have been waived for GWTC in the past. A new TPRD employee was not aware that GWTC had been using city facilities for free. Lisa reported that there was a $40 application fee, $130 fee for the use of the park and $27 fee for trash cans. Possibly pursuing other community partners (churches, schools) to use different venues is an idea for reducing costs.

d) Newsletter: No report sent. July 22nd is the deadline for newsletter submissions.

e) Membership: Jo Lena Bryan reported that there are currently 1278 memberships (1014 last year at this time), and 705 total memberships (531 last year at this time). There are 66 members in the Google group.

f) Diversity/IRC: Gabrielle Gabrielli is the new chair of the committee. A committee report will be requested for future Board meetings.

g) Education: Nothing to report.

h) Web Site: Nothing to report.

i) Chenoweth Fund: Nothing to report.

j) Merchandise: Jeanne reported for Laura McDermott. Laura and Sherri Wise made a second order of visors. They have also placed a second order for RUN TLH t-shirts because they ran out of several sizes.

k) Equipment: No equipment issues to report.

l) Chip Timing: Bill Lott reported that in June, GWTC’s Potluck Bash 4-Mile Prediction Run and two non-Club races, the Monticello Kiwanis Club Watermelon Run 5K and the Paul Hoover Memorial Freedom 5K Run, were chip timed. During July, only two races are scheduled to be timed – the non-Club Capital City Kiwanis Firecracker 5K and the GWTC Summer Trail Series Race #3 – Overstreet Trail at Maclay Gardens State Park. For August, one non-Club race, the St. George Island Sizzler 5K, and three Club races, Breakfast on the Track 1 Mile, Miller Landing Madness 8K/5K/3K, and GWTC Summer Trail Series Race #4 – Cadillac Trail, are planned to be chip timed. At the Paul Hoover Memorial Freedom 5K Run, two timing mats would not work. After the race, all the chip timing mats were tested and the two that did not work at the Freedom Run were both found to have broken cables. These mats can be made to work, but only if the cables are turned a certain way and therefore, they cannot be considered to be reliable. Another mat was found to work, but reads only when the chipped bib is directly over the mat instead of starting the reading process 4-5 feet from the mat. Two other mats have previously been reported broken in prior reports. There are now a total of five timing mats that are not usable or reliable. Bill contacted the company to determine what can be done with those five mats. Another company called Atlas Running in Alabama also sells timing mats that are four feet wide for roughly $1200 each.

m) Grand Prix: Mark Tombrink indicated that when the committee meets again, they hope to make modifications to the Grand Prix race application. They will also start to plan for the purchase of awards for the Annual Awards ceremony in January.

n) Social: No report.

Meeting Adjourned at 8:58 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Jeanne O’Kon
GWTC Secretary