GULF WINDS TRACK CLUB Minutes

Board/GWTC Members present: Mary Jean Yon, Tom Perkins, David Yon, Beth Alexander, Gene Opheim, Charlie Yates, Fred and Margarete Deckert, Joe and Nadine Dexter, Judy Alexander, Bill Lott, Tim Unger, Peg Griffin, Jay Silvanima, Mae Cleveland, Terry Massa, Reid and Linda Vannoy, and Debby Alexander.

Mary Jean Yon called the meeting to order at 7:40 PM and quorum was established. The January minutes were reviewed. A motion was made, seconded and passed by unanimous vote to accept the minutes as presented.

REPORTS:

Treasurer’s Report – Gene Opheim reported that the Chenoweth Fund has $19,978 and the Club has $67,921.56. He will report these two totals each month so it can be published in the minutes. Mary Jean agrees this type of information should be published in the Fleet Foot (and web site) via the posting of minutes. Gene presented a budget for 2007 based on figures from last year. He pointed out the Club’s charitable donations totaled $15,200 with an additional $5000 moved to the Chenoweth fund. A motion was made, seconded and passed by unanimous vote to accept the budget as presented. Also, Gene said he is transferring money within accounts to gain the most interest throughout the year. He is setting up CDs so that one matures each month to be reinvested or used as needed.

Race Director Coordinator – Charlie Yates reported that although the Palace Saloon 5K is set for April 14, the Worm Gruntin 5K will also hold their race on the same day. A 5K through the woods on 5/19 at Wakulla Springs is in the preliminary planning stages.

Race Director – Terry Massa expressed her many thanks to the Club for supporting her race, the Special Olympics 5K. Jay Silvanima appreciated the help he received with the marathon. The comments on MarathonGuide.com are positive to date. He estimates $10-12K raised but has no final budget yet. Reid Vannoy submitted a budget for the Palace Saloon 5K. A motion was made, seconded and passed by unanimous vote to accept the budget as presented. Judy Alexander presented a budget for Springtime 10K. Discussion centered on her donation to the Boys and Girls Club. Mary Jean pointed out that this group is not our usual target group and that more time is needed for a better discussion of this request for all future races. She suggested, as an alternative, waiving the entrance fee for kids from the Boys and Girls club running the race, which Judy said she is doing already. Further discussion included whether the Club should limit donations to groups that involve running yet some of our largest donations are made to non-running charities. A motion was made, seconded and passed by unanimous vote to accept the Springtime budget with all race proceeds going to the Club.

Website Committee Report – David Yon reported that his committee includes Peg Griffin, Keith Rowe, Rex and Mae Cleveland, and Mary Jean. Any new ideas are welcome. He and Peg have stepped up to share in the webmaster duties and are learning how to use Front Page. At least two people will have to replace Martha because she did a fantastic job. He thanked her for her long service on the web page, which she began when he was president.
Membership – Peg Griffin reported that there are currently 655 members represented by 375 households. Currently 73 members from last year and 163 from 2005 have not renewed membership. In her database are 718 local registrants for our races who are not members. She feels this a good target group for membership. She suggested using the $1000 donation to print an extra Fleet Foot and include a letter from the president about who GWTC is and encourage people to become a member. A motion was made, seconded and passed by unanimous vote to accept Peg’s plan as presented.

Clothing Coordinator – Margarete Deckert sold 5 journals at Shaw’s and 1 license tag. She submitted $55.00. All her visors and kerchiefs went to Boot camp.

Newsletter – Fred Deckert no report.

Awards/Grand Prix Committee – Tim Unger for Lisa Unger no report.

Racing Team Report – Tim Unger would like to purchase a new feather flag. Tim’s is wearing out which he can repair for free if he purchases a new one for $450. He suggested the club would then have 3, which could be placed at mile markers in 5K races. He would let Joe keep one with equipment. A motion was made, seconded and approved unanimously to purchase a new feather flag.

Training Committee – Nadine Dexter reported that Julie had 55 runners on Monday night at the Springtime training group. She has posted the Boot Camp info on the web. This year the graduation race will be the last night of class on 5/17.

Equipment – Joe Dexter turned in $600 in checks for 7 events that rented equipment.

Chenoweth Fund – David Yon made two requests. The first is for Chris Sumner and Joe Franklin to attend a meet at a cost of $400 each. The second is $750 for the Special Olympics of Leon County for Terry Massa to support her 1K race and the Area Games on 3/17 at Godby. A motion was made, seconded and passed by unanimous vote to accept the requests as presented.

Gene pointed out that the committee would have given away more money than it received in donations last year if the Club had not transferred funds. David said the by-laws require the Chenoweth Fund to maintain a balance of at least $5000, but they prefer to keep $10,000 and have been able to do so.

Social Coordinator – no report.

Lecture Series – Mary Jean reported that Fred and Margarete Deckert have assumed leadership of the lecture series. They are setting up a lecture with Breeda Willis.

Judy Alexander requested that $150 be given to Godby High School for the Jessie Forbes Invitational track meet. This will purchase a quarter page add and supply two free passes. A motion was made, seconded and approved the request.

OLD BUSINESS: Mae Cleveland reported the results of her volunteer survey of past and present directors of Club races. Eleven out of 24 possible responses were received. The Club needs more volunteers, since only 5 of the 11 respondents claimed a sufficient number of volunteers. If insufficient numbers of volunteers were found, then certain duties, such as calling out race splits to runners are often not done. Additional help was needed specifically for aid stations and traffic control. Race directors (RDs) found the direct approach (phone calls, gwinds list or emails) worked best to obtain sufficient help, while broad requests such as ads in the Newsletter or soliciting help from community groups did not. RDs often use non-Club members such as friends and relatives. More volunteers could be attained by better and repeated marketing. A suggestion about using the web site to list monthly needs for volunteers was made. With one easy click the potential volunteer could directly reach the RD instead of adding his or her name to a list of willing volunteers never called upon. Mae suggested a column in the Fleet Foot and/or web site titled “Why I Volunteer” appear prior to a big race. Some of the larger races have a volunteer coordinator to alleviate the burden of the race director. Some training is involved with the volunteer jobs but often an experienced volunteer is able to train new workers quickly. Three respondents did suggest using Grand Prix points as incentive to volunteer. Perhaps pictures of volunteers could appear on the web site or in the Fleet Foot instead of only runners.

There was a motion to adjourn at 9:20 PM, which was seconded and passed by unanimous vote.

The next board meeting will be held on April 11, 2007 hosted by Gene Opheim.

These minutes have been reviewed and accepted by the Board. Beth Alexander, Secretary.