GULF WINDS TRACK CLUB Minutes

Present: Felton Wright, Lisa Unger, Bill Lott, Jackie McDaniel, Jerry Chesnutt, Mark Priddy, David Yon, Mary Jean Yon, Chuck Davis, Judy Alexander, Herb Wills, Fred Deckert, Vicky Verano, Brian Corbin, Gary Droze, Ericka McKibbin, Mary Register, and Maria Santoro

Judy Alexander called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Quorum was established.

The Board reviewed the November minutes. A motion was made, seconded, and passed to accept the minutes as presented.

New Business

Maria Santoro and Gary Droze – spoke with the Board about Maclay School track repairs. The school has budgeted $37,600 for resurfacing; however there is a need for an additional $7,600 to complete the entire track. GWTC uses the track for the Summer Track Series as well as Breakfast on the Track and for interval training throughout the year. The Maclay Boosters are making every effort to raise additional funds, and reached out to the Board to ask for consideration of financial assistance for this project. After much discussion among board members, a motion was made to donate up to $2,500 in matching funds to whatever amount of donations the Maclay Boosters can raise from other sources. The motion was seconded and approved with one dissent.
Ericka McKibbin – as lead organizer for the Big Bend chapter of Girls on the Run, Ericka made a presentation to the Board explaining the mission of the program as well as answering questions presented to her. She is in the process of starting an independent council for the Big Bend area which will initially include Leon, Wakulla and Gadsden counties. Each council develops and operates their own 501(c) 3 non-profit organization. The application process requires letters of recommendation. Ericka’s request of the Board was to provide a letter of support. GWTC provides many running and training opportunities for youth throughout the year as well as offering $300 grants to schools to promote running. The Board did not feel it appropriate to endorse this program at this time.
David Yon- David gave a wrap up report on the 2012 Turkey Trot races. There was approximately $147,000 in revenues and $112,000 in expenses with net proceeds of $35,105. Half of the net proceeds will be divided between the Boys and Girls Club, The Shelter, and the Refuge House. In addition, the Turkey Trot Heroes raised $8,125 for the Boys and Girls Club, $8,257 for The Shelter, and $9,516 for the Refuge House. David requested approval from the Board to disburse the funds to the charities. A motion was made to approve David’s request, seconded, and approved. Additionally, there were 45 boxes of clothes and other items donated at the Turkey Trot as well as 980 lbs of food.

David Yon – David presented the RRCA Race Director Code of Ethics which are located on the RRCA’s website. It was agreed that all race directors should read and review the guidelines and become familiar with the expected standards of conduct of any person or group that conducts races.

David Yon – David (and several others) updated the GWTC Race Director’s Handbook and provided the Board with a draft of the changes as well as a draft of the proposed final document. He asked the Board members to review the document, and then he will post it on the GWTC webpage. He also noted that a copy of the RRCA Race Director Code of Ethics is now included in the handbook.

Mary Jean Yon – Announced that Tom Perkins was elected to the Board after the results of the run-off election were tallied.

Mark Priddy – presented the proposed budget for the 2013 Flash 12k/6k. A motion was made to approve the budget, seconded, and approved.

Jackie McDaniel – presented the proposed budget for the 2013 30k/15k. A motion was made to approve the budget, seconded, and approved.

Old Business

Last month, Fred Deckert proposed offering a reduced-rate membership to those who opt to receive the Fleet Foot (FF) electronically only. After some discussion among board members, it was decided to table this discussion until the December meeting. After discussion, a motion was made to keep the membership fees at the same low rate and advertise the availability to members to receive the FF electronically. The motion was seconded and approved.

Treasurer’s Report – Jerry Chesnutt
There is $127,969 in the Club’s checking account with $5,951 of that belonging to the Tri Club and $2,306 is in the equipment reserve fund. There is an additional $50,351 invested. The Chenoweth fund has $10,414. The Board is exploring the idea of creating a finance committee to assist with the financial responsibilities of the Club.

Membership Report – Mark Priddy
The Club has 1952 members which is 50 more than last month in 1,107 households, an increase of 23 over last month. For 2013, 517 members have renewed in 315 homes. 853 renewal letters have been mailed to members who have not already renewed for 2013.

Race Director Coordinator Report – Charlie Yates
No report.

Newsletter Report – Fred Deckert
No report.

Clothing Coordinator Report – Jackie McDaniel for Paula O’Neill
Paula sold $358 worth of clothing this month.

Equipment Report – Vicky Verano
Everything is running smoothly with equipment rentals.

Website Report – David Yon
Nothing to report.

Chenoweth Fund Report –David Yon
Nothing to report.

Triathlon Report – Bill Dillon
Bill sent the following email as a wrap up for 2012:
“The Triathlon Club’s season has drawn to a close after a successful year. Our membership increased by almost 100 people and our members participated in a large number of races throughout Florida, the United States and Panama (Club member Jillian Heddaeus competed in the Panama 70.3 race). The races ranged from Sprint length to Ironman distance. One club member, Sandy Holt is in the process of trying to complete every Ironman race in the US within a 1 year time frame. So far in 2012 she has competed in Ironman Wisconsin, Florida and Arizona. She will complete her 7 race journey in 2013 with Ironman Texas, Coeur d’Alene, Lake Placid and Louisville and hopefully an 8th race in Kona. Another club member, Kate Harrison, in her first ever Ironman qualified for the Kona Ironman….the “Boston Marathon” of Ironman races. Still others competed in the USAT Nationals in Burlington, VT with club members Seeley Gutierrez, Jennifer Kilinski, Marci Gray, Bob Keller and Maria Colberg performing at high level. Only athletes that have won their age group in a sanctioned race or who placed highly in a USAT regional race are afforded invitations to USAT Nationals. Aside from their outstanding athletic accomplishments a number of club members were very active from a volunteer and community service standpoint. Mike and Stephanie Weyant hosted three successful Youth Triathlon Series races with assistance from both track and triathlon club volunteers. Kathy McDaris led the Tri Club water stop at the Tallahassee Marathon and held yet another successful Red Hills Race and Jennifer Kilinski was honored nationally by the USAT with the “Jeff Jewell Spirit Award”. Currently the club is engaged in the USAT National Challenge Competition, which is an off-season competition against other triathlon clubs that is based on training mileage in the 3 disciplines. Currently, the Gulf Winds Triathlon Club ranks 3rd nationally in the large club division. A number of club members are highly placed in the individual rankings including some of our under 18 stars; Wade Eastman, Alex Bowman, Wyatt Townsend and Colin Abbey. The Club looks to continuing growing in 2013 under the leadership of in-coming President and new Ironman Rob McNeely.”

Lecture Series Report – Nancy Stedman
Per email from Nancy – Michael Wardian & Karen Harvey will be speaking at the marathon expo on 2/2/13 and all GWTC members are welcome to attend this. Dr. George Merritt is tentatively scheduled as a guest lecturer on Friday, March 1, 2013.
With the exception of retaining speaker(s) for the marathon, she is seeking a replacement for Lecture Series Coordinator to take over after Dr. Merritt’s talk.

Training Report – Chuck Davis
A Springtime training group will begin on Monday, January 28 at 5:45 p.m.. The group will meet at the Myers Park picnic pavilion overlooking the pool.

Social Coordinator Report –Elizabeth Stupi and Judy Alexander
The Holiday Party is this weekend December 15, at the American Legion Hall at Lake Ella. Elizabeth is asking for help to set up and clean up.

There being no further business to discuss, a motion to adjourn was made, seconded and passed at 9:28 p.m.

Jackie McDaniel